real estate development

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is promoting her agenda for action at the state level as a new legislative session begins on Beacon Hill.

Most Boston residents may not know much about, let alone have engaged with, the city’s Zoning Board of Appeal, which adjudicates hundreds of appeals by developers and ordinary residents for zoning variances — exceptions to Boston zoning rules — every year.

DREAM Collaborative and New Atlantic Development have broken ground on a 74-unit housing complex in Nubian Square that will combine affordable and market-rate housing with artists’ studios, retail space and a new retail location for the Haley House’s cafe, which currently occupies the parcel at 2147 Washington St.

After months of internal discussion and debate, one development team has now secured the endorsement of the guiding Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight Committee (RSMPOC) to transform a long-vacant parcel into affordable housing, lab and commercial space.

Last week, Mayor Michelle Wu announced new guidelines requiring developers of privately-owned land to report on their plans to hire people of color and subcontract with firms owned by people of color as part of the Boston Planning and Development Agency’s Article 80 development approval process.

Nubian Ascends is a real estate project set to bring big changes to the arts, culture and culinary experience in Nubian Square. According to the project proposal to the city, plans include “a multi-layered mixed-use program that includes a 48,000-SF marketplace for artisans and makers, beside a food hall that showcases chefs from the on-site culinary arts program.”

Mayor Michelle Wu last week announced the completion of a city-wide land audit — dubbed the “Public Land for Public Good: Citywide Land Audit” — that has assessed and cataloged all city-owned property in order to begin reimagining uses to better serve Bostonians.

Last week, affordable housing advocates came together to demand that the city take action on the lack of affordable housing across Boston, calling on the Wu administration to increase the amount of affordable rental units, hold developers accountable for their affordable housing agreements and create affordable homeownership opportunities for city residents.

Major real estate development projects are moving forward before Mayor Michelle Wu has made good on her campaign promise to break apart the Boston Planning and Development agency, separating the city’s planning function from the agency, which manages the approval process for large real estate projects.

The development process at 36 Temple St. in Mattapan could serve as a case study in how controversial real estate projects moved forward during the eight-year administration of former Mayor Martin Walsh.

Two proposals to transform the vacant lot in Roxbury known as Parcel P3 have hit the desk of the city’s planning and development agency, each promising new affordable housing and economic development in the area.

Mayor Michelle Wu says her administration is exploring ways to increase affordable housing production.