City Hall did not return calls by presstime, but Menino has been criticized in the past for neglecting the issue of affordable housing. Linkage fees are collected from developers who want to build large projects. The fees are collected to compensate for the impact of a large development project on neighborhoods.
The Neighborhood Housing Trust, which collects these fees, reportedly recently received numerous building proposals that enabled it to put money into building new units. Menino is reportedly expected to award the contracts to developers shortly. The city's economic development agency added $1.75 million of its housing funds to the pot.
The units, which are a combination of affordable housing and some low-income elderly housing, will include both rental units and home ownership. They will be located in areas such as Mattapan, Jamaica Plain, Allston-Brighton, Dorchester, Roxbury and South Boston. The Boston Redevelopment Agency, which was not available by presstime, is reportedly planning to build additional affordable housing units. Construction is expected to begin next year.
City Hall and the BRA are also reportedly planning to ask the city council to increase linkage fees by 44%. The proposal seeks to reduce the period in which developers pay the linkage fees from 12 years to seven, which is more consistent with the pay period for building projects here. The proposal requires approval from the state legislature.
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