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RKG presents housing needs assessment; study warns expanding inclusionary zoning risks harming development in current market

Somerville City Council · November 13, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Consultant RKG Associates presented an updated housing needs assessment and financial feasibility analysis showing market constraints across most of Somerville and recommending tradeoffs (reduced set‑aside, incentives, or area‑specific policy) if the council seeks deeper affordability targets.

RKG Associates presented an updated housing needs assessment and a financial feasibility review of Somerville’s inclusionary zoning (IZ) policy, warning councilors that current regional market conditions make expanding IZ without countermeasures risky.

Kyle Talenti, president of RKG, summarized the study’s findings: much of the city’s income‑controlled housing is concentrated in East/Central Somerville; construction costs remain high while demand has cooled in some sectors; and the…

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