Cambridge Planning Board Advances 95-Unit Affordable Housing Review at Walden Square

CAMBRIDGE — March 12, 2024 — Cambridge Planning Board advances first design review of 95-unit affordable housing expansion at Walden Square. The board voted unanimously 6-0 at its March 12 meeting to conclude an initial advisory session for Wynn Development Company LP's proposal to add two permanently affordable residential buildings — a 60-unit Building A and a 35-unit Building B — at 21 Walden Square Road, with an emphasis on family-sized units including three- and four-bedroom apartments. Attorney James Rafferty said the two-building scheme emerged from years of community input after a previous single-building design was withdrawn in 2021 over massing concerns. Board members including Tom Sinavich and Mary Lidecker pressed the development team on pedestrian and vehicular safety under Building A, which spans the site's private driveway, while Ted Cohen flagged the buildings' dark color palette and called for larger canopy trees. More than a dozen residents spoke, with supporters citing a waiting list of over 1,000 households and opponents, including a group that collected 600 petition signatures, calling the design a "slab and tunnel project." The board separately granted a two-year extension on design review approvals for the two remaining unbuilt phases of the Cambridge Side planned unit development and elected Ashley Tan as its second representative to the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority Design Review Committee.