Cambridge receives first annual housing report; no inclusionary units permitted in 2025

CAMBRIDGE -- March 25, 2026, Cambridge housing committees hear first multifamily zoning report, finding no inclusionary units permitted in 2025. The joint Housing Committee and Neighborhood and Long-Term Planning Committee received the city's inaugural annual housing production report Tuesday, as mandated by the February 2025 multifamily zoning ordinance. Jeff Roberts, Director of Zoning and Development, told councillors that roughly 50 building permits were issued for housing in 2025, a modest increase over 2024, but no building with three-digit unit counts received a permit, compared with the 439-unit 121 Broadway project that drove 2024's totals. All five- and six-story permitted buildings were 100 percent affordable housing overlay projects, leaving the overall affordable share at 46 percent of approximately 140 units, with zero inclusionary units in any market-rate building. Board of Zoning Appeals applications fell roughly 70 percent year over year, consistent with expanded as-of-right permitting. Fifteen public commenters divided sharply, with Strawberry Hill and Cambridge Port residents citing a 151-signature petition against a proposed four-story, six-unit project at 95 Cushing Street, while supporters including Carolyn Fuller of 12 Douglas Street urged the council not to "water down Cambridge's landmark multifamily zoning ordinance." The committees voted unanimously to recess and continue the discussion at an April 7 joint meeting.