Proposal to convert vacant retail spots into housing

BOSTON — Finding an affordable place to live continues to be a big challenge for many in Massachusetts. That’s why Boston 25 News is Getting Real about the housing crisis and looking at its impact and possible solutions.

One idea gaining traction is to convert some of the region’s vacant retail space into housing. John Casey has been running “Locks and Keys” since 1977, first at the old Woburn Mall and now at its new redeveloped replacement, Woburn Village.

“Our smaller malls were outdated. It was just time to make a change,” explained Casey.

One change is the addition of 350 units to the housing complex, a quarter of which have below-market rents.

In a region starved for new housing, the idea of repurposing under-utilized strip malls is something that Chris Kuschel, a principal planner at the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, likes. “I think it has the potential to be transformative.” One of the biggest hurdles for creating new housing is a chronic shortage of land in eastern Massachusetts.

“140,000 units we need over the next decade,” added Kuschel. “The best way to do this is on sites developed. That saves trees. That reduces traffic impacts.”

Kuschel just co-authored a report and identified more than 3,000 sites in greater Boston that could be candidates for redevelopment. For example, the report cited 118 locations in Boston, 105 in Quincy, 68 in Marlboro, and 66 in Peabody.

Kuschel says if the top 10% of sites were redeveloped, the impact would be huge. “What I mean by that is things like where is it located, is it near transit? Does it have a high walk score? Can you get to jobs easily? We found that we could build approximately 125,000 units that would go a substantial way to meeting our housing needs.”

In Woburn, John Casey already likes what he sees happening. “I like it. I think it’s going to be more community-oriented, and you’re going to have a lot of people know their neighbors and probably the same steady customers.”

It’s interesting to note this research project started before the pandemic. But the authors say the negative impact on retail over the last two years and with large numbers of vacancies could help move this concept along. One hurdle is zoning, however. Many communities would require commercial areas to be re-zoned for residential use, potentially a bureaucratic nightmare.

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