BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in Roxbury on Saturday for the newest apartment complex by the Madison Park Development Corporation, which builds affording housing for low-income applicants.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, along with several other local lawmakers, spoke at the event.

The 76 new mixed-income housing units are the latest in the city’s efforts to build affordable housing, as rent rates in Boston continue to skyrocket.

There were more than 4,000 applicants for the units. Mayor Walsh said this is indicative of Boston’s affordable housing crisis, and why more and more families are having to leave the city.

“We’ve created over 6,000 units of affordable housing since we started our housing plan in 2014,” Walsh said. “But, as anyone in this neighborhood can tell you, we still have a long way to go.”

Walsh also pushed back against City Counselor At-Large Michelle Wu’s plan to abolish the Boston Planning and Development Agency.

“That’s the worst thing we could do right now, because what we’re doing in the Development Agency is planning the future of the city,” Walsh said. “In the past, we weren’t planning. So, as the growth happened in the city of Boston, we weren’t prepared for the increase of people. We need to make sure if development happens in the city of Boston, there has to be housing that goes with those jobs.”

Read the entire story as it originally appeared on WBZ here.