Select Board backs Charles River Centers 40B affordable-housing plan as "friendly 40B"

The Select Board voted to support the Charles River Centers Charles River Heights project as a friendly 40B development, the nonprofit said it will include 86 affordable units and on-site wraparound services for residents with developmental disabilities.

The endorsement came after a presentation by representatives of the Charles River Center and its development partner, the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, who described a mixed building plan and a timeline for state funding applications later this year.

The project team said the development would be four buildings on roughly 3.5 acres: a three-story building with 68 mixed studio, one- and two-bedroom units and three single-story buildings, each containing six studio apartments. Of the 86 total units, the presenters said about 38 would be for Charles River Center clients and five would be for staff housing; the project will include a community center open to the public and on-site supportive services funded primarily through the Department of Developmental Services.

During the discussion, the developer described design goals including passive-house-level building envelope standards, potential rooftop solar, 61 parking spaces (a roughly 1:1 ratio for the affordable units and about 0.4:1 for Charles River Center households) and a community center with a commercial kitchen and flexible meeting spaces. The Charles River-supported units were described as to be supported with Massachusetts rental voucher (MRVP) units for tenant affordability.

Board members and town staff pressed on timing and process: the team said it planned to submit a Project Eligibility Letter to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities in June, with a pre-application for major state funding typically due in November and full applications early next year. The presenters estimated an EOHLC award timeline of roughly six months after application, with a construction-close and start timeframe that would put occupancy about 18 months after closing, subject to the states competitive schedule.

Several Select Board members praised the projects focus on supportive services and integration, and the board voted to support the teams request to be treated as a friendly 40B; one member said they opposed the process used to get to this point and preferred the normal planning-board zoning route, but the motion carried.

The Select Boards support does not itself change zoning; the vote is an expression of local support that the project team said will be included in state funding applications and in later permitting steps.

Speakers quoted in this article are drawn from the meeting record; direct quotations are labeled by speaker.