Beyond Urban Renewal: Retooling Redevelopment Authorities to Create Social Housing in Massachusetts

Note: In-person attendance has reached capacity. Pre-registration is required for online attendees. Non-Harvard affiliates registered to attend in person must enter through the Wexner Building in the Harvard Kennedy School courtyard. The entrance to the courtyard is at 19 Eliot Street, Cambridge. The event itself will be in Room 414 in HKS’s Rubenstein Building, which is connected to the Wexner Building.

Redevelopment authorities were created in the mid-20th century to carry out urban renewal projects, made possible through federal and state programs. Although these programs ended or were scaled back due to often controversial projects, in Massachusetts redevelopment authorities still exist and retain significant powers, including eminent domain. This has led housing advocates and policymakers to explore whether redevelopment authorities might be uniquely positioned to help cities and towns promote new social housing—mixed-income developments in which the public sector holds a lasting ownership stake.

Susanne Schindler and Becca Heilman will present the findings of a new Center paper which examines how redevelopment authorities in Massachusetts might support social housing. The research for the paper was funded by the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, the Cambridge Community Foundation, and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. A panel of practitioners and officials, moderated by Chris Herbert, will discuss the paper's findings and its implications for communities across the state.

Agenda

Welcome and Opening
Kathryn Carlson, Executive Director, Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, Harvard Kennedy School
The Honorable Sumbul Siddiqui, Mayor of Cambridge

Paper Presentation - slides
Susanne Schindler, Research Fellow, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies
Becca Heilman, Student Research Assistant, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies 

Panel Discussion
Tom Evans, Executive Director, Cambridge Redevelopment Authority
Gina Govoni, Executive Director, Franklin County Regional Housing and Redevelopment Authority
Jonathan Gray, Vice Chair of the Board, Taunton Redevelopment Authority
Chris Herbert, Managing Director, Joint Center for Housing Studies (moderator)
Emily Keys Innes, President, Innes Land Strategies Group
Marcos Marrero, Deputy Director & Senior Executive Vice President, MassDevelopment

Closing Remarks
Geeta Pradhan, President, Cambridge Community Foundation

Reception 

Co-sponsored by the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, the Cambridge Community Foundation, and the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority.

Photo: Boston Properties