Boston Public Facilities Commission Approves Name Change and Two Land Sales

BOSTON — July 19, 2026 — Boston's Public Facilities Commission unanimously approved all four Mayor's Office of Housing votes at its July 19 meeting, including a formal name change and two tentative developer designations covering six vacant city-owned parcels. Chair Catherine Craven presided as Chief and Director Sheila Dillon secured commission acknowledgement of the January 25, 2022 executive order renaming the Department of Neighborhood Development to the Mayor's Office of Housing, saying "the name has become obsolete over the years and it is confusing to the general public." Senior Staff Attorney James McDonough Jr. won approval for two technical amendments to the commission's certificate of authority after the Land Court flagged the language during review of a pending deregistration petition. The commission also approved a $28,000 tentative sale of a Jamaica Plain parcel with no street frontage to Forest Woods Condominium Trust, and a $500 tentative sale of five long-vacant Dorchester parcels to minority- and veteran-owned Norfolk Design and Construction LLC, which proposes eight deed-restricted affordable homeownership units with 50-year affordability requirements and an estimated 22,628 construction hours.