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rebrand

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The rebranding of the BRA to the BPDA will be on display, or not, as the Harrison Albany Block development unfolds in Boston’s South End.

one is listening.”

comes in. As the old BRA had the reputation of a heavy handed bureaucracy that always sided with the developer, the rebranding was roundly panned by the Boston media. Radio host and columnist Howie Carr even asked, “Sure, there were issues with the BRA – hackerama, incompetence, greed etc. – but how does changing the name to the Boston Planning and Development Agency resolve them?” And normal residents, at least those who are dealing with the agency in their own back yard, feel the same way. “It’s a rebranding in name, but not in actuality,” says the Harrison Albany Alliance, speaking to The Zweig Letter . “The city is going to do what it wants.” Members of the Harrison Albany Alliance live next to, or near, a development in the South End, currently under re- view by the BPDA, known as the Harrison Albany Block. Developed by Leggat McCall and Bentall Kennedy, it’s a four-building project that will entail 710 residential units, 14,100 square feet of retail, and 40,000 square feet of of- fice. The Alliance, a community group monitoring the devel- opment, says the rebranding hasn’t had a noticeable effect on the project. Neighborhood concerns include height and exterior de- sign, surrounding infrastructure, affordable housing, traf- fic, parking, and public transit. But to date, the Alliance says the city has only given lip service to a more inclusive pro- cess. “They’re going through the motions, but they’re not provid- ing the residents anything,” says the Alliance. “It’s like no

The rebranding comes on the heels of several major occur- rences. In January 2014, Walsh succeeded Mayor Thomas Menino, in office for 20 years. Also in 2014, KPMG’s review of the BRA and the affiliated Economic Development Indus- trial Corp., found poor financial controls. And last year, an audit by McKinsey and Company found the following: the BRA had no vision, it wasn’t a one-stop shop for planning, the agency was understaffed and infected with poor morale, poor transparency, and inaccurate real estate records. “It’s a rebranding in name, but not in actuality. The city is going to do what it wants.” So what does the BRA do? It hires outside consulting firm Continuum – for a reported $670,000 – to spearhead the rebranding. Continuum, a design consultancy that, among other things, helped Daisy design a new squeezable contain- er for its sour cream, helped the BRA look at itself in the mirror. Here is what it saw: ❚ ❚ Growth has positive and negative outcomes; oftentimes the BPDA becomes associated with the negative ones. ❚ ❚ Often it is difficult for people to connect actions and their

positive outcomes, so we do not get credit. ❚ ❚ People struggle to relate to our content.

See BOSTON, page 8

ember 7, 2016, ISSUE 1175

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