REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

Boston Waterfront Partners

The Boston Waterfront Partners (BWP) are soliciting proposals from qualified vendors to provide the research support described in this Request for Proposal (RFP). Please direct all questions regarding RFP scope and requirements to boswaterfrontresearch@googlegroups.com

Proposals must be received by 5:00 PM EST on Monday, November 13, 2023. Please submit all proposals via electronic mail to boswaterfrontresearch@googlegroups.com

INTRODUCTION

The Boston Waterfront Partners (BWP) is a partnership of residents, advocates, and organizations working together to make the city's waterfront open, inviting, and vibrant for all. Organizations include the Barr Foundation, Boston Harbor Now, Conservation Law Foundation, GreenRoots, Harborfront Neighborhood Alliance, Mystic River Watershed Association, The American City Coalition, Harborkeepers, Save the Harbor/Save the Bay, and Trustees of Reservations. (For additional information, visit bostonwaterfrontpartners.org ).

Boston Harbor is one of the great harbors of New England. Its 34 islands shelter multiple coastal cities. Its deep harbor and navigable rivers made it an international port almost from the beginning of European settlement four centuries ago. Diminished in its economic and cultural dominance since its days when shipyards and warehouses lined the harbor's edge, the Port of Boston is now centered around four "Designated Port Areas" (DPAs). DPAs are zoned by the state for water-dependent industrial uses and supporting activities.

The publicly owned South Boston DPA recently received $850 million in state and federal investment to allow Conley Terminal to handle enormous post-Panamax container ships. Conversely, the older portion of the Port, located in the Lower Mystic River and Chelsea Creek, is almost entirely privately owned and has received far less investment. Changes in the maritime economy, climate-driven coastal flood risks, and intense commercial and residential development pressures threaten the viability of DPAs, especially the privately owned DPAs.

PROJECT GOALS

The purpose of this RFP is to secure support from experienced vendors to conduct the research and analysis needed to understand the benefits associated with Boston Harbor's four inner harbor DPAs (South Boston, East Boston, Mystic River, and Chelsea Creek) if DPA regulations remained the same compared to if they were optimized to support the following goals:

• Preventing fragmentation and economic displacement along the waterfront;
• Providing economic opportunities for historically marginalized residents;
• Supporting flood-resilient industrial uses; and
• Preventing coastal flooding from harming inland neighborhoods.

A successful project will provide the data and analysis needed to understand how to optimize DPAs to support these four goals (and perhaps others that come up during stakeholder conversations). The Working Group also wants to understand the extent to which DPA regulations could already support these goals. Specific concerns include the following:

Preventing fragmentation and economic displacement near existing DPAs. The Boston Planning and Development Agency requested that a portion of the East Boston DPA be de-designated in order to allow for market-rate residential development that would elevate the shoreline. There is intense pressure to de-designate other privately held DPA parcels to allow redevelopment for biotech labs, a soccer stadium, and other commercial and residential development. Allowing fragmentation and conversion of the DPAs is likely to accelerate waterfront gentrification and fragmentation of larger parcels essential for industrial activities.

Providing economic opportunities for historically marginalized residents. The neighborhoods surrounding Boston Harbor's privately owned DPAs have for centuries been home to successive waves of new immigrants able to afford the lower rents of East Boston, Chelsea, Everett, and Charlestown. Over the past half-century, the global maritime economy changed, and the Boston Harbor cleanup attracted both more-affluent residents and non-maritime businesses to the waterfront. This has stretched the gap between wages and housing costs to the breaking point for many residents. BWP seeks to understand what expanded range of equitable economic activities might be appropriate for these DPAs.

Supporting flood-resilient industrial uses. When DPAs were established in the late 1970s, climate change and sea level rise were nearly unknown concerns. Over the next several decades, however, significant portions of these DPAs will begin to flood chronically unless their shorelines are elevated. Given sea level rise and increasing coastal storm strength, industries located in DPAs need to be able to flood with corrosive salt water without harm to themselves or to their surroundings. BWP seeks to understand what existing and new activities would be appropriate for DPAs as coastal flooding becomes more chronic and severe.

Preventing coastal flood damage to lower-income BIPOC neighborhoods. The cities of Boston, Chelsea, and Everett lack the robust public funding needed to eliminate significant coastal flood pathways that threaten both existing DPAs and inland neighborhoods. To date, the City of Boston has relied on waterfront redevelopment to elevate low-lying shorelines. BWP seeks to understand who has benefitted to date from Boston's coastal resilience projects, who has been displaced, and what other options for closing flood pathways would protect lower-income residents of color in the absence of conversion to residential housing.

SCOPE OF SERVICES AND DELIVERABLES

Below is BWP's thinking to date on what kinds of available data would help it understand challenges and solutions in helping Boston Harbor's four inner harbor DPAs best serve current and future economic, climate, and equity goals. The respondent is encouraged to refine and focus these lines of inquiry. BWP anticipates the project involving both research and stakeholder engagement.

Data Compilation and Analysis

The respondent will create an inventory of relevant data to support BWP's four specific concerns, as well as a full picture of underlying data on employment on Boston's waterfront. Data will address:

Preventing fragmentation and economic displacement near existing DPAs.

• What land uses are likely to increase gentrification/economic displacement, and what land uses are likely to support lower-income residents and workers?
• What policies and/or investments could support the land uses likely to support lower-income residents and workers?

Equitable economic activities.

