100-110 West St. Needham/Image courtesy of Google Maps
Developers are planning the first two proposals under MBTA Communities law districts in Medford and Needham, which could create 437 new apartments steps from transit stations.
Multifamily developer Greystar presented preliminary concepts for a 3-story, 189-unit development at 110 West St. in Needham, next to the MBTA commuter rail’s Needham Heights station.
Greystar has an agreement to acquire the 4.3-acre property from Welltower Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio. It contains a former mill converted into office space and later, an assisted living facility that closed in 2018.
According to a timeline presented by Greystar executives to the Needham Planning Board on July 22, final approval would take place by November, enabling groundbreaking in January.
The building would include units with individual entrances facing both Highland Avenue and West Street, Greystar Associate Will Harned said.
In May, Needham town meeting approved rezoning to comply with the MBTA Communities law. The law, enacted in 2021, requires 177 cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts to allow multifamily housing by-right near transit stops.
Voters rejected a more expansive zoning plan at a referendum in January. The current version promotes housing development along the Highland Avenue corridor.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell is reviewing Needham’s MBTA Communities compliance plan, but Greystar executives presented preliminary plans in anticipation of filing the site plan application following approval.
Planning Board members offered generally supportive comments following the presentation.
“We’re trying to promote with this site, as is the intent of the MBTA Communities act, more access to public transportation. And this site is perfectly aligned, with the commuter rail station across the street,” member Adam Block said. “I think that’s fantastic.”
In Medford, the Kappy’s liquor store property at Wellington Circle is being eyed for Boston-based Transom Real Estate’s second pending project in the city.
In May, Transom was selected to develop city-owned parking lots in Medford Square with a 283-unit apartment complex, grocery store and 273-space parking garage.
Now, the development firm is seeking to develop Medford’s first multifamily project under the city’s new MBTA Communities zoning district. In September 2024, the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities approved the new Wellington Station Multifamily Overlay District.
The 248-unit complex would replace the Kappy’s Fine Wines & Spirits store and the Munro Service and Tire Center on Revere Beach Parkway, the Boston Business Journal reported.
The project would consist of a 7-story building and 255 parking spaces, the BBJ reported. The developer application was not publicly available as of publication, according to Alicia Hunt, Medford’s director of planning, development and sustainability.
Editor’s note: This report has been updated to correct the number of proposed units at 100-110 West St. in Needham.
