Lowell in on multifamily housing goal
The $626-million economic-development bill Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law last January included new multifamily zoning requirements for the 175 communities serviced by or adjacent to MBTA public transportation.
It was part of legislation designed to ease the zoningapproval process for construction of vitally needed multifamily developments and other housing projects. The bill also included $50 million in funding for transit-oriented housing.
The first draft of these new zoning guidelines specify that an MBTA community must have “at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multifamily housing is permitted as of right.”
Timothy Reardon of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council estimated that only about a dozen communities, many contiguous to Boston, currently meet the guidelines.
The proposed policy stipulates that these zones contain a minimum gross density of 15 units per acre, are no more than a half mile from an MBTA station in most cases, and are suitable in size for families with children.
The zoning requirements would vary by the type of MBTA service available. Communities with rapid transit need a minimum of 25% multifamily units as a percentage of total housing stock, while commuter rail communities need 15% multifamily units.
Under the draft guidelines, communities must submit by the end of the year either a request to certify that their existing infrastructure meets the new standards, or an “action plan” to get into compliance over the next few years.
But these new zoning requirements can’t guarantee that construction of multifamily housing will even occur.
“Just because the zoning might be in place doesn’t mean that there’s going to be homes built there tomorrow, or that even homes will be built there at all,” said Eric Shupin of the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association.
Old habits die hard, so it’s a given that many suburban MBTA and commuter-rail communities will erect legal roadblocks to elongate and discourage the process.
It would seem that targeting urban centers served by rail would be the most expeditious way to jump-start this multifamily building process.
That’s already occurred in Lowell, as Gov. Baker noted at the September 2019 grand opening of the Thorndike Exchange, Chelmsford developer Sal Lupoli’s $30 million apartment-retail complex constructed right next door to the city’s commuter-rail station.
While Lupoli didn’t demand construction incentives like property-tax relief, the city, state and other entities – especially the Lowell Regional Transit Authority – did provide critical infrastructure improvements required to make this project work.
The LRTA secured $2.5 million for updates to the adjacent Gallagher Transportation Terminal, the majority of which went to installing an enclosed 140-foot pedestrian walkway connecting the Thorndike Exchange to the train station.
And as the governor highlighted at the time, developments like the Thorndike Exchange might hold a partial key to unlocking the state’s housing crisis.
“This project in some respects sends a big message about transit-oriented development, about the attractiveness of this kind of project to both young people and seniors, two populations that we have a lot of work to do to find opportunities for housing for them.”
With direct financial assistance available through the new multifamily zoning law, other commuter-rail Gateway Cites like Fitchburg, Lawrence and countless others offer additional opportunities for transportation housing.
They could form the foundation on which an expansion of multifamily housing statewide can be built.