Paul Chan, MUA

Mr. Chan currently serves as a commissioner in the City of Boston Air Pollution Control Commission. He retired from Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) in 2022.

Until 2014, Mr. Chan was the Director of Development of MHIC. He led a team of underwriting professionals which was responsible for financing affordable housing and community development projects through construction and development lending, the acquisition of Low Income Housing Tax Credits and New Markets Tax Credits. During those years, the group had initiated, underwritten and closed an average of $200 million of loans and equity investments annually. Since 1990, MHIC has been a private non-profit providing financing for community development projects such as Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building in Roxbury, Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, South Cove Manor Nursing Home in Quincy, 110 Canal Street in Lowell, Elms College in Chicopee, and the Enterprise Building in Brockton.

Before joining MHIC, Mr. Chan was a managing partner in the development of the successful One Lincoln Street project and the ill-fated Ruggles Center project. The housing linkage contributions from One Lincoln helped to finance housing developments in Chinatown and Roxbury. In addition to statutory linkage payments, the One Lincoln Street project contributed over $5 million to community projects in Chinatown through the Chinatown Trust Fund and from the profit sharing of Cl Associates (the Chinese investors in the project).

Mr. Chan has been active in Boston’s Chinese community since he came to Boston in 1970. In the early years, he was a member of the Voice of the Chinese Community (a weekly community radio program), a founder and editor of the SAMPAN, a founding member of the Vocational English Education Program, and for over fifty years, he has served as president, officer and board member of many community organizations. He prepared the Determination of Need application for South Cove Manor Nursing Home in the late 1970’s. He rehabilitated the original Josiah Quincy School for CCBA (1983), developed the Tremont Village under the Chapter 705 public housing program (1986), and initiated the Waterford Place development (1986). He was instrumental in CCBA’s purchase of Tai Tung Village from the original investors in 1994.  When he was the president of CCBA (2016-2019), he also initiated the 288 Harrison Avenue development and the 50 Herald Street development projects.

He served as the chief negotiator for the Chinese community in the various collaborations between the community and Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center. He has worked on many community projects as a volunteer consultant.

Mr. Chan has a Bachelor of Laws degree from National Chengchi University in Taipei and a Master’s degree in Urban Affairs from the Metropolitan College of Boston University.

Mr. Chan was the Chair of the Boston Living Wage Advisory Committee, a member of the Boston Employment Commission, Boston Groundwater Trust, Boston Transportation Advisory Committee, City of Boston Chinatown Land Trust. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors of Tufts Medical Center.