The 22 North Central Massachusetts towns served by the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission have some of the lowest average home and rental vacancy rates in the state and may need as many as 6,300 new homes to serve their growing populations within the next 10 years.
The magnitude of the region’s shortfall was among the more arresting facts presented to members of the Devens housing working group this week, who met for the first time Tuesday, Jan. 21, to consider options for building more homes in the 40-year-old economic development zone. That number is nearly twice the estimated 3,500 units built in the region over the past 10 years, said Chris Kluchman, who co-chairs the working group and directs the Livable Communities Division of the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
The Devens housing working group was mandated by the Mass Leads Act, an economic development law passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Maura Healey in November. The eight-member panel has until May 19 to come up with “a vision for increasing housing production within Devens,” the goal stated in a handout distributed to working group members at Tuesday’s meeting.
The new law removed the 282-unit cap on housing that had been in place at Devens since 1994, but it made no changes to the area’s existing zoning and regulations. The law asks the working group to consider the feasibility of building up to 400 new units in the Innovation and Technology Center district that includes Vicksburg Square, but allows the committee to consider other areas that, unlike the ITC, are already zoned for housing.
In her presentation, Kluchman said the current rate of vacancy of owned homes and condos in the Montachusett Region—which includes Devens—is an estimated 1.1%, “which is very, very low,” far below the 1.5% to 2% the state regards as healthy for such properties. A healthy rate for rentals is closer to 7.4%, she said. Low vacancy rates, whether they measure for-sale homes or rental apartments, mean the housing supply is “extremely constrained” and prices go up. The median price for a home or condo in the region, which includes Harvard, Shirley, and Ayer as well as Fitchburg, Gardner, and Athol, has more than doubled from $158,000 in 2012 to approximately $375,000 in 2023.
Shortages lead to higher prices
Higher prices make it more difficult for young professionals and service workers to afford a place to live. A household is considered cost-burdened if more than 30% of household income is spent on rent or mortgage payments (including homeowner association fees) and utilities. In the Montachusett region, one in 10 homeowners and one in five renters are spending more than half their income on housing costs and utilities, Kluchman said. “That’s severely cost-burdened.”
At the time that Fort Devens was closed in the early 1990s, approximately 1,700 residential units were available, according to Erikk Hokenson, the vice president for real estate development at MassDevelopment. In a presentation to the group, he said housing had been capped by the 1994 Devens Reuse Plan and bylaws to avoid worsening a housing glut created when the Army closed the base. Currently there are 198 units of housing at Devens for a population of nearly 1,000 residents—78 units developed since 1994, Hokenson said. NOW Communities is under contract to build 72 more homes at Emerson Green, but progress has lagged since the COVID pandemic.
The adjacent communities of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley have all recently complied with the MBTA Communities Law by creating new districts for multifamily housing that have the potential to add hundreds of units to the area’s stock. Because it is not a municipality, Devens is not required to comply with the law. But with a growing work force of nearly 10,000 employees, the need for more housing there is clear.
In her opening remarks to members of the Devens housing working group Tuesday, Executive Secretary of Economic Development Yvonne Hao said while the panel has been directed to focus on the Innovation and Technology district, other areas can be considered. MassDevelopment already has the authority it needs to pursue development in the areas of Grant Road and Adams Circle that are zoned residential; but the agency, responding to a request from the audience, agreed to report any activity to the group to avoid duplication.
Homework assignment
“We have a homework assignment that is due in the next six months,” Hao told the group. “Because it’s not a lot of time, I want to make sure we focus on the task, which is really around housing at Devens, which includes Vicksburg Square.” A handout distributed to group members said the group would not discuss other topics, such as jurisdiction. “Those topics will be left to the appropriate committees and governing bodies,” the handout stated.
Tuesday’s meeting was open to the public and held in a packed MassDevelopment conference room at Devens. The eight-member panel, facing a room full of residents, and state and local officials, was joined by all three members of the area’s state delegation, senators Jamie Eldridge and John Cronin, and Rep. Dan Sena.
Once each member had commented on the information provided by Kluchman and Hokenson, Hao opened discussion to the entire room. Residents and other participants with whom the Press spoke said they were encouraged by the give-and-take. Hao was in command of the proceedings, frequently greeting comments from the panel and audience with an appreciative “Great!” or “Awesome!” Commented a member of the Devens Committee,”She seems like someone who can get things done.”
The committee will next meet Tuesday, Feb. 25, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Following approximately 20 minutes of discussion concerning next steps and the information the group requires, Hao proposed forming three subgroups, each chaired by a panelist, assigned “a chunk of work,” and open to members of both the public and working group. Each subgroup will report its findings at the working group’s February meeting.
One subgroup will collect and present data relevant to understanding the “existing situation” at Devens, including zoning, regulations, toxic waste, environment, and the needs and desires of the residents who live there. A second subgroup needs to look at the broader consequences and opportunities of additional housing at Devens for the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley. What is their capacity to serve additional residents, what new needs would arise for health care, education, services, such as grocery stores—“the broader community questions,” Hao said.
A third group, Hao suggested, should take a broader look at housing beyond Devens and adjacent communities, seeking the advice of developers, looking at other models for housing in Massachusetts or in other states, “and also getting input from employers.”
A more explicit assignment of tasks for all three subgroups awaits a memo from the co-chairs.
In a closing remark, SusanMary Redinger, Harvard’s representative to the working group, said the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley appreciated the opportunity to be at the table. “You know, the changes made to the [housing and commercial] caps were done without our approval and outside of the legislation that was already established, so we hope to be in partnership with you and appreciate the opportunity to be heard.”
That’s why the state wanted a public process, replied Hao. “I think we all agree that there’s opportunity here, but we’re not the ones who are the experts. All of you are,” she said, gesturing toward the panel and audience. “And we’re going to get such a better outcome and have such a better ability to bring it to life if all of us are working together on this.”
