Cambridge Planning Board closes design reviews for two affordable housing projects in unanimous votes

CAMBRIDGE — March 10, 2026 — Cambridge Planning Board unanimously closes advisory design reviews for two Affordable Housing Overlay projects. The board voted 7-0 on each item at its March 10 meeting, issuing final reports to the superintendent of buildings for Cambridge Housing Authority's 67-unit Corcoran Park Phase One development at 8-12 May Street — a two-building, 82,407-square-foot project with 33 parking spaces — and Just A Start Corporation's 16-unit, six-story passive-house building at 240 Broadway. For the CHA project, members praised revised landscaping and Building B's more residential character but pressed the authority on whether the project's density was sufficient given the city's housing goals, with Associate Member Dan Anderson noting the design "is below by-right zoning" despite the AHO's more permissive envelope. For 240 Broadway, criticism was sharper: Chair Tom Sinevich quoted the CDD staff memo's finding that the building's elevations were "heavy and uninviting in appearance across all elevations," and Member H. Theodore Cohen called the sixth floor incoherent with the rest of the facade. Both teams were directed to incorporate board and staff comments before advancing to permitting or state funding applications.