The average single-family home price in greater Boston is almost $800,000 and a housing shortage is deepening. That’s got regional and state leaders turning to the potential of vacant, publicly owned land as a place to build more homes.
State or local governments own more than 110,000 acres of land in the region that could be developed, philanthropic group The Boston Foundation said in its 2024 Greater Boston Housing Report Card published this month. If development happened on just 5% of the land, the organization calculates, the region could produce more than 85,000 new homes. That would make a dent in the state of Massachusetts’ goal to produce 200,000 homes by 2030.
The opportunity presented by vacant public land isn’t an issue only at the state or local level. During the recent presidential campaign, both major party candidates said they were interested in developing housing on land owned by the federal government, particularly in the Western U.S.
Source: News | Here’s how one group proposes the building of 85,000 housing units on public land in Boston
