Hmmm something to strive for going forward - A new policy introducing diversity, equity and inclusion into the review process for large projects in the City
✓
Boston Set to Require Diversity Data on Private Real Estate Projects.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
(Bloomberg)—Boston officials are proposing that all big private development projects be required to report on how many women and people of color will work on them, a plan they called the first of its kind in the US.
.png)
The proposed requirement, which would apply to projects over 20,000 square feet (1,858 square meters), aims to address the longstanding lack of diversity in the city’s commercial real estate industry. It is expected to be approved Thursday by the Boston Planning and Development Agency board.
The agency has already been including diversity data when it considers bids for projects on publicly owned land, said Segun Idowu, Boston’s chief of economic opportunity and inclusion. The new policy would mean “all the cranes we see in the skies -- we want to make sure that businesses owned by women and people of color are participating in these projects,” he said.
Devin Quirk, deputy chief of the planning agency, said at a City Hall briefing that while diversity is used to help the city generate scores for competitive bids on public projects, the process for private projects involves no such method.
Mayor Michelle Wu said the data would provide useful information on where diversity gaps are greatest and how they could be addressed.
“You can’t manage what you’re not measuring,” she said, “and so this will at least signal and force all of us to be incredibly intentional about what matters in this process: that it’s not just about height and floor area ratio, but who’s benefiting and what that impact will feel like on the ground
✓
Boston policy asks for diversity plans on private projects
Dive Brief:
- In what officials hailed as a first-of-its-kind diversity, equity and inclusion policy, the city of Boston is asking developers to submit minority and women workforce participation goals on private projects.
- The measure, approved Aug. 11 by the Boston Planning & Development Agency, requests applicants filing residential and nonresidential development projects over 20,000 square feet to submit plans that include economic participation, employment and management roles for people of color, women and certified minority- and women-owned business enterprises within the scope of their projects.
- “This new policy is about ensuring success is spread across our communities, while incentivizing sustainable growth and creating more transparent processes,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in a statement.
Dive Insight:
MWBE goals are often included on public projects at the federal, state and city level, and Boston highlighted the diversity plan requirements it already has for jobs built on its public land. But the new measure asks for those goals to be stated for projects located on private parcels, too.
While the city says that’s a first for a public entity, increasingly, owners and contractors on private projects have sought to highlight their inclusion initiatives voluntarily.
But those efforts, whether done in the public or private realms, are mostly just aspirational. Even though prime contractors can be held to pay liquidated damages when goals aren’t met as specified in contracts, minority contractors complain there’s no teeth in enforcing goals once contracts are awarded.
Indeed, a recent state auditor’s report found that 95% of state construction contracts in Massachusetts fell short of inclusion goals for women.
The Boston initiative calls for plans for inclusion to be spelled out at all levels of private projects, according to a fact sheet on the program:
- Pre-development, including the development entity, ownership, equity and debt investment, design, engineering, legal and other consultants.
- Construction, including general contractor, sub-contractor, trades, workers performing construction, suppliers, engineering, and professional and other services such as landscaping, catering, fuel supply and rental equipment.
- Ongoing operations including building tenants, facilities management and contracted services.
Requested details include information on MWBE contractors’ roles and the total contract value they’re receiving in the development.
“The DEI Plan Disclosure may be provided in narrative format but should explain why the specific commitments are realistic, executable and impactful,” the development agency said on its website.
Still, the Boston program is just a request for developers to submit this information with their projects, and not a requirement. But it could eventually be incorporated into the city’s zoning policies, as well.
“Development can be a catalyst to not only bring positive investment to our neighborhoods, create good jobs and affordable housing at a range of levels, but also bring opportunities to build wealth for those who have historically been left out of Boston’s building boom,” said Arthur Jemison, Boston’s chief of planning, in the city’s release.
✓
✓
No comments:
Post a Comment