Susan Gittelman
A proposal to turn 45 acres of underused land at MassBay Community College in Wellesley into at least 180 units of housing would be a win for all the parties involved. But getting there illustrates just how complicated these projects can be, even when they’re done under legislation designed to streamline housing development.
Last year’s Affordable Homes Act includes a provision that allows the commonwealth to turn state parcels that have been determined to be surplus into housing with a density of at least four units per acre and to bypass local zoning processes.
Under a provision in the law that sunsets in about five years, municipalities would only be allowed to impose “reasonable regulations” regarding characteristics such as setbacks and building height.
The Division of Capital Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) administers the program in collaboration with the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Cities.
Wellesley Proposal Would Help All
The plan would certainly be a win for MassBay.
The legislation wisely encourages state agencies to participate by allowing the agency that had care and control of the land to retain the proceeds from its sale. In this case, that’s an estimated $70 million for 40 acres woodlands that border the town’s Centennial Park and a parking lot that is home to a pickleball court and unused school buses.
The funds would be used to build a new building for the cybersecurity program – one of MassBay’s most successful – and fitness facilities.
Wellesley would also be a big winner. Many residents don’t realize how much of the forest is state-owned, unprotected land as opposed to the protected town-owned park. The deal could ensure that the forest can be preserved.
The state would benefit by creating at least 180 new housing units toward the Healey administration’s stated goal of seeing 222,000 new units built by 2035. As outmigration from Massachusetts accelerates, housing costs are consistently cited as a leading reason. Housing costs are also changing the face of Wellesley.
“The town has stopped being a community where a young family can afford to buy a house and raise kids,” former Select Board member Ann-Mara Lanza told me. “Elementary school enrollment is declining; we need more and different types of housing.”
Trying to Find the Right Approach
In a show of goodwill, DCAMM went into both a joint meeting of the Select and Planning Boards and community meetings with an open-ended proposal, stressing that they would shape the plan to create housing around community wishes. But that approach may have backfired in Wellesley, or at a minimum been misunderstood.
“They met with four town groups before the board and community meetings,” Lanza said. “Each one expressed their desire to preserve the forest.”
But when DCAMM took a more open-ended approach to their discussion in the board and community meanings, it aroused suspicion among town residents.
Lanza believes that offering a plan that either limited housing units to the site of the current parking lot or included housing on an acre or two of flat land in the part of the forest near the lot, while specifically preserving the rest of the forest, could be well received.
Land for Homes Progressing in Salem
Comparing the experience in Wellesley to a project being done in Salem under the same State Land for Homes program shows just how difficult DCAMM’s task is.
At Salem State University, Avalon Bay Communities and Winn Development are transforming 23 acres of surplus student housing, an old academic building and part of the historic original campus into housing.
Avalon Bay will create 320-340 housing units, 80 percent of them market rate and 20 percent affordable, and Winn is building 100-120 units of senior affordable housing.
The university plans to use the sale proceeds to address long-term infrastructure needs.
“I credit DCAMM for creating a thoughtful, well-considered offering and working with different developers,” said Winn Development Executive Vice President Adam Stein. “That kind of foresight attracts the best partners, targets community needs and results in diverse development.”
No entity can ever craft the perfect strategy for every situation, but the MassBay project demonstrates just how high the stakes can be as DCAMM quarterbacks the State Land for Homes program.
Let’s hope projects like the one in Wellesley that would create both much-needed housing and benefits for all the major stakeholders can make it across the finish line throughout Massachusetts.
Susan Gittelman is executive director of B’nai B’rith Housing, a nonprofit affordable housing developer currently working in Boston, MetroWest and the North Shore.
