Special to the Times-Free Press
The City of Boston today announced more than $52 million in new funding to support the creation and preservation of affordable rental housing across Boston. The awards, administered through the Mayor’s Office of Housing, the Community Preservation Fund, and the Neighborhood Housing Trust, will support 13 developments in nine neighborhoods, resulting in 892 income-restricted rental homes, including 75 homes that will be set aside for families and individuals exiting homelessness.
Projects funded are located in Roslindale, Jamaica Plain, East Boston, Roxbury, Downtown, the West End, Charlestown, Dorchester, and Mission Hill. Developments include housing for older adults, families, permanent supportive housing, preservation of public housing, and mixed-use projects that feature community and commercial amenities, and easy access to some of Boston’s most beautiful open spaces. These newly funded projects will also advance City priorities around transit-oriented development and adaptive reuse, provide new homes designed to be affordable to households earning low or moderate incomes, and create significant construction jobs for the local workforce.
“The City is using every possible tool to deliver stable, affordable housing for residents and families across our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “This funding will strengthen our communities, expand access to housing, and help ensure Boston remains a home for everyone. I’m grateful to the Neighborhood Housing Trust, the Community Preservation Committee and all of our partners as we work together to address the housing crisis and strengthen our communities.”
“This funding round reflects the City’s continued commitment to housing as a cornerstone of stability for Boston residents,” said Chief of Housing Sheila A. Dillon. “We greatly appreciate the development teams assembling high-quality projects that we are eager to support. Each of these projects will strengthen neighborhoods and ensure that affordability remains at the heart of Boston’s growth.”
Funding for this round includes several federal sources, such as the HOME Investment Partnerships Program and the Community Development Block Grant, along with City of Boston resources, including the funds derived from new residential development under the City’s Inclusionary Development Policy, funds derived from the surcharge paid by residential property owners and administered by the Community Preservation Fund, and funds from the City of Boston’s Development Impact Projects Exactions Policy, or Linkage which are administered by the Neighborhood Housing Trust to create affordable housing that serves Boston’s low-income residents. Together, these investments advance City goals to maximize the impact of public dollars to meet urgent housing needs.
“These projects reflect the City’s commitment to aligning planning and housing investments to meet the needs of our growing communities,” said Kairos Shen, Chief of Planning. “By advancing development in transit-accessible, resource-rich neighborhoods, we are helping to create more equitable access to housing and opportunity. The Planning Department is proud to work alongside the Mayor’s Office of Housing to support projects that contribute to a more inclusive and resilient Boston.”
“The Neighborhood Housing Trust is proud to support this round of funding, which will create new affordable homes and strengthen communities across Boston,” said Catherine Hardaway, Chair, Neighborhood Housing Trust. “By leveraging Linkage resources, we are able to invest in developments that expand access to housing and support residents at a range of income levels. These projects reflect the kind of thoughtful, community-centered growth that is essential to Boston’s future.”
“The Community Preservation Act continues to be a vital tool for expanding affordable housing in Boston,” said Felicia Jacques, Chair, Community Preservation Committee. “These investments reflect our commitment to directing resources toward projects that effectively meet urgent community needs, support long-term affordability, and help residents remain in the neighborhoods they call home. We are proud to partner in advancing developments that will have a lasting impact across the city.”
“This funding will help connect residents to stable, affordable homes at a time when that stability is more important than ever,” said Kenzie Bok, Administrator, Boston Housing Authority. “Through our rental assistance programs, we are able to ensure that many of these new homes are truly accessible to households with the lowest incomes, including families and individuals transitioning out of homelessness. This partnership strengthens our shared work to make Boston a city where everyone has a place to live with dignity.”
Downtown
25 West Street, developed by Bridge Over Troubled Waters with the Planning Office for Urban Affairs as development consultant, will transform a vacant five-story historic commercial building into a new residential and supportive services facility for youth. This adaptive reuse project will create 63 emergency, transitional, and permanent supportive units for homeless and at-risk youth. 25 permanent supportive units will be funded by the City of Boston. The facility will also feature administrative office space, and on-site services including a Welcome Center and supportive services in a location steps from public transit and easily accessible to downtown.
