Worcester leaders back state bill to increase housing stock
Photo | Grant Welker
Legacy Farms, a housing development underway in Hopkinton, is among the larger developments in the works in Central Massachusetts but there aren't enough similar projects underway to keep pace with demand.
Top Worcester public officials and counterparts in higher education, real estate and economic development have thrown their weight behind the governor's plan to increase the pace of new home construction to temper prices.
Gov. Charlie Baker and his administration have been touring the state seeking support for the plan and on Thursday stopped by the Edge at Union Station, a Worcester development with 82 rental units for students that itself was a recipient of housing credits to make the project feasible.
Leaders from the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, UMass Memorial Health Care, Quinsigamond Community College, the Realtor Association of Central Massachusetts and the Pawtucket Red Sox said they support the bill. So did city officials, including City Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson, and area legislators, including Senator Michael O. Moore and representatives Mary Keefe and James O’Day.
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito of Shrewsbury has also been an outspoken proponent of the bill, including making a pitch for the plan at a Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce event in early May.
QCC President Luis Pedraja said many students mention housing costs as a barrier to education, with some having to choose between paying rent and taking classes. Vaske Gjino, an economic development associate at the chamber, said the top concern the chamber hears from its members is access to and retention of as killed workforce, with a short housing supply standing as a barrier.
“The city of Worcester is booming, and we are all rightfully proud of the tremendous strides our city has made in recent years,” Eric Dickson, the president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care, said. “But with growth comes challenges. We at UMass Memorial recognize that many of our patients struggle to find affordable housing that is safe and healthy.”
Baker's bill calls for 135,000 new housing units by 2025. Even with economic expansion across the state in recent years, the pace of new housing development hasn't come close to the level seen before the Great Recession.
Massachusetts approved 15,255 housing units last year, the lowest since 2014 and a vastly slower pace than before the housing crash. In 2005, Massachusetts approved 24,549 units.
The Worcester metropolitan area has also badly lagged, with housing starts are down more than half since 2005, with just 1,768 homes approved in 2017. Last year's figures aren't yet available at the metro area level.
The proposed housing bill would encourage more development by allowing a simple majority at local levels to rezone properties for transit-oriented or downtown development and granting increased density through a special permit process, among other measures.
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