Building Sparks Controversy Over Linkage Fees

BOSTON-While Rose Associates’ plans to build a 12-story office building here in the Leather District are being held up by a lawsuit, the possibility of the linkage fees associated with that project going to an affordable housing development in Chinatown is facing local opposition. Developers of large commercial projects here are required to give housing and job training linkage payments, with the amount dependent upon the size of the project. The fees usually go into a city fund but developers can specify that their money go into a certain neighborhood project. According to Meredith Baumann, spokesperson for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the possibility arose at a meeting when the Leather District building at Two Financial Street and the affordable housing project in Chinatown were both on the agenda.

“Under the housing creation component of linkage policy, linkage fees have to be used on an existing project that needs help,” she tells GlobeSt.com. Baumann emphasizes that no formal linkage fees have been settled yet, but linkage funds can support housing anywhere in the city. “The housing project in Chinatown would not only be available to residents of Chinatown, but would be available to the whole city,” she points out.