Acting upon the recommendations in an outside audit, the Boston Redevelopment Authority has created a full-time position to oversee the agency’s 16-million-square-foot real estate portfolio.

Edward O’Donnell, currently the economic development director in Somerville, will take over as the BRA’s new director of real estate in January.

He will be responsible for maximizing revenues from the sale and leasing of properties under the control of the BRA, which is largely self-supporting.

An independent audit submitted by KPMG in July 2014 faulted the BRA for lax record-keeping including a backlog of nearly $4.3 million in overdue lease payments from private tenants that occupy BRA properties. It also urged the agency to place a higher priority on generating revenues from its real estate portfolio.

O’Donnell will be responsible for appointing a division that will concentrate on real estate management and development on vacant land and existing buildings, beginning with the creation of an up-to-date inventory on all properties, the BRA said in a press release issued Monday. Much of the potential lies in the 200-acre Boston Marine Industrial Park.

O’Donnell has 30 years of experience including an eight-year stint as deputy director of economic development for the BRA in the 1990s. In Somerville, he has been overseeing the city’s redevelopment efforts in Union Square, where more than 2 million square feet of commercial and residential projects are on tap, and the continuing development of the Assembly Row complex.