In 2021, Mrs. Smart co-founded The OnyxGroup Development LLC,  a Boston based, black woman-owned-&-operated brokerage, planning & development business. The OnyxGroup focuses on providing quality, programmatic workforce housing through public and private partnerships. We believe that affordable housing should not be synonymous with poverty.

The OnyxGroup current development projects include, but are not limited to,  a 200-unit Senior Affordable building project in Foxboro, MA;  a collaboration with Peabody Properties and Affordable Housing Service Collaborative; Parcel 3 Roxbury, MA - Operating as commercial broker for over 41,000 sq. ft. of commercial space, a Boston Planning and Development (BPDA) project consisting of 7.7 acres a joint partnership with HYM and My City at Peace (MYCAP); A mixed use residential project (DCAMM) at 36 Main Street, Brockton, MA a proposed 47 unit project.

 

In 2022, the OnyxGroup expanded and launched a property management division and partnered with Concord Square Development & Planning as Property Management at 28 Petronelli and 93 Centre, Street, Brockton, MA.

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Chanda Smart is a long time resident of Roxbury, MA, studied communications and pre-law at University of Massachusetts and served as an Executive Administrator to Lani Guinier and Yochai Benkler at Harvard Law School. Ms. Smart’s 20+ years of corporate experience, included executing operational strategy and delivering results for employers such as Deloitte & Touche LLP, The Gillette Company, American Express, Andersen Consulting and the Ritz Carlton (Atlanta, GA).

 

As of 2023, MBTA Board of Directors and the MBTA Workforce and Development Subcommittee Board, Board Member on the Children’s Advocacy Center (Boston, MA); Madison Park Development Corporation Board and Real Estate Sub Committee (Roxbury, MA). Mrs. Smart also served on Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s Rent Stabilization Advisory Board.