A plan to add 123 apartments at 1223 Beacon Street just got kicked another two years down the road. Brookline's Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) continued the case Thursday to July 29, 2028 — with no testimony, no public discussion, nothing. Just a new date on a case that's already been stuck since 2018.

Why this one keeps stalling.

The Hampton Court, LLC proposal would add units to the rear of an existing 68-unit building from 1900, bringing the total to 123, including 31 affordable units and 79 parking spaces. It's been on hold at the applicant's own request, according to the town's project page — no comprehensive permit granted, no clear end in sight.

One number explains why Brookline has room to be picky: the town's Subsidized Housing Inventory sits at 10.76%, just above the 10% threshold that gives the ZBA far more power to deny these permits outright, according to the town's Chapter 40B page.

Meanwhile, a bigger project is actually moving.

The board also continued its hearing on a 116-unit project from DND Homes at 40 Kent Street and 40 Webster Place near the Brookline Village T stop — first heard July 16. The plan would tear down a National Register-listed building, relocate a historic structure on-site, and build a new five-story residential building with 15% affordable units. It grew from 79 to 116 units in revised plans this spring, and the Planning Board has already recommended approval.

Select Board member Amanda Zimmerman summed up the town's appetite for projects like this: "Even in a worst case scenario, new apartments are still a net positive to the town," she said, as reported by Brookline.News.

Why the town can't afford to slow-walk everything.

A new federal law that took effect July 11 could cost Brookline $130,000 a year in Community Development Block Grant funding if the town misses housing production targets — real money, out of the roughly $1.3 million it gets annually.

Decisions on the Kent/Webster project and four other cases from Thursday's hearing are expected to post Friday.