Brookline's Select Board voted the week of Sept. 29 to advance redevelopment of the Centre Street parking lots in Coolidge Corner.

The plan would replace the aging lots with housing, retail, a parking garage and a public plaza. The board agreed to move the 2.48-acre site into a feasibility and developer-outreach phase, with a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) targeted for 2027, according to the Charles River Regional Chamber's newsletter, which cited the Select Board meeting video.

The two lots sit in the heart of Coolidge Corner. The East Lot covers 1.88 acres with 144 spaces; the West Lot spans 0.60 acres with 48 spaces. Both were designed in the 1960s and do not comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to a town ARPA spending report. They cannot be rebuilt in their current layout.

The preferred concept would consolidate parking into a structured garage and free up land for new housing, commercial space and a public gathering area.

Rather than appoint another committee to weigh competing demands around parking, housing and open space, board members signaled they would lead the process themselves.

"I think the Select Board is the right place to be making that call," Select Board member Michael Rubenstein said at the meeting.

The town has already spent $225,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds on a Centre Street Lots Exploratory Study, led by the consulting firm Speck Dempsey. The Select Board created a Centre Street Lots Committee on Jan. 7, 2025, and charged it with developing redesign concepts for the town-owned lots.

The lots date to the 1960s.

A March 2025 parking study counted 2,852 public and private spaces across the broader Coolidge Corner area.

Parking fines heading to Town Meeting

Separately, a warrant article heading to fall Town Meeting would ask Brookline to petition the state Legislature to raise parking fines above the current $50 cap. The measure targets safety violations such as double parking.

Boston, Cambridge and Somerville already have authority to set fines above that threshold. Brookline would seek the same power if Town Meeting approves the petition.

A fall 2026 Town Meeting has been announced for Nov. 17, 2026. Residents can track the Centre Street Lots project through the town's planning division at brooklinema.gov.