Hard on the heels of the Governor’s housing production plan, the Unlocking Housing Production Commission quietly dropped its report last week.
The members of the commission deserve kudos for their time and valuable recommendations, which boldly seek to address the housing barriers in suburban towns that haven’t built their share of homes in recent decades. We are especially appreciative that commission members heard Gateway Cities and responded to three obstacles to housing production that have been particularly challenging for these urban communities: (1) the geographic disparities inherent in the Architectural Access Board’s 30 percent rule; (2) enhanced MEPA review of housing projects in environmental justice communities; (3) and MEPA review of urban renewal plans.
The 108-page report goes beyond regulatory barriers and looks at numerous ways that the state can unlock housing production. Here are some quick reactions to important issues raised by the commission members:
Support the modular construction industry. The report outlines a number of steps Massachusetts can take to support faster, greener, and more efficient modular construction. Gateway Cities can play an outsized role incubating this new industry. Massachusetts should look for strategies to collaborate with Gateway City property owners and emerging developers. And state support for factories to produce modular homes should incentivize efforts to manufacture buildings suited to vacant parcels in urban areas.
State funded infrastructure. The report calls for state infrastructure subsidies for developments in areas that lack water and sewer. This is an important and real concern in many suburbs, which lack rental options, but the existing MassWorks and HousingWorks allocation are far short of meeting the needs in urban areas that have put substantial effort into mixed-use transit-oriented development. Until there is enough critical mass to support expanded public transportation options outside of Greater Boston, the potential traffic impacts will fuel public opposition to new housing. To build far more housing with a true multi-modal orientation, Gateway Cities need infrastructure dollars to eliminate surface parking
lots and upgrade and expand structured parking facilities. Modernizing the electrical grid in these older urban areas to support new growth will also require considerable public investment.
Overcoming housing financing challenges outside the Boston metro area. The report recommends providing shallow subsidies to make the finances work for housing projects in low- and moderate-income communities by refunding state sales taxes on construction materials. This alone is unlikely to close the gap for most projects in Gateway Cities. But we do have a more powerful and proven tool at the ready: the Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP). Even with last year’s expansion of the state HDIP cap to $30 million, we have received numerous reports of Gateways with pipelines of 4 to 6 additional housing projects that could move forward with HDIP awards. The state should not reinvent the wheel but instead
build out this delivery system with additional financing, lifting the per-project funding cap, and hiring a full-time program coordinator at EOHLC.
Accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Making ADUs legal by-right statewide was a major accomplishment in the Affordable Home Act, which Gov. Healey signed into law last August. To capitalize fully on this provision, Massachusetts must make design and financing tools available for homeowners. Otherwise, only wealthy, in-the-know homeowners will be able to take advantage of this change.
Reform the subsidized housing inventory (SHI) and Chapter 40B. The report separated this recommendation into a chapter for “future ideas” because it may be controversial. But the administration should prioritize this and open it up to public dialogue and creative thinking. In many suburban communities that have surpassed the 10 percent threshold for subsidized units, up to 75 percent of the units counted are actually market-rate. The report raises the excellent suggestion of retiring those market-rate units from the SHI after ten years. This is essential to maintaining fairness—when Bedford has 18 percent of its units on the SHI and Fall River has barely 10 percent, something is seriously wrong.
Reinventing the system could produce more units more fairly for communities across the state. Perhaps the 10 percent threshold could be raised while giving credit for a variety of naturally-occurring affordable housing such as: ADUs and manufactured home parks. The state also needs to look at how each community is meeting regional needs for rental housing generally, affordable homeownership, and transitional and permanent supportive housing.
The commission recommended many items that could help Gateway Cities by making it easier to build housing in their communities while incentivizing multifamily housing construction in surrounding areas. These policies should be thoughtfully designed to take into account local differences. These include:
This is just our quick take. In the months ahead, we will consult with our network of Gateway City economic development and housing leaders about these recommendations and work with the administration and legislature to implement those which are most impactful. We recognize that time is of the essence. Given the severity of the housing crisis, we cannot afford to take years to move forward with long-overdue changes to laws and regulations.
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