Competition Heats Up For Development Sites After State-Mandated Rezonings

Four years after the state introduced its ambitious housing law, developers have proposed thousands of units in towns across eastern Massachusetts, many in communities they have historically had trouble entering. 

Under the MBTA Communities Act, towns and cities that are home to transit stops or adjacent to those communities are required to create as of right zoning districts for multifamily housing. 

As of July 15, 140 communities have submitted or adopted multifamily rezoning plans to comply with the law, according to the state. And more than 4,000 housing units have begun construction or been proposed because of the law.

Earlier this week, Dallas-based Trammell Crow Residential filed plans for a 752-unit apartment complex in Braintree. The project is one of three that have been proposed in recent weeks, with the other two totaling 437 units.

Multifamily builders are competing for sites in these communities to propose new projects, and housing advocates say they expect thousands of additional units to join the pipeline in the coming years.

"Developers have been telling us that they're seeing opportunities in certain municipalities that they never would have seen before," Jacob Love, Citizens' Housing & Planning Association general counsel for policy, told Bisnow.

"They're also saying that the bidding on buildable land has been extremely competitive."

Love said these opportunities are rising in towns that have historically pushed back on allowing multifamily development but now have less ability to do so because of the law. 

"The benefit of the law is that even in communities that have not been particularly welcoming to multifamily housing in the past, the law requires these zones to allow multifamily housing as of right," Love said.

The 31-acre property at 10 Plain St. in Braintree, just over a mile from the Braintree station on the MBTA's Red Line, is home to a vacant industrial and office space occupied by the state's Registry of Motor Vehicles. The property is owned by Hollingsworth Pond LLC, which agreed to sell the property to Trammell Crow in December.

The other two projects proposed in recent weeks were in the suburbs of Medford and Needham.

In July, Charleston, South Carolina-based Greystar proposed a three-story, 189-unit project at 110 West St. in Needham, and Boston-based Transom Real Estate proposed a 248-unit development that would replace a Kappy's Fine Wines & Spirits near Medford's Wellington Orange Line stop.

Re:Main founder Jonathan Berk, whose company advises cities and towns on urban planning and development, said the bulk of new projects have been proposed in communities that have welcomed the law and adopted districts that can drive meaningful change.

He said communities including Braintree, Needham, Watertown and Westwood have been at the forefront of development interest.

"The towns seeing new housing proposals are largely those that embraced the MBTA Communities initiative to fulfill both the letter and the spirit of the law," Berk said in a statement to Bisnow. "They recognized that MBTA Communities presented an opportunity to address not only the Commonwealth's housing needs but also their own."

Other projects have been proposed in the northern suburbs of Boston.

In Westford, ZOM Living's 530-unit proposal came after the town approved a zoning plan in April 2024 that was five times the minimum requirement. In Lexington, SGL Development proposed a 319-unit development on parcels at 3, 4 and 5 Militia Drive in October 2024.

Some projects have broken ground already in MBTA Communities zoning districts.

BXP began construction on its 17 Hartwell Ave. multifamily development in Lexington, which is adjacent to several commuter rail stops, earlier this month. The 312-unit project was proposed in August 2024 and approved in December.

In September, Supreme Development subsidiary Petruzziello Properties broke ground on a 160-unit residential project in Westwood next to the town's commuter rail station.

Though these projects face less of a challenge in getting approved than they once did, this year's macroeconomic uncertainty and high development costs could put a damper on the amount of housing being built in the short term.

Housing inventory under construction in the region fell to a 10-year low, with around 11,000 units in the construction pipeline at the end of the first quarter, according to Colliers.

Additionally, some communities that have complied with the law did so in areas that have far less developable land, making it harder for projects to be proposed.

"It's important to remember that many communities aimed for minimal compliance with MBTA Communities, ensuring that little to no new housing would result from these efforts," Berk wrote in his statement. "This approach will significantly limit the bill's impact."

State lawmakers have introduced legislation titled An Act to Support Yes in My Backyard, which includes measures to lower the barriers to development in these communities, such as limiting minimum lot sizes and removing parking requirements.

Love said that although there are short-term hurdles to building this much-needed housing, the developers and planners that he talked to believe in the law's long-term success as economic conditions change and new development sites become available.

"Four thousand units at this point of the implementation process is a lot. That number is only going to go up exponentially," Love said. "Planners and developers are expecting a lot more projects either to be proposed or to start building in the next few months, in the next few years."