The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the Town of Nahant has the legal authority to seize 12.5 acres of East Point land from Northeastern University through eminent domain, closing out an eight-year fight over the future of the small peninsula's coastline. The court found the town may take the property for open space, recreation, and conservation uses.
The decision reverses a previous judgment involving Nahant's land taking, according to the Supreme Judicial Court's own filing. As Boston 25 News reported, the town said it was pleased with the outcome after describing itself as having been under siege since Northeastern first floated its expansion in 2018. Northeastern had not responded to Boston 25 News's request for comment at the time of that outlet's report.
An Eight-Year Standoff Over a Coastal Bunker
The fight traces back to 2018, when Northeastern announced plans to discuss building a facility of roughly 55,000 to 60,000 square feet at East Point for a Coastal Sustainability Institute, anchored atop a decommissioned military bunker, per CommonWealth Beacon. The plan included major upgrades to seawater intake systems needed for environmental research. The plan drew opposition from Nahant residents.
Nahant is a dense, roughly one-square-mile peninsula, and residents opposed the development. At Nahant's Annual Town Meeting on May 15, 2021, residents voted 647 to 271 to authorize the eminent domain taking, according to CBS Boston. They also approved a $4.5 million land acquisition package, built from a $1.5 million municipal bond alongside $3 million in private citizen donations, anchored by an anonymous $3 million check the town accepted just before the vote.
Lower Courts Sided With Northeastern Before the Reversal
The town's path to Thursday's ruling wasn't smooth. In April 2024, an Essex Superior Court judge invalidated Nahant's eminent domain order, ruling the town had acted in bad faith because its dominant purpose was to block Northeastern's expansion rather than genuinely preserve conservation land, according to Prince Lobel Tye LLP's analysis of the case. Separately, the Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the dismissal of a related lawsuit brought by the Nahant Preservation Trust in September 2024, ruling that Northeastern had not dedicated its 12 undeveloped acres to public use under Article 97 of the state constitution — a provision that would have required a two-thirds vote of the state legislature before any development, per the Massachusetts Dirt and Development Law blog.
Underlying the dispute is the site's unusual history. Northeastern has owned the Nahant marine science center since 1966, according to court records cited by FindLaw. The university later built its Marine Science Center there. East Point totals 29 coastal acres, and Nahant owns approximately eight adjacent acres, as detailed in reporting from Universal Hub.
Justices Questioned Scrutiny of Voter Motives
During oral arguments on February 2, 2026, Supreme Judicial Court justices pressed on whether lower court judges had improperly second-guessed the motivations of Nahant Town Meeting voters in determining whether the taking was executed in bad faith, CommonWealth Beacon reported. A Superior Court judge had previously ruled for Northeastern, finding that the town's open-space rationale was merely pretext for stopping development it didn't want.
The case drew attention well beyond Nahant's shoreline. The Massachusetts Municipal Association, the attorney general's office, and environmental preservation groups including the Trustees of Reservations all submitted amicus briefs supporting the town's legal standing, according to the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition. The briefs also addressed the broader implications of the lower-court decision.
What Happens Next
With the ruling final, Nahant says it plans to move forward with the property-taking process, according to a town statement reported by Boston 25 News. The town has said it is satisfied with the Supreme Judicial Court's decision. Questions remain about how the town will execute the taking, how fair-market compensation to Northeastern will be determined, and whether Northeastern will pursue any further federal or constitutional challenges — details that were not addressed in the court's ruling or the town's public comments.
