The public comment period on Mayor Michelle Wu’s proposed tax abatements for four stalled Boston housing developments runs into mid-October, ahead of a Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) board vote next month on whether to open formal negotiations with the developers, according to city officials quoted by the Dorchester Reporter.
The 30-day comment period began Sept. 14. The administration says the abatements, estimated at $31.5 million, would help four approved projects totaling about 1,400 homes, including about 185 income-restricted units, begin construction in 2027.
The Four Projects in the Boston Tax Abatement Plan
The projects are One Mystic Ave. in Charlestown (408 units), 22-24 Pratt St. in Allston (318 units), 83 Leo Birmingham Parkway in Brighton (333 units) and Building D at Allston Yards (341 units), according to the Dorchester Reporter and Banker & Tradesman. Under the proposal, property taxes would stay at pre-construction levels during construction, then phase up after completion over five or 10 years. The city puts the relief at about $22,500 per unit.
Two of the projects, One Mystic and Pratt Street, are also seeking to pay into a fund instead of building part of their required income-restricted units on site. Housing Chief Sheila Dillon said those payments would generate more than $20 million for other affordable housing projects. If the BPDA board votes to proceed, the Assessing Department would negotiate individual agreements with each developer.
What City Officials Say
Chief of Planning Kairos Shen said the goal is to move projects that are “right on the goal line” into construction and that the plan would not shrink the existing tax base. “It’s about building the future tax base while deferring some of the intermediate incremental taxes,” Shen said, according to the Reporter. Wu told the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce on Sept. 16 that “we are in a housing crisis, and we need to use every tool that we have,” The Boston Globe reported. The administration has said it could support up to $100 million in similar agreements and is in talks with about a dozen other developers.
Steve Poftak, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, called the incentive “appropriate” for current conditions, telling the Reporter, “It’s not a blank check.”
What Critics and Councilors Say
Gregory Maynard of the Boston Policy Institute told the Boston Herald that the city has not pursued broad zoning changes and that the discretionary breaks concentrate decisions in the mayor’s office. Jesse Kanson-Benanav of Abundant Housing MA told Banker & Tradesman that some suburbs allow more density near transit than Boston does. District 2 Councilor Ed Flynn filed a hearing order calling for the city to lower its 20% inclusionary housing requirement; Wu said a city study found that change alone would not make stalled projects feasible, the Herald reported.
At the City Council’s Sept. 23 meeting, Councilor Enrique Pepén filed a resolution supporting the abatements, according to the council agenda summarized by the Boston Policy Institute. The council has no formal approval role in the abatements, which are decided through the BPDA and the Assessing Department.
How to Weigh In
The projects do not need to go back through the approval process, but the public can weigh in during the monthlong comment period on whether the tax abatement approach is a good idea, the Dorchester Reporter reported. Some developers have told city officials the proposed relief would still not be enough to start construction, according to the Reporter. The plan is one of several recent City Hall housing moves, alongside the Housing Accelerator Fund’s $35 million loan round. Separately, the council this week is reviewing spending items including the police detectives’ contract funding, part of a busy fall budget calendar.