Massachusetts Towns That Embraced Rezoning Law See Uptick In Development Proposals

Some Massachusetts towns, like Milton, Holden and Rockport, have gone to court to fight for the right to block new apartment projects near their transit stops.

But where locals have embraced the state's MBTA Communities Act, passing new zoning rules, it has opened the floodgates for development. Developers and landowners that have historically had a hard time getting approval are now seeing success.

Lexington was one of the first to pass a plan. Residents approved of its 1,231-unit requirement in April 2023, a year ahead of its deadline. Since then, the planning department has received eight proposals totaling 985 housing units, including 143 affordable units.

"[The town] wanted to create an effective zoning amendment that would meet the spirit of the law to produce more housing," Lexington Planning Head Abigail McCabe said. "It is more applications … than we had expected. I didn't expect them to be this many, this quickly."

There are 177 municipalities that must pass a transit-oriented rezoning plan to comply with the MBTA Communities Act enacted in 2021. Seventy-five communities have passed new by-right zoning — including the 11 that had deadlines last year — as of Oct. 1. Another 66 communities have until the end of 2024 to pass zoning that complies with the law, WBUR reported.

The communities that need to comply have commuter rail stops or are adjacent to a community that has one. The number of required units can vary from 100 for smaller towns to tens of thousands of units for cities like Cambridge and Somerville. 

The state has seen growing pushback from communities that don't want to see new development. The state's Supreme Judicial Court heard oral arguments this month on the lawsuit filed by Attorney General Andrea Campbell against Milton after residents voted down its approved plan in February, putting the city out of compliance with the MBTA Communities Act.

"We're committed, we're engaged and we're willing to be reasonable and collaborative because the attorney general does not want to have to sue municipalities," Massachusetts Deputy Attorney General Rontear Pendleton said at a May Bisnow event. "However, we have been very clear from the outset, when a municipality evades its responsibility to comply with the law, we will not hesitate to meet our responsibility to enforce the law."

The towns that have approved pro-development plans are already seeing proposals flood in from developers and landowners looking to bring projects to communities that have historically barred them.

"It really comes down to who is thinking about ways to promote new housing, especially near transit, and where is this being completely driven by NIMBYs and naysayers and alarmists about impacts of development," said Sullivan & Worcester partner Greg Sampson, who leads the firm's permitting and land use group.

Of the Lexington proposals, two have already been approved: a 46-unit, two-building condo project at 5-7 Piper Road from developer Morgan Point LLC and a three-story condo building at 89 Bedford St., where developer FK Partners Lexington won approval Aug. 14 to relocate a historic house on the lot to make room for a 30-unit project.

"At least three of the proposals we have so far were from locations that have been trying to do something for a long time," McCabe said. "I'd say right now, we're seeing a high demand in locations that [developers] hoped they could do something at some point. When we put on this new zoning, it just made that easier."

Last month, Cambridge-based SGL Development proposed a 319-unit development on parcels at 3,4 and 5 Militia Drive, the Banker & Tradesman reported. The site is home to local nondenominational church Grace Chapel's ministry and a building for other office tenants. 

BXP, formerly Boston Properties, plans to replace its office building at 17 Hartwell Ave., which has been ​​vacant since Fractyl Health left the property in 2022, with a 312-unit apartment building, McCabe said.

In Westford, Miami-based ZOM Living proposed a 530-unit project, one of the largest proposed in an MBTA Communities zone. The proposal came after the town approved a zoning plan that was five times that of the minimum requirement in a 402-88 vote at its April town meeting, the Lowell Sun reported.

"I think with the right kinds of opportunities, we're focusing in the city, as we always have, but also out in the inner suburban transit-oriented markets," Samuels & Associates principal Joel Sklar said at Bisnow's Boston State of the Market event Wednesday. "The MBTA Communities Act is really an important piece of legislation that's going to help drive that."

Westwood has also approved zoning that has caught the attention of developers, including Petruziello Properties, which broke ground on its The Block housing development in September, the Boston Business Journal reported.

Needham approved the more ambitious of its two zoning plans, called the Neighborhood Housing Plan, which increased capacity from 1,019 to 1,870 units, Needham Observer reported. The plan was backed by several Needham businesses that said the lack of affordable housing was the biggest challenge in retaining workers.

Sampson said communities like these are seeing the most attention because they are sending the message they want new development.

"I have a number of clients working on projects that are either in districts that have been designated or in districts that there's an effort to designate," Sampson said. "There are great examples where even cities and towns are taking meaningful action to create new opportunities. I think there's been a big focus on that kind of aspect of the law."

HYM Investment Chief Investment Officer Doug Manz said more ambitious proposals are coming out of towns that realize they need to have a game plan for underutilized office properties that aren't bringing in the same revenue they once did.

"A lot of local towns, or suburban towns, are much more flexible with development. They're all facing a fiscal cliff," Manz said during Wednesday's Bisnow event. "We're seeing much more willingness to rezone for senior housing, or even more willingness to pass the MBTA Communities Act."

Other developers aren't as optimistic about the amount of housing that can be generated just from the towns willing to work with them.

Greystar Managing Director Gary Kerr told Bisnow earlier this month he foresees maybe five to seven years of increased new construction.

"I think this act and the law create an initial burst of housing," he said. "I don't know 10 years from now if we still see sites being built under sites that were zoned for this."

Many communities that aren't as welcoming push zoning onto sites that are already developed and might not provide any new multifamily anytime soon. The town of Chelmsford proposed a plan in March that included a parcel that already has townhomes, and Sudbury voted in favor of a plan for an area that was already densely developed.

"As I look at the zoning tools that are being discussed, I just think there's too much latitude that local municipalities have been given," Mark Development principal Damien Chaviano said in May. "When I look at what is going to be implemented, I question how far it's going to move the needle."

Other towns are reported to be waiting to hear back about what Milton's verdict is before they move forward with plans. In June, Billerica's planning board decided to pause planning as the case is heard, the Sun reported.

However, with the deadline two months away, many towns could be toeing the line.

"For the cities and towns that are on the fence, I don't expect you're going to get a clear-cut direction in two and a half months," Sampson said. "A lot of people are going to have to make decisions based on a best guess on how it's going to play out."