REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT TOOLKIT
This pamphlet is one of four documents created by graduate students in the East Boston Site and Environmental Systems Practicum - Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT Spring 2021. These pamphlets can be read alone or together. They discuss East Boston’s power and decision making processes, offer storytelling as a way to understand East Boston’s past and future and propose new visions for Condor Street in Eagle Hill and Harbor View in the Belle Isle Marsh.
UNDERSTANDING POWER in EAST BOSTON
Political Authority Map
The Mayor holds a great deal of power. The Mayor is responsible for setting the city’s priorities, appointing individuals to lead each city agency, and proposing the city budget to City Council. In this way, the Mayor provides leadership and direction for the city’s operations and has a powerful influence on how and where city funds are spent.
The City Council is a legislative body that balances control of the city’s operations with the Mayor’s office. It is made up of nine district seats—every district in the city is represented in one of these seats—and four at-large seats that are not bound to any specific district. Each City Council member is elected every two years. The City Council has significant responsibility. They approve the city’s budget, oversee city agencies, review legislative proposals, and make decisions about how land in the city is used.
Where Does the Money Come From?
Boston provides essential services to its residents, and is responsible for planning, constructing and maintaining the physical resources within the city. Boston relies on multiple sources of revenue to fund the services it provides as well as infrastructure within its city. The majority of revenue comes from property taxes (72.7%), and the rest comes from other revenue streams, such as grants from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or taxes, such as excise taxes.
Revenue from taxes each year isn’t enough to fund entire projects. The City seeks financing for projects through the leveraging of bonds. This means the city takes out a loan to build a project it cannot pay for on its own and pays the loan back with tax revenue or revenue generated by the project. Bonds account for around 68% of all funding for large projects or developments. The rest of the funds typically come from federal and state grants.
However, there are many ways to fund projects that do not require the city to use its existing revenue sources. State or federal agencies often provide funding and financing for a project if certain groups, such as community groups, non-profits, and city governments, apply for it. Sometimes the private sector, which includes nonprofits and private companies, helps finance projects.
For housing, three housing typologies were created from the perspective of Brandywyne Village's previous housing forms, affordability, and integration with the city of Boston. The low-rise type, which is similar to the current community form, allows for a generous community density and is more likely to create a lively low-rise area. In contrast, the high-rise type will provide high-density housing that meets affordability challenges. The Boston classic type is a form that is conscious of Boston's old cityscape. It is a form of housing that blends in with the surrounding streetscape and history of the city, and although not as dense as the high-rise type, it can achieve a higher density than the current low-rise housing. The trade-offs between these different types were examined and combined to determine the optimal form of housing.
Who Makes the Final Decision?
Many agencies at the local and state level have particular regulations for different parts of East Boston. Depending on where you want to develop, you may have to interact with one or many of these agencies.
Please refer to the graphic for Boston's overlapping jurisdictions.
