Nordblom's proposed 96-unit apartment building at 26 Pleasant Street would generate $337,684 more in annual revenue for Brookline than it costs in municipal services, according to a developer-commissioned fiscal analysis filed with the town.
The fiscal impact model, prepared by land-use planner Mark Fougere and dated Aug. 10, projects $604,531 in yearly revenues against $266,847 in costs. Property taxes alone would jump from $29,688 on the current surface parking lot to $578,447 on the new building, based on an assessed value of $56.5 million.
The filing lands days before the Fall 2026 Special Town Meeting warrant closes at noon on Thursday, Sept. 3. Town Meeting is expected to vote on the zoning changes in November.
What the numbers show
The model estimates 14 school-age children would live in the building, costing $217,486 in school expenses. Police calls would rise by 26 per year, fire and ambulance calls by nine. The town would also collect an estimated $740,000 in one-time building permit fees on $37 million in construction costs.
Fougere's report notes Brookline's K-8 enrollment dropped 17% between 2018-19 and 2024-25, from 7,855 to 6,948 students.
The analysis was paid for by Nordblom. The town has not released an independent fiscal review.
Building details
Nordblom also filed concept site plans showing a seven-story, 84-foot building with 96,770 gross square feet on the 0.58-acre lot across from the Coolidge Corner Library. The plans, drawn by The Architectural Team, include a street-level public plaza with benches and trees.
The unit mix skews small: 71% of units are studios or one-bedrooms. Fourteen units, about 15%, would be affordable, meeting the town's inclusionary zoning requirement. The requested overlay would raise the site's maximum floor-area ratio from 1.0 to 4.0 and height from 40 to 85 feet.
Divided neighbors
The project has split Coolidge Corner residents. As we reported Aug. 22, 49 people signed a letter opposing the development and calling for a park instead.
"We want to get a good feeling for what the neighbors want, to hear what they're thinking, then we'll monetize it, see what it will cost, and let them know … But you can't lose sight of the fact that we're creating a tremendous tax benefit to the town, and we're providing 15% affordable units," Jeffrey Allen, a real estate attorney and former Select Board member representing Nordblom, told Brookline.News on Aug. 17.
Resident Jonathan Davis wrote in an Aug. 21 letter that the upzoning "pulls the rug out from under years of hard work" on zoning for the nearby Waldo Durgin development. Kate Gascoigne, another neighbor, wrote in an Aug. 21 letter that the project would eliminate Pleasant Street's last open space, noting a 14-story, 132-unit building and hotel are already planned nearby through the Durgin project.
Town Meeting member Katherine Haenschen, who lives near the site, said in the same Aug. 17 Brookline.News article that a majority of Precinct 17 members support the project and expect community benefits in return for the zoning.
The warrant deadline gives residents until noon Thursday, Sept. 3 to submit articles for the fall meeting.
