Upzoning Starts to Deliver Windfalls in Cambridge
As the Cambridge City Council debates additional upzoning to encourage multifamily development, recent real estate transactions illustrate the dramatic increases in developer interest.
Landlord Sues Cambridge Over Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance
The suit, filed by the Pioneer New England Legal Foundation, challenges a city law requiring any project of 10 units or more to permanently set aside 20 percent of it as affordable housing.
‘Third Rail’ of Local Politics Is on the Ballot
Politics and real estate have long been intertwined, but seldom as directly as in the choices that voters face in the ballot box next month. And housing advocates are hoping to score some wins.
Cambridge Rezoning Off to a Shaky Start
Since Cambridge took a bold step to allow 4- and 6-story multifamily housing across the city, there’s been strong interest in new projects. But overlooked regulations threaten to undermine new housing.
Cambridge Councilors Back 4-Story Zoning Citywide
Cambridge City Councilors are set to back a landmark change eliminating single-family zoning to boost housing production across the city after a preliminary vote yesterday.
Despite Green Light, Cambridge Housing Proceeds with Caution
Affordable developers have been treading carefully despite theoretical zoning permission to build tall, including shrinking buildings to placate neighbors.
Will Lab Slump Translate into Housing Gains?
A vision to turn West Cambridge into a second Kendall Square is coming apart amid record lab vacancies across the region, as the fundamentals of development look set to shift back in favor of multifamily housing.
New Factors Give Occupiers Even Stronger Hand in Lab Market
The life sciences and lab market across the Boston metro area has been in a state of flux for some time, but a new factors have added extra pressure on landlords and owners.
MBTA Seeks to Fix Fatal Flaw in Its Real Estate
The MBTA owns prime locations for real estate development but efforts to build on them have a history of lengthy delays and missed opportunities. Could that be changing?
Patios Offer Path to Enhanced Profitability
The biggest dining debate in Boston’s North End is over the state of outdoor dining – something that’s having a much more upbeat rollout elsewhere in Massachusetts this season.
What Has Zoning Reform Accomplished in Cambridge?
The city sought to remove barriers to affordable housing construction by cutting permitting times and costs. And while funding shortfalls will hurt its full potential, it already appears to be working.
Cambridge Should End Exclusionary Zoning in 2024
Beneath a facade of inclusivity and progressivism lies an ugly truth: Cambridge is not open to everyone. But the City Council should not settle for a surface-level fix.
Liberal Cambridge Takes a Pass on Rent Control
Is it time to put aside the old schtick about the “People’s Republic” of Cambridge? The city has been an outlier among its inner-core peers in not pursuing rent control last year. The reasons for that are rooted in history.
Pro-Housing Candidates Dealt Mixed Results in Local Elections
Backers of a multifamily rezoning effort were thoroughly routed in Newton last night’s local elections, while a slate of councilors who backed one of the biggest housing-focused upzonings in recent Cambridge history cruised to victory.
New Owner Sought for Matignon Campus in Cambridge
Educational institutions and private developers are expected to be among the bidders on the Matignon High School property in Cambridge.
Cambridge Savings Gives $100K to Support Black-Owned Businesses
On top of the grant, the bank will also provide mentorship to minority entrepreneurs, as well as small businesses underwriting training for the Cambridge Equity Fund task force.
Chase Opens Cambridge Branch, 400th in Multi-State Expansion
Chase Bank’s massive, five-year branch expansion campaign reached a crescendo yesterday in Harvard Square when it opened its 400th branch since the project was announced in 2018.
Comrade, Don’t Forget Who Pays You
It would be hard to say that Cambridge isn’t doing its level best to back up its beliefs in social justice with cold, hard cash.
Cambridge Seeks to Take Overlay to Higher Level
A group of Cambridge city councilors wants to build on the success of the city’s affordable housing zoning overlay by giving affordable developments big density bonuses in Cambridge’s busiest squares and corridors.
Developers Lean into High-Efficiency Designs
As more Greater Boston communities adopt the state’s new opt-in energy code with its higher sustainability standards, developers are testing the limits of how far commercial buildings can effectively run without fossil fuel sources.
