Revere council adopts housing production plan; trust to pursue six city properties for affordable housing

The Revere City Council voted 8–3 last week to adopt the city's Housing Production Plan, a five-year strategy that lays out zoning and development tools the city may use to increase affordable housing supply. The plan removed a proposal to allow single-room-occupancy units (SROs) by right and narrowed language about allowing two- and three-family buildings and zero-lot-line construction until the city takes targeted zoning steps.

The plan gives the city a menu of tools it can pursue; each tool will require a separate council vote if the city decides to implement it. Council members made several minor edits before adoption, including striking the SRO-by-right proposal after public and staff concern about implementation.

Tom Skrovsky, speaking on behalf of the City of Revere, said the adopted plan is the start of a multi-year process. The next step, he said, is to move individual zoning or policy changes to the council for separate votes. Skrovsky told the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board that the city will begin with "lower-hanging fruit" projects and expects to bring proposals forward in the coming year.

One immediate implementation item the trust expects to pursue is conveyance of six tax-title properties from the city to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Board Chair Joe Gravalese said the trust will request the conveyance at the next council meeting so the trust can issue a request for proposals seeking a developer to create affordable housing or to sell with a preference for affordable outcomes. The board discussed using sale proceeds to capitalize the trust or holding properties for direct development.

Also approved by the council the same night were two Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) districts, including districts on Shirley Avenue and Green Street that offer local and state tax incentives for mixed-income developments that include at least 20% affordable units. Skrovsky said those local tax agreements must still undergo state review; projects that formally seek a local tax agreement will return to the council for approval. He identified Suffolk Downs as a likely early project that could pursue a local tax agreement once the state completes its review.

The trust board and city staff emphasized that the housing production plan and HDIP are policy frameworks rather than immediate zoning changes: each tool in the plan will require separate council action before it is implemented. Trust members said they will work with city staff on drafting the conveyance request and preparing the RFP process once council approval is received.

The board did not take a formal vote on the conveyance at this meeting; members agreed to prepare materials and ask the council to convey the properties to the trust at the next council meeting.