40B Projects in the Works

Rendering of NOVO Riverside. Proposed location on Baker Ave in West Concord

Concord now has two multi-family “40B” projects in the pipeline. On April 3, the Zoning Board of Appeals issued a special permit for a 237-unit project at the site of Camp Thoreau, off Forest Ridge Road. The project will have 60 rental units affordable at 80% of Area Median Income (AMI). At the same time, the NOVO Riverside Commons project slipped off the Town’s Subsidized Housing Inventory. (SHI), which happens if a 40B project does not file a building permit within one year of receiving ZBA approval. Owner Taurus Development is still hoping to begin construction this year, but financial and economic uncertainties are delaying the 201-unit project. When the building permit is issued, the units in the project will again count on the SHI.

When the Residences at Thoreau are approved, the Town will have 1,315 units counted on the SHI; when NOVO obtains its building permit, that total will rise to 1,516 (16.1% of Concord’s total housing stock). However, only 471 of these units (6.6%) will actually be affordable at 80% AMI or less. The remainder are counted on the SHI under State law to encourage the creation of the affordable units, but will be rented at market rates.