Boston to big commercial developers: Pay up
The city plans to hike the fees that developers of office, lab, and other large commercial buildings must pay.
The Walsh administration this week plans to sharply hike the fees that developers of office, lab, and other large commercial buildings must pay to support affordable housing and job training programs, the Globe’s Tim Logan reports.
The additional money could add tens of millions of dollars a year to city coffers, capitalizing on a life-science building boom to help fund badly needed affordable housing. But there also are worries that it could dampen a post-pandemic recovery for construction in Boston, and set a precedent for even higher assessments.
On Thursday, Mayor Martin J. Walsh will ask the Boston Planning & Development Agency to increase so-called linkage fees on large new commercial buildings by 42 percent, from $10.81 per square foot to $15.39. That compares with the 8 percent hike Walsh signed off on in 2018, and comes after the Legislature last month passed a measure giving Boston the freedom to increase such fees more frequently, and by larger amounts.
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