A long-fenced, two-acre lot on Grant Road in Devens is finally getting apartments. MassDevelopment has loaned $4 million to Emerson Green Residences, a 46-unit mixed-income building set to break ground within the next several weeks and reach completion by next year, per MassDevelopment.
The three-story, 56,000-square-foot building sits at 77 Grant Road, according to NBC Boston. A real estate entity called 77 Grant Rd LLC, affiliated with Elite Home Builders, purchased the site from MassDevelopment for $575,000 on August 13, according to Worcester District Registry of Deeds records cited by the Worcester Business Journal. The $4 million loan is part of a broader financing package that also includes a $6.5 million construction loan from Florence Bank and $1 million from the Harvard Municipal Affordable Housing Trust, according to High-Profile Monthly.
A Stalled Site Finally Moves Forward
The property wasn't always empty and fenced off. Original developer NOW Communities broke ground at 77 Grant Road several years ago, but the project stalled and sat dormant until Elite Home Builders stepped in to secure the construction financing needed to move it forward, according to a report by the Harvard Press. That earlier stall reflects a pattern seen across Massachusetts, where post-pandemic interest rate spikes delayed several suburban multifamily projects, per the same account.
Once complete, Emerson Green Residences will slot into the existing Emerson Green neighborhood, which already includes 35 single-family homes, 20 duplex units, and three townhomes, all currently occupied, according to MassDevelopment. NOW Communities originally conceptualized Emerson Green as a walkable, eco-friendly pocket neighborhood, and the new building represents its next phase.
Affordability Rules Tied to State Housing Inventory
Twenty-three of the 46 apartments will be permanently income-restricted. Harvard's $1 million contribution caps rents on 12 of those units at 80% of Area Median Income and helps qualify all 46 units for Harvard's Subsidized Housing Inventory under state rules, the Harvard Press reports. Massachusetts credits entire rental developments toward local affordable housing thresholds when at least a quarter of the units are income-restricted, which gives towns like Harvard an incentive to help finance projects even when the land itself sits outside their borders.
The building is also designed to hit a HERS energy rating of 55 or better, roughly 45% more efficient than standard code, according to High-Profile Monthly. Elite Home Builders must also construct new water, sewer, electric, gas, and stormwater infrastructure, extend Grant Road sidewalks, and complete a section of Marshall Street as part of the project.
Why Devens Is Suddenly Building Again
None of this construction would have been legally possible a couple of years ago. Gov. Maura Healey signed the Mass Leads Act in November 2024, eliminating a 1990s-era statutory cap that had restricted Devens to a maximum of 282 total residential units, according to information published by Mass.gov. That cap had been written into the original base conversion legislation to protect local municipal service capacity as Fort Devens, the 4,400-acre former Army base closed in 1996, was redeveloped into a regional enterprise zone now home to more than 100 industrial, clean-energy, and biopharma businesses employing roughly 10,000 workers, per MassDevelopment.
With the cap gone, MassDevelopment issued RFPs in December seeking residential developers for 69.3 acres of state-owned land in Devens, including 62.7 acres along Grant Road and 6.6 acres at Adams Circle. The agency is also testing a different construction approach elsewhere in Devens: in February, it sold two acres at 25 Adams Circle to modular home company Reframe Systems, which is building 12 high-efficiency, factory-assembled townhomes using robotics and automation.
Taken together, the moves signal that the 46-unit Emerson Green Residences build is less a standalone project than the opening phase of a state-backed push to convert a job-rich industrial enclave into a mixed-income residential community.
