Mass. officials unveil inventory of state surplus land to speed housing production

Governor announced that the state has completed an inventory of state-owned surplus land that could be used for housing and released initial sites to developers. “Today, we released the results in Massachusetts' first ever complete inventory of state owned surplus land that could be used for housing,” the governor said, adding the inventory covers “more than 3 dozen sites covering about 450 acres of land that could be used to build several thousand homes.”

The announcement comes as state leaders move to speed housing production by using public land and removing legal and procedural barriers. The governor said the administration is preparing requests for proposals and auctions to transfer parcels to developers and directed agencies to “do everything they can to speed permitting, to expedite work with municipalities and private developers.”

Ed Augustus, secretary of Housing and Livable Communities, credited the Affordable Homes Act for shortening the traditional disposal process. “In the Affordable Homes Act, we added language ... that took out what can be sometimes 18 to 24 months of process that were requires going through local community, approvals, going through the legislature for approvals to dispose of each specific property,” Augustus said. He said the change allows the state to dispose of surplus property more swiftly for housing production and that the law “requires minimum amount of units per acre.”

Adam Bakke, commissioner of the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAM), said the administration announced 17 sites to the development community and described the range and schedule for making properties available. “They are literally located all over the Commonwealth, and they range in size from about 5 acres to 400 acres,” Bakke said. He said some properties will be offered by auction — likely early September — while others will be solicited through request-for-proposal processes, and he expected the 17 sites shown to be made available within the next nine months.

Officials said the Affordable Homes Act creates additional flexibility in how proceeds from property dispositions are handled and allows the state to use tools such as nominal pricing to incent development. “Generally speaking, when the state disposes of property, it comes back to the state's general fund,” Bakke said. “One of the other, progressive aspects of the Affordable Homes Act is it also creates a pathway where some of that the proceeds from these dispositions can be used by the entities with current care and control.”

On density, Augustus said the law provides an as‑of‑right baseline of four units per acre; he said local rezoning or negotiated community benefits could allow substantially more on particular sites. He cited a Bridgewater parcel near transit and Bridgewater State University that the speaker said had been rezoned to allow higher density. Bakke described how, in exchange for community priorities, municipalities and developers could negotiate greater density on some parcels.

Officials described the kinds of properties identified as surplus — including abandoned schools, former state hospitals, unused courthouses and a closed jail — and said the inventory is only a first tranche of sites that will be followed by additional parcels as they are cleared for disposal.

Asked about why the state had held on to some properties, Bakke said many parcels remained under the care and control of other state agencies or institutions and that past processes gave those entities little incentive to declare them surplus. He said the Affordable Homes Act created incentives for agencies to declare unneeded properties available.

Officials invited private and nonprofit developers to compete for sites and said they held a “fair” to present property materials to the development community. Several groundbreakings on previously announced public‑land projects are expected this summer, the governor said.

Ending: The administration framed the effort as one step in a broader campaign to expand housing supply. Officials said auctions and RFPs will roll out over the next several months and additional surplus parcels will follow as agencies complete internal reviews and municipalities coordinate local priorities.