A $50 million luxury apartment building nearing completion on Boylston Street will now open to renters of any age, after Brookline's Zoning Board of Appeals voted 2-1 to lift the 55-and-older restriction that was baked into the project from the start.
Why the developer asked for the change.
Chestnut Hill Investments LLC told the board it marketed the 50-unit building to seniors for about 18 months with little success — most interested renters were under 55, including workers from the Longwood Medical Area and young professionals, according to broker Donna Marcantonio. Representative Rachna Balakrishna called the change "necessary for the financial viability of the project," pointing to a $36 million construction loan and the need to start leasing soon. Construction began in 2021, with completion projected for August 2026. Market-rate units will rent for $6,000 to $12,000 a month; the 10 affordable units, filled by lottery for households earning up to 50% of the area median income, will stay restricted to residents 55 and older under the project's Chapter 40B requirements.
Why the board was divided.
Board members Wadner Oge and Randolph Meiklejohn voted to approve the change, while Chair Johanna Schneider cast the lone no. "Taking away an age-restricted 40B project is contrary to the local planning need, which is to provide housing across different demographic groups in Brookline," Schneider said. The two who voted yes pointed to the board's limited legal authority here — under Chapter 40B, the ZBA can only deny modifications on narrow grounds like health, safety, environmental impact or site design, and a town traffic study found the change would add negligible traffic.
A community split on what this means.
Neighbors pushed back hard at two hearings. Chestnut Hill resident Jane Flanagan called it a "bait and switch" that sends the wrong signal to future developers, while neighbor Hugh Joseph argued the real barrier to filling the building was always the high rents, not the age restriction. Town Meeting Member Janice Kahn noted that by 2030, an estimated 30% of Brookline's population will be 60 or older, and that neighbors sat through 14 ZBA meetings over nine months during the original permitting process back in 2017.
Not everyone opposed the shift. Neighbor Carol Berman said she'd rather see the building filled quickly with "a diverse, vibrant community," and Town Meeting Member Katherine Haenschen urged the board to approve the request and instead focus energy on building affordable senior housing elsewhere in town.
A building with its own long history.
The property sits at the intersection of Route 9 and Hammond Street near the Chestnut Hill Green Line stop. First permitted in 2017 and originally conceived as senior housing in 2016, the site was once a gas station before the developer fully remediated the contaminated soil and water beneath it. Chestnut Hill Investments says it will manage the property itself with a full-time on-site manager and is "prepared to adjust the rents" based on market demand.
