The Boston Housing Authority, in partnership with advocates and residents, held a resident Forum today to discuss the issuance of a Request for Qualifications and provide information regarding the intention of the RFQ.  

The BHA issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) in November, 2014 asking the non-profit and for-profit development community for ideas about how to preserve public housing units with decreased reliance on federal subsidy, which has been shrinking for many years.

The RFQ also contained two addenda: addendum 1 and addendum 2
 
The BHA received responses in January, 2015 from 17 development teams, for 32 different BHA sites (a total of 56 proposals).  We are in the process of sorting through these responses and evaluating them.  BHA will have to develop and distribute a new Request For Proposals (RFP) before moving forward on any projects. 

Please note the following:
 
The RFQ is clear that the BHA’s intent is preserve its public housing portfolio and to protect existing residents.  

The BHA will be sharing the results of the RFQ with the Resident Advisory Board and the BHA Monitoring Committee and working closely with these groups moving forward. 

We expect to move forward with planning at a handful of sites, not all sites.  Prior to moving to the next phase of planning, we will meet early and often with the resident communities at any impacted sites.

The forum was sponsored by BHA, Boston Tenant Coalition, City Life/Vida Urbana, Committee for Boston Public Housing, Greater Boston Legal Services, Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants Mass Senior Action Council and Section 8 Tenants Incorporated.

There is additional information about the BHA's funding in the Five-Year Plan.