Quincy hearing opens on expanding HDIP to include Grossman property; public raises affordability and eligibility concerns

Quincy, Massachusetts — The Quincy City Council’s ordinance committee opened a public hearing June 2 on an order to amend the city’s Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) zone to include the property commonly known as the Grossman property between Bergen Parkway and Grant Street. The mayor’s chief of staff, Chris Walker, testified the administration supports the map amendment and said the associated development has been through planning-board review; he confirmed no vote would be taken at the hearing.

The proposed expansion would make the Grossman site eligible for local tax-relief negotiations and state certification under Massachusetts’ Housing Development Incentive Program, a state program that provides project-level tax credits and incentives to certain developments in designated gateway cities. The administration’s presentation said the Grossman project has been reviewed by the planning board and noted an earlier Quincy project, the Watson in Quincy Point, used…