Cambridge panels recess Affordable Housing Trust review, reconvened session planned

CAMBRIDGE -- July 10, 2024, Cambridge committees recess a joint review of the Affordable Housing Trust after a two-hour session that surfaced disputes over transparency, developer vetting, and a contested $18 million project award. The Cambridge Finance Committee and Housing Committee, meeting jointly for the first time in years to examine the 35-year-old trust, heard from City Manager Yi-An Huang and Housing Director Chris Cotter that trust revenues have grown from roughly $15 million in fiscal year 2018 to nearly $85 million in fiscal year 2024, driven by a record $35 million in incentive zoning contributions and a city budget allocation that has grown from $3.5 million to $24.6 million since fiscal year 2019. Eighteen public speakers testified, with housing developers HRI and Just-A-Start praising the trust's nimbleness in competitive property markets while several residents questioned a pre-Planning Board approval of $18 million for a 90-unit Walden Square Road project and called for expanded public access to trust meetings. Both committees voted unanimously to recess before completing the presentation's financial slides, with Chair Patty Nolan directing that unresolved questions, including funding-criteria weighting, board training, and building-monitoring protocols, be submitted to city staff ahead of a reconvened session.