by CommonWealth Beacon | Apr 16, 2026
The Mass Ready Act bond bill includes a provision that would require home sellers to disclose their property’s flood history and risks to prospective buyers and money for a voluntary buyout program.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Mar 30, 2026
Major transit improvements may be on the horizon in Springfield, according to Meredith Slesinger, rail and transit administrator for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Mar 12, 2026
Real estate industry leaders ave already warned in dire terms that imposing rent control across Massachusetts would bring housing construction to a halt and make it harder for landlords to invest in property repairs.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Mar 5, 2026
What the SJC will decide as it wrestles with the town of Marshfield’s lawsuit may turn on a simple, pointed line of inquiry: “What were the expenses?”
by CommonWealth Beacon | Mar 2, 2026
Malden and five other cities have struggled to draw investment to its blighted downtown areas. But thanks to a new partnership with MassDevelopment, locals hope that’s about to change
by CommonWealth Beacon | Feb 12, 2026
In the wake of a lawsuit filed last month by Attorney General Andrea Campbell, some leaders of the holdout towns are starting to openly acknowledge that this may be the end of the road for resistance to the law.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Feb 9, 2026
Rent control opponents have gone to court to try to stop a November ballot question that would impose one of the strictest caps on rent in the country.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Jan 27, 2026
“Development” is a promising word in Gateway Cities, and Everett’s new mayor just inherited a lot of it in his first few weeks in office.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Jan 26, 2026
At first blush, the latest budget crunch forecast at the MBTA looks like déjà vu all over again, to borrow Yogi Berra’s famous phrasing.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Jan 15, 2026
Representatives of “seasonal communities” on Cape Cod, the Islands and the Berkshires face steep hurdles to get financing they say is needed for new workforce housing.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Jan 9, 2026
After turning up their collective noses at Mayor Michelle Wu’s latest attempt to rebalance Boston’s property tax bills, Senate leaders are ready to forge ahead with their own relief plans.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Dec 22, 2025
A former Exxon oil storage facility on an industrial plot of land just 4 miles from downtown Boston could be Massachusetts’s ticket to a green energy future – and lower utility bills.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Dec 16, 2025
The most common refrain from officials and experts looking for answers to the state’s infamous housing crunch is that there are no silver bullets. But there may be a divine opportunity.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Nov 24, 2025
A decades-in-the-making project to transform a mostly vacant former military base south of Boston into a buzzy mixed-use development is poised for a major step forward with an assist from Beacon Hill.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Nov 10, 2025
Massachusetts environmental officials are ripping the band-aid off what was once a third rail: calling on the state to establish a voluntary buyout program for homes at risk of being consumed by rising seas.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Nov 6, 2025
Nearly a year into the second Trump administration, Democrats atop Beacon Hill are not the only ones unable to shake a sense of economic agita.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Nov 2, 2025
Boston is feeling one of the most pronounced housing crunches in the country. But Mayor Michelle Wu has shied away from setting housing production targets.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Oct 29, 2025
You don’t have to read between the lines too closely to see the more constrained approach MBTA officials want to take to construction projects and big-ticket maintenance in the near future in its capital investment plan.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Oct 14, 2025
Facing waves of federal funding cuts, Massachusetts’s financial picture was already looking bleak as October approached. Then, Congress entered a budget stalemate, adding uncertainty to the mix.
by CommonWealth Beacon | Oct 5, 2025
Housing advocates say the design of Massachusetts’ highest-profile housing reform to date hobbled it from being able to create housing at scale – and might have hurt future moves.