Boston, MA - Today the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) inviting developers to submit revitalization proposals for the Amory Street elderly/disabled public housing development in Jamaica Plain.
 
The BHA’s goal is to upgrade the Amory Street development while avoiding displacement of the current residents and to preserve affordability for extremely low-income households over the long term.  The BHA is seeking plans that include the rehabilitation of the existing building at 125 Amory Street as well as potentially new construction infill housing—affordable or mixed-income housing—that will ensure the long-term viability of the low-income housing units.  The issuance of the RFP comes as BHA is seeking ways to upgrade and make sustainable its affordable housing communities in the wake of historic federal budget cuts.
 
“It’s imperative that we think outside the box to preserve our existing affordable housing as well as develop new housing to meet the future housing needs of all of our city’s residents,” said Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “Our elderly and disabled residents need and deserve quality affordable housing throughout our city.”
 
The BHA has selected Amory Street as the second candidate for which to issue an RFP due to current market conditions and the potential opportunity for the revitalization and modernization of the current building as well as the opportunity to build new housing on the site. 
 
The Amory Street development consists of 215 units of federally subsidized elderly and disabled public housing in a mid-rise building at 125 Amory Street in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. Adding workforce and market rate apartments could generate additional income to help sustain the low income units over the long term.  The creation of additional housing will also further Mayor Walsh’s goal of creating 53,000 new units of housing by 2030. 
 
“We look forward to receiving creative ideas that will preserve and protect our affordable housing resources for the future,” said BHA Administrator Bill McGonagle.  “We are proceeding in this manner to ensure that the current residents and future residents of the city in need of affordable housing have this valuable resource to call home for generations to come.”
 
BHA staff recently met with residents of the development as well as members of the surrounding community before issuing the RFP.  Also prior to this issuance, 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.  There is a copy of the RFQ and more information on the BHA’s funding situation in our Five-Year Plan on the BHA’s website.
 
BHA expects to have responses back from developers by mid-September.  A selection committee comprised of residents of the Amory Street public housing development and BHA staff will review the proposals and select a developer.  BHA and the selected developer will hold a series of resident and community meetings, as well as design charrettes as part of an open, public, neighborhood planning process that is expected to begin this fall. 
 
It is the BHA’s intent to preserve its public housing portfolio and to protect existing residents.  The BHA expects to issue a handful of additional RFPs in the near future after completing a resident and community process for respective sites.  The BHA will solicit proposals which may offer opportunities to use a new construction approach or which involve both new construction and renovation. 
 
An informational only copy of the RFP without supporting documents as well as the full RFP with all supporting documents is available for download from the BHA’s website under News.  
Proposer submission copies of the RFP MUST be obtained directly from the BHA’s Procurement Department.  The RFP is available to proposers for free via e-mail request to bids@bostonhousing.org, or in hardcopy form for a $100 fee from the BHA Contract Unit at the 6th Floor, 52 Chauncy Street, Boston, MA  02111 starting July 1, 2015.  The RFP Package shall be mailed to prospective respondents upon request for an additional $15.00 fee. 
  
All proposals must be received by September 15, 2015 at 2:00 pm at the Boston Housing Authority, Procurement Dept., 6th Floor, 52 Chauncy Street, Boston, MA 02111.  Interested developers may subscribe to the BHA’s electronic mailing list to receive future bid notices.