Boston Council Weighs Two-Year Urban Renewal Extension to Protect 12,000 Housing Units

BOSTON -- February 13, 2023, Boston council committee hears case to extend 12 urban renewal plans through March 2025. The City Council's Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation held a hearing Monday on Docket 0324, a Mayor Wu-sponsored measure to extend the city's remaining urban renewal plans by two years pending passage of a home rule petition to modernize the agency's powers. BPDA Director Arthur Jemison and Urban Renewal Manager Christopher Breen told the panel that 11,748 income-restricted housing units, 1,734 senior-preference units, and nearly 1.84 million square feet of open space are protected by land disposition agreements that expire with the plans on March 31. "The risk is solely should the LDAs go away, we simply lose our leverage," Jemison said. The agency sunset two plans last year, the Central Business District and Franklin/Wilson/Essex districts, but retained 10 others after a deeper review of third-party affordability documents revealed additional risk; the 12th remaining plan areas are all included in the current extension request. Committee Chair Frank Baker said he expects to report the docket out as early as February 15, with a March 16 BPDA board vote and a March 31 state deadline driving the timeline.