Charlestown
The Austin Street development, led by Trinity Financial, Inc., will create 123 affordable rental homes, including 13 homeless set-asides, on a City-owned site adjacent to the MBTA’s Community College Station. The first phase of redevelopment will deliver a seven-story, transit-oriented building with a high share of family-sized apartments, along with resident amenities including a fitness room, bike facilities, and shared community space. Designed to meet Passive House performance standards, the project will transform an underutilized parking area into energy-efficient housing that improves pedestrian connections and expands affordable housing access in a transit-rich neighborhood.
Proposals were evaluated through a competitive process led by the Mayor’s Office of Housing, the Neighborhood Housing Trust, and the Community Preservation Committee following a Request for Proposals issued in summer 2025. Projects were assessed based on financial feasibility, development team capacity, design quality, community support, and alignment with City housing priorities.
Under Mayor Michelle Wu’s leadership, Boston has made historic progress toward creating and preserving homes that residents can afford. Since the start of her first term, the City has produced or begun construction on more than 18,000 new homes, including thousands of income-restricted units, and has launched new policies to make it easier, faster, and less expensive to build housing across every neighborhood. Mayor Wu has directed record levels of investment to prevent displacement, expand affordable homeownership, and support renters and homeowners who face housing instability.
The Mayor’s focus on climate and health has also made Boston a national leader in green and energy-efficient housing. Together, these efforts are helping to make Boston a city where every resident can have a safe, stable, and affordable home, and where communities can grow stronger for generations to come.
The Boston Housing Authority (BHA) is a public agency that provides subsidized housing to low and moderate-income individuals and families. In addition to conventional public housing communities throughout Boston, BHA offers rental assistance programs. BHA receives federal and state funding to provide housing programs to individuals and families. BHA’s mission is to provide stable, quality affordable housing for low and moderate-income persons; to deliver these services with integrity and mutual accountability, and to create living environments that serve as catalysts for the transformation from dependency to economic self-sufficiency.
The City of Boston’s Planning Department shapes growth that serves Boston’s residents and centers their needs. Our mission is to address our City’s greatest challenges: resilience, affordability, and equity, and to take real estate actions and prioritize planning, development, and urban design solutions that further these priorities. We seek to build trust with communities through transparent processes that embrace predictable growth and shape a more inclusive city for all.
The NHT Fund supports homeownership, rental, cooperative, transitional, and permanent housing developments. The fund provides financing for projects serving households earning at or below 50% AMI and gives preference to populations that face barriers in securing housing, including seniors and people with disabilities. Funding is awarded as gap financing, and each applicant may receive no more than 1,000,000 per project. Priority is given to projects serving the greatest number of low-income households. The program also has a preference for projects that are near transit, and include family-sized units with two or more bedrooms. Boston’s Neighborhood Housing Trust Fund is funded through a commercial project linkage payment fee system.
After Boston voters adopted the CPA in November 2016, the City created a Community Preservation Fund. This fund is capitalized primarily by a one percent property tax-based surcharge on residential and business property tax bills that began in July 2017. The City uses this revenue to fund initiatives consistent with statewide CPA guidelines: income-restricted housing, historic preservation, open space, and public recreation. The funding of any project requires a recommendation from the Community Preservation Committee and appropriation by the City. For more information, please visit the Community Preservation webpage.
The mission of the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH) is to foster healthy, vibrant, and welcoming communities for all by ensuring stable, environmentally friendly, and accessible housing, as well as the sustainable use of land. The MOH achieves this through creating and preserving income-restricted housing, supporting residents in buying and maintaining their homes, and developing housing policies that promote access and long-term stability. It also works to prevent evictions, implement housing solutions for people experiencing homelessness, and make Boston’s housing stock healthy, resilient, and environmentally sustainable. For more information, please visit the MOH website.