Cambridge Planning Board Advances First All-Affordable Senior Housing Project Under AHO

CAMBRIDGE — January 30, 2024 — Cambridge Planning Board opens 2024 with tribute to late member and first advisory review of a proposed 110-unit all-affordable senior housing project on Blanchard Road. The board paid extended tribute to recently deceased member Louis Bacci, a construction industry veteran who served from November 2014 and had a hand in landmark Cambridge projects including Cambridge Crossing, the Affordable Housing Overlay adoption, and rezonings in Central Square and Kendall Square. Assistant City Manager Aram Farouk called him "a real institution" whose legacy "lives on in the edifices that he helped to construct." The board then voted 6-0 to conclude a first advisory design review of AHO Case 7, B'nai Brith Housing's proposal to replace a 1970s retail strip at 87-101 Blanchard Road with a six-story, all-affordable senior building; members praised the project's mission but flagged concerns over limited open space, ground-floor parking under the building, and a flat facade. Cambridge Housing Authority senior sites each carry wait lists of between 1,000 and 1,600 names.