Leaders from five cities joined Lt. Gov Kim Driscoll Monday to sign a compact committing themselves to increasing the number of minority-owned and women-owned firms in private real estate development.
The Commonwealth Development Compact was created by the Civic Action Project, the Boston Society for Architecture, the Builders of Color Coalition, and the Eastern Bank Foundation, and drew support from the mayors of Cambridge, Lynn, Salem and Somerville.
City of Boston Chief of Planning Arthur Jemison said in a statement that he was “excited that the ongoing work of the BPDA will become the standard for this initial cohort of municipalities, and hope that it inspires other cities and towns to join this effort.”
The compact commits its signers to achieving 25 percent diversity, equity, and inclusion evaluation criteria in public real estate development projects within their municipalities, as well as “groundbreaking” DEI considerations in private real estate projects.
Compact supporters say minority-and women-owned businesses comprise less than 1 percent of developers nationally and manage less than 1 percent of real estate assets across the Northeast. Compact standard can be met by contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses, partnering with diverse equity investors, creating space for community use and retail, or creating diverse internships and talent pipelines, according to organizers.
