One of the first developments to break ground in Lexington under the MBTA Communities zoning is the Lex Residences on Bedford Street. Scheduled for completion next spring, the project is premarketing condominiums starting at $1.2 million. Image courtesy of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Lexington officials and voters embraced the spirit of the MBTA Communities law – and exceeded its requirements – when they approved an ambitious plan in 2023 that could allow construction of nearly 13,500 multifamily housing units.
Developers responded in force, proposing 10 projects totaling nearly 1,100 apartments and condominiums in Lexington Centre and along major corridors.
The volume of the development proposals surprised officials and animated opponents, who successfully forced a special town meeting in March that slashed the size of the new zoning districts and maximum allowed density of projects.
“When the zoning was adopted, we thought we’d get applications. That was the intent: to create new housing,” Planning Director Abby McCabe said. “But then in 2024, we did get more applications than we expected, and so many residents had concerns about how quickly the applications were coming in.”
Local officials now are looking to a late summer deadline that could reveal whether another 4,500 housing units could be proposed in coming years.
Owners of 16 properties in the original MBTA Communities district filed preliminary subdivision plans prior to March’s town meeting vote. That effectively freezes their existing zoning for eight years, and gives them the right to develop under the previous, more expansive bylaws. Final subdivision applications are due in August.
Master Plan Cited ‘Astronomical’ Increases
Some communities, including neighboring Burlington, have sought to skirt the goals of the state Legislature in removing barriers to suburban housing production, rezoning areas already largely developed with apartments or condominiums. The strategy is known as “paper compliance.”
That approach never was entertained in Lexington, Planning Board Chair Michael Schanbacher said. While officials in some communities have objected to state-mandated zoning changes, Lexington’s own 2022 comprehensive plan decried “astronomical” home price increases and noted that multifamily development is “prohibited or severely limited” in Lexington.
“We wanted to see the production of new housing,” Schanbacher said. “And we were concerned about paper compliance. At the time, we didn’t even know that would be allowed. That was one of the reasons we shied away from it.”
The report noted that Lexington’s median home price more than tripled between 2009 and 2019, and only 5.5 percent of the housing units in town are income-restricted. Year-to-date in 2025, the median single-family home price in Lexington is over $1.8 million, according to data compiled by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
First Project Scheduled to Open in 2026
Concentrated along main roads and in the town center, the MBTA Communities zoning has opened up new development sites on commercial and residential properties alike.
Nine of the original 10 projects proposed under the original rezoning have been approved. One is still under review: a townhouse-style development at 952 Waltham St. totaling nine units.
The first project to break ground under the new zoning is located at 93 Bedford St. Construction crews are raising steel on a 3-story condominium building branded as the Lex Residences.
A two-family home dating back to the 1800s also occupies the 1.6-acre lot. A development team of Lexington-based Finnegan Development and Katz Development of Portsmouth, New Hampshire acquired the parcel last October for $7.25 million. Scheduled for completion in spring 2026, the project also converts the existing home into a pair of condos.
Asking prices will range from $1.2 million to $1.8 million, said Lester Savage, a broker associate for Berkshire Hathaway Home Services in Lexington. Savage’s parents originally owned the property.
“When we sold it, we wanted to see the building stay, so we had our choice of developers,” Savage said. “Finnegan and Katz were great about saying they would keep the old house, and I think it works well for the site.”
In the largest project to be approved to date under the new zoning, Cambridge-based SGL Development plans to redevelop a small office park and the Grace Chapel property near Lexington Centre with 292 apartments on Militia Drive.
And Boston-based developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes has notified officials that it hopes to break ground this fall on its 331 Concord Ave. project, which would include 200 units on a 6.2-acre site, McCabe said.
Going forward, developers in the remaining 90-acre multifamily districts will have to comply with new height and density limits that could make projects harder to finance.
The March rezoning reduced maximum heights, floor area ratios, lot coverage and units per acre, which could threaten the financial feasibility of projects in the current high cost and high interest rate environment. No applications have been submitted under the more restrictive zoning, McCabe said.
“We were seeing a quick pace, but we don’t know what the long-term pace will be,” Schanbacher said. “This may be just a blip. With this new zoning change, we may not get anything.”