• How many and what kinds of jobs are currently supported by businesses in these four DPAs? Who bears the costs of DPAs as they are now configured (e.g., lack of economic efficiency, toxics)?
• Conduct landscape analysis of existing and emerging maritime industries and jobs including historic maritime industrial uses as well as nontraditional uses like offshore wind, clean energy, bluetech, and more.
• Quantify/qualify wage, education, and racial gaps among various longstanding and emerging jobs being created in waterfront and waterfront proximate areas (e.g., Amazon warehouses, gig economy, biotech labs).
• Provide data on economic benefit extracted from the port area and to whom the profits generated by the businesses in the port accrue (e.g., foreign investors, out of state shareholders, local property owners).

Supporting flood-resilient industrial uses.

• What would it take for existing and currently allowable uses of DPAs to remain viable as coastal flood risks increase and become more chronic?
• What new flood-resilient industries/activities could be appropriate for DPAs that provide good-paying jobs that do not require college degrees but are not allowed under current regulations?

Preventing coastal flood damage to lower-income BIPOC neighborhoods.

• Who is living in newly redeveloped properties along Boston Harbor's waterfront (e.g., since 2010)? What is known about their race and socioeconomic status and whether units are owner occupied? How much public versus private money has gone into coastal flood management in these areas?
• Document the 2010 to 2020 United States Census trends in economic displacement (by race and income) near areas of waterfront redevelopment vs. near existing DPA parcels.
• Compare private real estate value generated by waterfront redevelopment vs. public benefits generated (e.g., tax revenues, public parks, affordable housing, equitable economic development, flood resilience).
• Provide an assessment of the current value of coastal assets at risk given the current DPA designation versus the approximate value of the properties under the scenario of DPA removal and subsequent development of typical waterfront projects (e.g., Seaport developments for the South Boston DPA, and recent coastal developments in East Boston for the Northern DPAs).

In addition to the four concerns above, BWP seeks data to help answer/frame the following questions:

What would likely happen if DPA regulations remain the same?

• Compare and contrast DPAs with the Seaport as a similar area with no DPA designation.
• What additional zoning ordinances or other regulatory limits govern each DPA and the neighborhoods behind them? What role would a Municipal Harbor Plan process play?
• Are there non-regulatory tools available now to support BWP's goals if DPAs were to be eliminated?
• Estimated tax revenues for existing DPAs vs. if land were redeveloped.

How can DPA regulations be optimized?

• Have other cities (e.g., Seattle, San Francisco) updated their working port regulations in ways that support BWP's above-stated goals?
• What useful information might be in DPA Master Plan regulations and existing DPA Master Plans in other cities?
• How would DPA regulations need to be modified (or more expansively interpreted) to ensure that Boston's Inner Harbor DPAs support the goals stated above?

Stakeholder/Community Engagement

Robust stakeholder and community engagement is a critical component of helping BWP understand challenges and solutions. The proposal should include a comprehensive stakeholder/community engagement plan that includes but is not limited to:

• Develop a focus group guide;
• Be prepared to host focus groups in multiple languages;
• Through a minimum of five focus groups (likely more than five) with approximately 10 participants per focus group, engage participants in conversations that:
• Ground truth and complete the data compilation and analysis task above;
• Deepen understanding of points of common interest and disagreement among stakeholders and BWP's stated outcomes. Seek to elicit solutions to disagreements.
• Recruit and engage participants, including stakeholders identified by the team during the project, and offer compensation for their time. Engagement should include, at a minimum:
  
  • City of Boston residents: representative sample of Boston residents that includes BIPOC City of Boston residents who might not live near the waterfront, and linguistic minorities;
  • Maritime industry representatives and waterfront workers;
  • Relevant state agencies and quasi-governmental entities including the Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), MassDEP Waterways Program, and Massport;
  • Port operators and property owners; and
  • Other stakeholders: the project team may identify additional stakeholders that should be part of the engagement process. These stakeholders should be included as determined by the project team.

Final Recommendations

The final report will use the findings from the data analysis and stakeholder conversations to support the following recommendations:

• Identify shared (and divergent) visions for the working port across multiple stakeholders.
• Identify a broader allowable range of waterfront uses within Boston Harbor's Inner Harbor DPAs. Focus on clean industries resilient to chronic coastal flooding, good-paying jobs that do not require college degrees, and opportunities for safe public access to the waterfront.
• Identify existing DPA regulations that could be interpreted more broadly, and updates to DPA regulations necessary to allow for and encourage an expanded range of appropriate activities.

Timeline

The BPW requests both intermediate and final deliverables.

Short-term deliverables will include data compilation and will be due within two to three months of project commencement.

The final deliverable will be expected between 8 and 12 months after contract signature, depending on the final scope negotiated between the consultant(s) and BWP.

Bidder Qualifications and Proposal Requirements

To be considered for this contract, vendors must provide the following items as part of their proposal:

1. Demonstrated expertise in waterfront regulations, coastal resilience, and equitable economic/community development;
2. Demonstrated expertise conducting inclusive and culturally responsive community stakeholder engagement processes;
3. Detailed scope of work, including how the vendor would approach the components (data compilation and analysis, stakeholder/community engagement, final recommendations) of the project described above;
4. Timeline, key deliverables, and estimated project cost with itemized budget;
5. Resumes of principal project staff; and
6. Relevant client references.

Contract terms and conditions will be negotiated upon selection of the winning bidder for this RFP. All contractual terms and conditions will include scope of work, budget, timeline, and other necessary items pertaining to the project.

VI. Proposal Evaluation Criteria

BWP will evaluate all proposals based on the following criteria:

• Overall proposal suitability: Proposals must meet the scope and needs included herein and be presented in a clear and organized manner.
• Vendor experience: Vendors and the principal staff members will be evaluated on their technical expertise and experience as it pertains to the scope of this project.
• Stakeholder/community engagement: Approach and methodology for stakeholder and community involvement.
• Value and cost: Vendors will be evaluated on the cost of their proposal based on the work to be performed in accordance with the scope of the project.

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