Mayor Thomas Menino this week announced a plan to build 30,000 units of housing in the City of Boston by the year 2020.
An advisory panel and three working groups have been convened to advise Menino on Housing Boston 2020, the City’s new blueprint for housing strategy. Those advisory groups include JCurtis Kemeny, CEO and president of the Boston Residential Group, which is developing the former Home for Little Wonderers property at 161 S. Huntington Ave., and Jamaica Plain resident Bart Mitchell, CEO of The Community Builders, which is part of the team redeveloping Jackson Square.
The plan calls for 30,000 new units of housing by 2020, 25,000 of which would be market-rate units. The initiative also calls for the establishment of a $1.5 billion push to expand the supply of housing affordable to the middle class by 5,000 units.
“In order to fulfill [Boston’s future] promise, we must stay focused on creating housing, because this is an issue that affects every Boston resident. We do not simply need to put roofs over peoples’ heads; we need to think carefully about the right kind of housing for our changing city,” Menino said in a press release.
Working with the Mayor’s Housing Advisory Panel, City staff and external thought leaders identified four main priorities for the City under the plan: accommodating growth, expanding the middle class, creating affordable housing for Boston’s workforce and creating college and university housing.
More information on the plan is available at cityofboston.gov/dnd/housing_boston_2020.asp.