Massachusetts

With a pressing demand for new housing in the Boston area and communities struggling to provide affordable options to mitigate the effect of rising prices, the barriers to providing new affordable multifamily properties remain significant. Here in the Boston region, the scale of the problem is immense. Boston’s Metropolitan Area Planning Council recently declared a need for 185,000 new units of housing over next 10 or so years in the 15 cities and towns that comprise the inner core of the metro area — just to keep up with expected growth. Some of the integral variables and processes associated with multifamily development, like land acquisition and construction costs, can be tangibly quantified. But harder to define is the often unpredictable process of securing public approvals, wherein a development team must navigate the sometimes contentious ground between neighborhood groups and regulatory agencies. Locally Scaled Solutions In 2018, Related Beal completed The Beverly, a 239-unit, income-restricted project in downtown Boston, capturing headlines that heralded this significant model for addressing housing affordability in the region. Landmark projects like The Beverly represent great strides toward addressing the housing affordability crisis and have helped raise the awareness of efforts to develop real solutions to the …