Copper Mill redesign

[Tomas Bok]

As a new DSNC member who wasn't able to attend Monday's meeting, I'm not clear on what to make of these updated Copper Mill plans. Would it be possible for some helpful soul to provide a bit of context? There's a Cambridge Day article from earlier in the week that said that the state has "pressed pause" on the project and asked the developer to come back with lower height and density. But these 4 new designs are still all 24-26 stories high and 500 units.

I get the need to add to our affordable housing stock and build more density around public transit, but it feels like the developer is pushing a false choice here: as if the only financially viable solution for this lot is a 26-story tower, and it's that or nothing. Am I correct that the property owner is asking $42m? That sounds like the string to pull to unravel the knot.

[Jeff Byrnes]

Hi Tomas,

 

You’re right to clock the current owner’s sale price being an element in all of this. And yes, that price is entirely hinged upon a redevelopment like Copper Mill’s various proposals.

 

That said, what Copper Mill has proposed offers a lot of upside:

• 125 subsidized below-market homes
• below-market rent for The Burren so they can return
• below-market rent for Dragon Pizza so they can return
• rebuilt sidewalks & public space
• replacement of surface parking with commercial space
• significantly increased tax revenue for the City

If it helps, the cost to build an apartment in greater Boston was $600k in 2023, and has only increased. So even if the current owner reduced their asking sale price, we’d still have to contend with the very high costs of building new homes.

 

We’re in a tough spot!

-- 
Jeff Byrnes
he/him
 

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On May 12, 2026 at 1:57 PM -0400, Tomas Bok <tomas...@gmail.com>, wrote:

As a new DSNC member who wasn't able to attend Monday's meeting, I'm not clear on what to make of these updated Copper Mill plans. Would it be possible for some helpful soul to provide a bit of context? There's a Cambridge Day article from earlier in the week that said that the state has "pressed pause" on the project and asked the developer to come back with lower height and density. But these 4 new designs are still all 24-26 stories high and 500 units.

I get the need to add to our affordable housing stock and build more density around public transit, but it feels like the developer is pushing a false choice here: as if the only financially viable solution for this lot is a 26-story tower, and it's that or nothing. Am I correct that the property owner is asking $42m? That sounds like the string to pull to unravel the knot.

--
Davis Square Neighborhood Council · https://DavisSquareNC.org · https://linktr.ee/DavisSquareNC
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