Sen. Julian Cyr speaks during a press conference on economic development legislation in the Senate Reading Room on Thursday, July 16, 2026. He's joined by Sen. Barry Finegold and Senate President Karen Spilka. Photo by Alison Kuznitz | State House News Service
Within their $325 million economic development bill released Thursday, Senate leaders folded in major housing policies to spur the construction of duplexes, support the conversion of commercial buildings into residential units and accelerate the timeline for site plan reviews.
The Legislature has increasingly blended smaller, multifaceted issues into omnibus packages, and the Senate’s housing point person on Thursday indicated Beacon Hill onlookers should not expect a standalone housing bill in the few remaining weeks of formal sessions.
“You’ve seen us take a housing-in-all-policy strategy approach,” Housing Committee co-chair Sen. Julian Cyr said at a press conference Thursday, as he invoked the branch’s environmental bond bill. “When you add up all that we’ve gotten done, and now all that’s pending in this economic developmental bill, the pieces that are in Mass Ready, you pull that together, that’s a pretty hefty housing package. And I think something that we should feel very proud that we’ve advanced, that we need to get this into law.”
The Provincetown Democrat conceded there “certainly is much more to do” to address the state’s housing crisis.
Duplexes ‘Subject to Reasonable Limitations’
The Senate Ways and Means Committee advanced redrafted economic development legislation (S.3178) on a 16-0 vote, with two Republicans – Sens. Kelly Dooner and Ryan Fattman – voting to take a neutral stance. Opening remarks on the legislation are slated for next Wednesday, while a “large portion” of debate is expected Thursday, Senate President Karen Spilka’s spokesperson Gray Milkowski said.
“Almost every major bill that we have, the Senate has, done since the start of the session, we have inserted pieces to increase our housing production by thousands and thousands of units,” Spilka said.
The Senate Ways and Means bill enables duplexes to be built by right on all residential lots, though they’d be “subject to reasonable limitations related to septic requirements, site plan reviews, and local guidelines and size limitations,” according to a Senate fact sheet. Cyr was not able to estimate how many units could be created, but the Senate sheet says the provision “vastly expands the potential number of housing units in Massachusetts.”
Cyr described duplexes as “missing middle housing” that’s become “almost impossible to build.” Citing research from the National Zoning Atlas, Cyr said 96 percent of residential land in Massachusetts allows for single-family homes by right, compared to only 38 percent for duplexes.
“If someone owns a residential lot and wants to build a duplex that meets reasonable local requirements, they will not have to spend years navigating unnecessary barriers or seeking special permission,” Cyr said. “And at the same time, this bill is not mandating that every community build two-family homes. It is not dictating what every neighborhood looks like. Cities and towns can still put forward design standards and maintain the look and the feel of our neighborhoods. It simply creates a fair and consistent statewide standard.”
Less Ambitious than Maine, Vermont
The duplex language is somewhat of a scaled-back version of “Yes in My Back Yard” legislation (S 2836) that’s been in the custody of the Senate Ways and Means Committee since December and enables additional types of multifamily housing, including up to five units, by right on parcels connected to water and sewer services.
Jesse Kanson-Benanav, executive director of Abundant Housing Massachusetts, said Maine and Vermont allow for up to four units to be built on residentially zoned property that’s connected to water and sewer.
“This isn’t even going as far as other New England neighbors of ours have already done. But I think it’s a really important strategy,” Kanson-Benanav told the News Service. “We need all options on the table to build more reasonably priced homes in every corner of the state.”
Notably missing from the Senate’s bill: a measure the House added to its own economic development package last week that allows for multifamily zoning by right on property owned by religious institutions – legislation called “Yes In God’s Back Yard,” or “YIGBY.”
Commercial Conversions, Site Plan Review Included
Both the House and Senate eyed commercial conversions and accelerated site reviews as key housing policy levers.
The Senate Ways and Means bill creates a local-option framework to turn commercially zoned lots and buildings into residential units. The model addresses minimum setbacks, footprint and height flexibility, and includes an optional process for a streamlined application before local boards of appeal, according to Senate officials. Municipalities that adopt the framework could grant tax exemptions to the residential components of adaptive reuse projects.
In an effort to prevent construction delays, the Senate Ways and Means bill would codify a statewide framework for a 90-day decision deadline for site plan reviews and require local zoning boards of appeal to start the public hearing process within 30 days after an appeal is filed. The Senate’s proposed legal definition of site plan review – used by some towns to subject otherwise-legal developments to a discretionary permitting process because it has no definition in state law – largely mirrors the House’s and Gov. Maura Healey’s own proposed definitions, with the exception of the shot clock.
The legislation also calls for a “preference modifier” in competitive grant opportunities for municipalities with policies to build or streamline housing supply, creates an alternative pathway to home inspector licensure, and boosts MassDevelopment loan caps to bolster housing production.
Sen. Barry Finegold, co-chair of the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, said he’s spoken with CEOs of “many companies” that are looking for housing solutions.
“Why are we doing so much housing in our economic development bill? Because that’s what the business leaders in our state want,” Finegold said.
He added, “We want to make sure that we have affordable housing for our future workers.”
