Boston-based developer A.W. Perry plans to construct a 273-unit mixed-income housing development on a former industrial site at 373-383 Second St. in Everett. Image courtesy of The Architectural Team

With persistent and overlapping issues of supply and affordability, it isn’t news to anyone that housing shortages are one of the key challenges facing cities and towns nationwide.

Massachusetts is certainly not immune to these issues, and many municipalities still lag on housing growth. In fact, a report last year by the MassINC Policy Center found that the state’s 26 Gateway Cities need to effectively double housing production over the next decade in order to meet the demand. Yet some of these communities are already stepping up.

Everett, just north of Boston, has been credited with building more new housing than almost anywhere else in the state for the past five years. What lessons can public officials, real estate and business leaders, and the experts who support them learn from this Gateway City’s success?

A Case Study in Effective Planning

For one, Everett’s growth trajectory is a case study in what becomes possible with effective regional and local planning. The city has adopted several successive housing production plans: community and data-driven efforts to plan for growth in a way that meets economic development goals while explicitly seeking to minimize displacement.

It’s clear that the recommendations outlined in these plans are informing Everett’s development. Our firm, The Architectural Team (TAT), is a nationally active designer of multifamily housing, and the breadth of development we see in Everett is unique.

TAT is currently collaborating with leading real estate developers and Everett officials on a number of housing initiatives throughout the city that explicitly address different needs and income brackets. These include a major project by A.W. Perry, which recently filed plans for a seven-story, 273-unit mixed-income and mixed-use development at 373-383 Second St. on a former industrial and manufacturing site in the commercial triangle district.

Everett’s portfolio of recent and upcoming multifamily developments is exceptionally diverse, and worth highlighting.

St. Therese, a mixed-income complex led by The Neighborhood Developers, with townhomes and age-restricted rental apartments and private townhomes will help Everett’s seniors age in place.

The Neighborhood Developers and Impact Residential Development’s 25 Garvey St., a 125-unit midrise apartment community in the Commercial Triangle Economic Development District (CTEDD) aims to address a lack of affordable housing for low-income families.

A 21-story, 384-unit mixed-use tower at 114 Spring St. hopes to be Everett’s tallest building.

Electeds Willing to Work with Developers

But good planning only translates into results with commitment from those in positions of leadership and power.

In Everett, key public-and private-sector decision makers have committed to a shared goal and thoughtful investment of resources. The city’s transformation is happening because elected officials including longtime Mayor Carlo DeMaria have prioritized working together with the real estate and business community to encourage mixed-use, transportation-oriented development and crucially, the large-scale revitalization of derelict brownfield sites.

This kind of post-industrial remediation and redevelopment work is costly and time-consuming. In many markets, real estate leaders might not make time for such initiatives, instead seeking out parcels that are easier to develop elsewhere. But in Everett, the local government’s longstanding commitment to brownfield redevelopment – including the designation of a qualified opportunity zone – has inspired developers and their design teams to double down and build innovative projects that meet the city’s goals.

Tom Schultz

These brownfield projects include Artemas, a 396-unit, transit-oriented, mixed-use apartment community developed by Quarterra on a derelict former industrial site, and Anthem, a mixed-use development led by Greystar that is bringing 450 mixed-income apartments, community-focused retail and public realm improvements across 4-plus formerly industrial acres.

The positive momentum in Everett shows no signs of stopping, with the Massachusetts Attorney General announcing last summer a deal between the state and a developer to redevelop Everett’s 100-acre former Exxon Mobil site.

Thanks to Everett’s long-range strategic plan to boost economic outlook and reimagine land use, alongside the political will and private-sector support to make it happen, this city has become a vibrant and growing community where residents can live, work, thrive and age safely. Its success demonstrates the power of productive partnerships among municipal leaders, community stakeholders, developers and architects in the achievement of shared goals.

And by investing in collaborative efforts for the creation of welcoming, mixed-income housing for diverse populations, Everett serves as a prime case study in the successful revitalization of a Gateway City into a dynamic urban center.

Tom Schultz is a principal at The Architectural Team Inc. in Chelsea.

Everett Sets a Standard for Housing Production

by Banker & Tradesman time to read: 3 min
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