A Fenway nonprofit will house homeless residents in a planned affordable housing development on Queensberry Street, under a requirement by the Mayor’s Office of Housing (MOH).

Fenway Forward (FF), the new name for the Fenway Community Development Corporation is anticipated to begin construction soon on its project at 112-114 Queensberry Street, which plans to create 24 units of permanently affordable housing.

FF, a nonprofit housing and community organization in the neighborhood, wrote in its original application for the site that, “Per the Mayor’s Office of Housing’s requirements, 10% of units will be set aside for formerly homeless individuals and families.”

This refers to an MOH policy that requires any affordable rental developments that have more than 10 units and are supported by city funding to set aside 10 percent of their units for what the city calls “homeless households.” In simpler terms, a chunk of the development must be dedicated to housing homeless tenants.

“At least 10 percent of the units in a qualifying city supported rental development must be reserved for households transitioning out of homelessness,” a spokesperson for the MOH said in a statement. “These units are designated exclusively for eligible homeless households referred through the city’s coordinated entry system, in partnership with the Boston Housing Authority and the Mayor’s Office of Housing.”

A nearby property owner recalled discussing the homeless set-aside with FF officials during the initial planning process. “It did seem like there would be a thorough vetting program,” they said.

The MOH policy states that the screening process for tenants would include “references from the Household’s case worker, service provider, current employer, or other such party with information that could mitigate any negative aspects associated with homelessness and/or the Household’s past housing history.”

However, there are no minimum requirements regarding income in order for homeless people to be referred into units through the MOH system.

“This process prioritizes applicants based on need and vulnerability, not income or employment status,” the MOH spokesperson said. “In fact, most have extremely low or no income when entering housing.

The goal is to provide stable, supportive housing to end homelessness, not to impose income thresholds.”

If a referred homeless person has no income, the city appears to take on financial responsibility for their expenses. The policy states that property owners are “encouraged to use project-based operating subsidies to support Homeless Set Aside units, as long as the project-based subsidy allows for tenant selection to follow the [MOH] referral process.”

The FF was awarded city funding for the project as part of a $64 million disbursement this past May. The city did not publicly specify how much it received. It has also been allocated $1,400,000 from federal funds. As of September, the total project cost was estimated at $18,872,343.

According to a city report on income-restricted housing in 2024, there are a total of 2,099 affordable housing units set aside for homeless people. Approximately 3.5 percent of all income-restricted units in Boston are set aside under this policy.

The report also provided a map of all developments with set-asides in the city. The majority are concentrated in Roxbury and Dorchester. A second cluster is in Jamaica Plain. But there are some units in central Boston, in neighborhoods like Downtown, Chinatown, Back Bay and the South End. According to the report, only one currently exists in the Fenway.

FF did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.