Belmont, Massachusetts is moving to overhaul Sherman Gardens, an aging public housing complex that has long needed more than the town's small housing authority could tackle on its own. The $52 million redevelopment project is now entering its planning phase, with construction potentially starting in 2027.
The Belmont Housing Authority (BHA) is one of the smallest in the state, managing a modest portfolio without the staff or development experience needed for a project of this scale. Rather than go it alone, BHA has partnered with the Cambridge Housing Authority, a larger and more sophisticated agency with a track record of complex redevelopments, to manage the effort. The Cambridge Housing Authority has posted an RFP seeking a construction manager to lead pre-construction work beginning this July, with that planning phase expected to run through the fall.
Sherman Gardens reflects a problem playing out across the country. Most of America's public housing was built between the 1940s and 1970s, and decades of federal underfunding have left an estimated $70 to $90 billion in deferred repairs nationwide, according to HUD estimates. Massachusetts has responded by pursuing full redevelopments rather than piecemeal fixes, typically using a mix of federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, state housing funds, and HUD's Rental Assistance Demonstration program, which lets housing authorities convert units to project-based vouchers to unlock private financing.
For current Sherman Gardens residents, the redevelopment raises practical questions that haven't yet been answered publicly: whether they'll need to relocate temporarily, whether they'll have the right to return, and whether the project will add new units to Belmont's limited affordable housing stock. The $52 million price tag, steep for what is likely a relatively modest number of units, reflects Boston-area construction costs that rank among the highest in the nation.
Belmont is also navigating a charged local conversation about housing. The town has faced pressure under Massachusetts's MBTA Communities Act to zone for more multifamily housing, a debate that has divided residents at town meeting. A $52 million construction project in a community of about 27,000 people will draw scrutiny.
If pre-construction planning proceeds on schedule this summer and fall, a separate RFP for construction itself would likely follow in 2027, with the full project potentially spanning two to three years depending on how residents are phased through the work.
