The site of the 294-unit luxury development was formerly home tothe New England Concrete Pipe manufacturing plant and was zoned fora mixed-use development. But the comprehensive permit--whichnecessitates that the project includes a 25% affordable housingcomponent--enabled the company to bypass the local zoning laws. ButBill McLaughlin, vice president of development for Avalon Bay,tells GlobeSt.com that circumventing the local laws was not thereason the company filed for a comprehensive permit. Rather, hesays, the zoning board "was just the straightest path to go."Newton, he notes, has inclusionary zoning laws anyway which wouldhave required an affordable housing component. "From a communitystandpoint, the project would have been identical," points outMcLaughlin.

Despite the recent increases in vacancy rates and the lowerrental rates, McLaughlin insists that the local multifamily marketin this area remains stable. "The market has clearly softened," heacknowledges, "but for a luxury development like this in this kindof location" he is not worried. McLaughlin also notes that evenwith a minor market setback, multifamily housing remains solid as along-term investment.

Avalon Bay has over one million sf of housing currently underconstruction within Route 495 and another million sf in thepipeline. Other major multifamily developers--such as EquityResidential Properties Trust and JPI--also have a number ofmultifamily developments in planning or under construction in theGreater Boston area. Some of the marginal investments will notoccur and some of those projects, says McLaughlin, are leftoversfrom the "scorching hot market" of 1998 to 1999. "There is a reallag time" for these kind of projects, he says. But basically thisarea is a fairly stable market for multifamily housing, notesMcLaughlin, and the myriad of projects are indicative of thatstability.