Wu Wins Boston Mayoral Race, Pledging Progressive Changes That Could Trigger CRE Shock Waves
Michelle Wu will take the reins of Boston in two weeks after cruising to victory in Tuesday’s mayoral election, pledging to usher in a progressive platform that will be felt across the commercial real estate landscape.
The 36-year-old is the first woman and the first person of color to be elected Boston mayor. Wu, a Boston City Councilor At-Large, defeated Boston City Councilor At-Large Annissa Essaibi George, who ran on a more moderate platform, by a 63% to 34% margin. Wu will take acting Mayor Kim Janey’s seat on Nov. 16.
“We’re ready to be a Boston where all can afford to stay and thrive,” she said Tuesday night in a victory speech.
Wu, a Roslindale resident and city councilor since 2013, advocates abolishing the Boston Planning and Development Agency and rent control for Boston’s sky-high rents, among other progressive changes such as making the MBTA free. Essaibi George argued rent control would lead to disinvestment and called for a new planning office separate from the BPDA, calling abolishing the BPDA “inappropriate.”
The mayor-elect made headlines in 2019 with her 72-page “Abolish the BPDA” report, in which she vowed to replace the half-century-old agency with a more traditional planning board akin to development models in other municipalities. Wu told Bisnow in June developers and residents are on board with revamping the process.
“We as a city need to get to the point where there's a clear set of rules to guide development and a zoning code that is updated that matches the needs in communities today, from housing affordability to transportation access to climate resiliency,” she said.
Wu wants to reduce the “soft costs” of development, cutting down the lengthy review process in which attorneys and consultants eat a chunk of project budgets. The mayor-elect's plans call for earmarking at least $200M in federal pandemic relief aid toward housing and promoting zoning reforms to ease affordable housing construction. She also called for more on-site childcare in downtown’s largest buildings to spur a return to work, with many employees not yet back in their offices.
The Chicago native graduated from Harvard Law School and began her municipal career under former Mayor Thomas Menino. Wu was the city’s first woman of color to serve as Boston City Council President in 2016 and in the past few years publicly challenged former Mayor Martin Walsh’s administration on development-related issues. She topped the historically diverse field of five candidates in September's Boston mayoral primary and carried strong support from progressives, including her former Harvard professor, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
She’ll replace Janey, who has served as acting mayor since March when Walsh departed to serve as President Joseph Biden’s U.S. Labor Secretary. Janey, the first woman and person of color to serve as mayor, placed fourth in September’s primary. The acting mayor took on the commercial real estate industry in her brief stint, implementing a controversial eviction moratorium and moving to withdraw a much-debated waterfront harbor development plan.
