Rumors were confirmed in January that Boston Mayor Marty Walsh was selected by the Biden Administration as their choice for Secretary of Labor. Walsh sailed through congressional hearings regarding his appointment and is expected to accept this new position. As Boston ramps up for another mayoral race, Walsh will be leaving behind an unprecedented legacy of development in the City of Boston. 

Since 2014 - the start of Mayor Walsh’s tenure -  approximately 86.2 million square feet of development worth more than $43.4 billion has been approved, including 45,532 residential units, 9,884 of which are income-restricted units. This development is also a large driver of job growth creating over 80,000 construction jobs in the city. The number of approved housing units jumped from 4,715 in 2019 to 10,123 in 2020. “In Boston, we're growing faster than any time in the last 50 years, and it's important that our housing production keeps pace to support our middle class,” Walsh said in 2019 in reference to the Boston 2030 housing plan to create 69,000 new units across the city. In February of 2020, Walsh also proposed an increase in linkage fees collected by the city to fund additional affordable housing which was later approved. 

With Walsh’s upcoming departure, current mayoral candidates have mixed plans for the future of the BPDA. Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu called for the abolishment of the BPDA in 2019, stating the agency gives “concentrated control over development to the Mayor of Boston with little to no accountability” and “well-connected developers outsized access to influence decision-making and incentivizing an unhealthy political interdependence.”  Wu would hope to replace the BPDA with a city planning department that would create updated zoning focused on clear and consistent rules. Another City Councilor in the race, Andrea Campbell may not be looking to do away with the BPDA but she does hope to tackle Boston’s housing crisis in an equitable manner. Campbell led efforts in 2016 to pass the Community Preservation Act, which now generates over $20 million annually for affordable housing, open space, and historic preservation.

Since January, several new candidates have entered the race, crowding the field with different views on the city’s development. Dana Depelteau, who announced his candidacy on February 3rd, has expressed his intention to change current neighborhood development by moving “away from inclusionary development and request immediate federal funding to prioritize efforts on developing new public housing.” Conversely, Councilor at large Annissa Essaibi George, who announced her candidacy for mayor in January and is married to Boston developer Doug George, has been a close friend of Walsh’s and encouraged the administration’s small business development efforts. George has gone on record opposed to rent control, stating in 2019 at the JP Progressives’ at-large candidates’ forum “we have seen when rent control is in place, it only benefits large property owners who know how to work the system.”

State representative Jon Santiago, who entered the race on February 23, had sponsored a bill setting a housing production goal for the Commonwealth in 2020. In 2018 regarding housing development in Boston, Santiago stated “I will fight to maintain and expand affordable housing opportunities in the district by holding developers and public officials accountable. As a state representative, I will fight for legislation to protect tenant rights and expand affordable housing opportunities.”

While the candidates stump for support, City Council President Kim Janey will serve as acting mayor after Walsh’s departure. She has stated she is “ready to take the reins and lead our city through these difficult times'' though her position on the BPDA is unclear. Earlier this month the City Council voted to cancel a special election to fill Wash’s absence in the event he vacates before March 5th, citing a risk to public health “having multiple elections for the office of mayor in the same year in the midst of the pandemic.” The measure, approved by Mayor Walsh, will need to be signed into law by Governor Baker before taking effect and would be sworn in the election’s winner after the votes of the November election are certified, rather than in January. 

Despite the uncertainty of a new administration, confidence appears to remain steady amongst developers in the Boston market, especially in the booming life sciences submarket with many agile companies quickly adjusting plans away from office space due to the pandemic. In just the first 2 months of this year, nearly 8M square feet of new development, over 20 projects have been proposed across the city. As the mayoral race proceeds, it will remain to be seen if a changing of the guard will have large effects on construction and development or if Boston's seemingly strong CRE market will continue to boom under new leadership.

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