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BHA and the Housing Innovation Lab are Soliciting Ideas from Developers and Community Members about Where to Build New Public Housing in Boston

At Mayor Wu’s State of the City address, she announced a plan to identify locations for 3,000 new units of public housing. The Boston Housing Authority (BHA) and Housing Innovation Lab (Housing iLab) are collaborating on an effort to ask Boston's community members to help us imagine the future of these new public housing developments, where residents will pay no more than 30% of their income on rent.

Public Housing provides long term affordability and stability for residents and neighborhoods. In addition, for a growing number of residents, public housing can serve as a pathway for economic mobility due to the BHA's nationally recognized Family Self Sufficiency and First Home programs. Given these potential benefits and the availability of new resources to create high quality and financially sustainable public housing, the BHA and the Housing iLab at the Mayor's Office of Housing are inviting Boston to help us answer the following question:

Where should new public housing be built in Boston and where might it be combined with publicly or privately owned land?

This RFI invites potential respondents to share ideas that help us meet the following goals:

  • Envision the future of public housing: BHA has not built new public housing in several decades and we see this as an opportunity to reimagine the design and narrative of public housing in Boston. We want to create mixed-income housing communities that invest in resident leadership and ensure long-term affordability.

  • Build new public housing: We want to develop 3,000 new units of public housing across Boston’s neighborhoods. We want to see how different locations, both publicly and privately owned, and types of projects can help us achieve this goal.

  • Promote well-being and opportunity: In addition to stable affordable housing, we know that access to supportive services, educational/career development opportunities, and even play/leisure activities can help communities move from surviving to thriving. We want to explore how different partnerships could foster new opportunities for residents

  • Who should respond? Residents, planners, developers, and everyone with a sense of imagination and interest in the public good.

  • What types of projects are the BHA and the Mayor’s Housing iLab interested in?We hope to see ideas that imagine public housing on publicly or privately owned land. We are excited to see how different community members define public housing. We are also open to ideas that explore public housing alongside other uses like commercial spaces, community centers, or schools. We encourage interested parties to explore the City of Boston’s Citywide Land Audit for an overview of city owned sites.

  • Where can I learn more? Please check out the RFI under current bid opportunities here!

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