Cambridge's inclusionary-housing rules are part of a broader discussion of affordable housing and development amid a regional construction slowdown.
The regional slowdown does not by itself establish why any particular project has stalled. As reported by The Boston Globe, Boston has experienced a housing-construction slowdown. Cambridge and Boston have inclusionary zoning policies.
Old North Development's planned 71-unit building is on Massachusetts Avenue near Porter Square. Hoodline previously reported on the site's earlier tenant in Simon's Coffee Shop's closure.
A Supreme Court Ruling on Permit Conditions
Cambridge has an inclusionary-housing requirement.
In Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous 2024 ruling. The Pacific Legal Foundation says the decision subjected legislatively enacted permit conditions and impact fees to Fifth Amendment takings scrutiny.
Inclusionary Housing and Tax Relief
The Boston Globe reported that Boston, Cambridge and Somerville have held firm on their inclusionary requirements.
Boston announced $31.5 million in temporary property tax abatements for four approved, stalled residential developments totaling 1,400 units, part of a broader $100 million tax break initiative aimed at restarting frozen projects, according to the City of Boston.
Internal Pressure to Roll Back the Rules
Not everyone in Boston city government agrees with holding the line. City Councilor Ed Flynn called for a hearing to explore a temporary rollback of Boston's Inclusionary Development Policy, citing a drop in approved housing units from 9,800 in 2020 to under 2,400 annually in 2023 and 2024, according to reporting from Caught in Southie. Flynn has called for studying San Francisco, which temporarily cut its own affordable-housing set-aside from 15 percent to 5 percent for three years starting in mid-July 2026.
Kairos Shen has said Boston should not compromise on inclusionary development, energy performance, or climate resiliency, according to the Globe. Kathy Brown said affordable housing targets help working- and middle-class families access expensive new developments and argued the inclusionary requirement is a small cost relative to other development expenses, per the same report. The Boston Tenants Coalition supports keeping the requirements higher rather than lowering them.
Inclusionary Policies Across the Region
A separate stalled project illustrates the financial pressures developers have cited. Daniel Sibor sold a parking lot at 2400 Massachusetts Avenue this year after a planned 60-unit condominium project near the Red Line failed to secure financing, the Globe reported. North Cambridge Partners had acquired rights to the lot in 2022 and paid more than $1 million in interest over four years as higher rates and construction costs disrupted the project's financing.
Waltham and Chelsea have lowered their affordable housing targets under inclusionary zoning, while Boston, Cambridge and Somerville have kept theirs in place.
One example of Boston's inclusionary policy in action is 355 Bennington Street in East Boston, a 170-unit development that will include more than 20 income-restricted units.
What Cambridge’s data show
A July 2025 memo from the Cambridge Community Development Department described two approved but stalled developments. Developers estimated the projects could generate about $620,000 and $440,000 in annual tax revenue, respectively; staff said they had not reviewed either project’s pro forma in detail. A 2016 study prepared for the city said increased development costs, including inclusionary housing standards, could ultimately be reflected in lower land prices. That analysis does not establish the cause of financing difficulties in the current lawsuits or any particular project. The city’s figures also document housing stock and households served by the policy, though they do not by themselves show how permits or completions have changed over time. As of June 30, 2023, Cambridge had 57,894 units either available for occupancy or under construction, including 8,591 affordable units, according to the City of Cambridge. Its FY22 annual report said more than 150 households moved into inclusionary rental units that year and 1,086 households had moved into such units over the preceding decade.
