Image courtesy of Cambridge Planning Board
Vacant commercial buildings in Cambridge Highlands have been acquired by a nonprofit housing developer that plans to propose a 100 percent affordable project.
Cambridge-based Homeowner’s Rehab Inc. (HRI) previously developed the 98-unit Finch Cambridge complex at 675 Concord Ave., Cambridge’s largest all-affordable development in four decades, which opened in 2020.
HRI paid $12.5 million for the 729, 735, 737, 745 and 755 Concord Ave. properties on June 1. The seller was Concord Ave Realty Associates LLC, an affiliate of Spinelli Commercial Properties. Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust funding paid for the majority of the acquisition funding, HRI Executive Director Sara Barcan said today.
HRI plans to develop at least 100 housing units on the site, according to a report in the Cambridge | Somerville Independent.
The project is expected to qualify for approval under Cambridge’s 100 percent affordable housing zoning overlay, which offers density bonuses to projects containing all-affordable units. The agency will submit a development proposal later this year, according to a press release by the city of Cambridge.
The Concord Avenue property was previously approved for a 12-story, 236-unit apartment building in 2025, but subsequently was placed on the market, Barcan said.
“We will take the lessons learned from [the Finch] project and the other developments that we have advanced to design a beautiful, highly efficient new property that will provide critically needed affordable housing,” Barcan said in a statement.
In May, the Cambridge Housing Authority used Affordable Housing Trust funds to acquire a pair of 6-story buildings containing 79 apartments at 1648 and 1654 Massachusetts Ave., which will be converted from market-rate to income-restricted housing as units turn over. The CHA previously used AHT funding to acquire 16-28 Porter St. in the Wellington-Harrington neighborhood for a another potential development of up to 55 apartments, according to a press release.
