AN ACT EXEMPTING CERTAIN AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND BRANCH LIBRARY SPACE IN THE DORCHESTER SECTION OF THE CITY OF BOSTON FROM PUBLIC PROCUREMENT LAWS
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. (a) Construction and development activity related to redevelopment by the developer selected by the Boston Planning and Development Agency of subsidized affordable housing, including space for a branch library to be procured by the Boston public library, to be built on land owned by the Boston Planning and Development Agency under a ground lease, or any part thereof, located at 555-559 Columbia road in the city of Boston, shall not be subject to any general or special law related to the procurement and award of contracts for the planning, design, construction management, construction, reconstruction, installation, demolition, maintenance or repair of buildings or public works by a public agency, including chapter 149, chapter 7C or section 39M of chapter 30 of the General Laws but shall be subject to sections 26 to 27H, inclusive, of said chapter 149; provided, however, that the acquisition of any interest in real property by the city of Boston necessary to support the completion of the project shall not be subject to section 16 of chapter 30B of the General Laws; and provided further, that the cost of any such acquisition shall not be limited by any general or special law, including sections 31 to 31B, inclusive, of chapter 486 of the acts of 1909, as appearing in section 12 of chapter 642 of the acts of 1966.
(b) Contracts for the construction, reconstruction, alteration, remodeling or repair of any publicly-owned public works that service the project described in subsection (a) and would otherwise be subject to section 39M of chapter 30 of the General Laws shall be subject to said section 39M of said chapter 30 if the redevelopment of the project is funded in part by state or federal government low-income housing tax credit, grant or loan or pursuant to the issuance of tax-exempt bonds authorized by law. A conveyance of the project, whether by leasehold or fee estate, to an urban redevelopment corporation organized under chapter 121A of the General Laws or to a nonprofit state and federally tax-exempt corporation organized for the purpose of revitalizing the project shall be subject to chapter 30B of the General Laws to the extent that the project is conveyed to an entity that is not owned, controlled or managed by the Boston public library on the date of the conveyance.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
Approved, October 8, 2025.