Advancing Affordable Housing Through Strong Community Relationships

Massachusetts faces a growing shortage of affordable senior housing, and developing new communities is no small task. The process can take years, shaped by zoning, other local approvals, and complex financing.  

While these challenges are very real, they don’t tell the whole story.  

As vice president of real estate at Hebrew SeniorLife, I’ve discovered that cultivating strong relationships within the communities we hope to call home is key to successful affordable housing development. It starts with showing up, listening, and working together with local leaders and stakeholders to build something meaningful that serves both future residents and the broader community. 

Navigating a complex housing landscape 

The barriers to developing affordable housing in Massachusetts are well-documented. Over the past year, a series of Boston Globe articles highlighted the many obstacles to closing the state housing gap. As someone who faces these challenges regularly, reading it felt like looking in a mirror.

To keep pace with population growth, Massachusetts will need to add at least 222,000 new homes by 2035. High housing costs continue to put pressure on both buyers and renters in Greater Boston, contributing to Massachusetts ranking last among all 50 states for older adults’ economic security. Expanding affordable senior housing helps older adults access supportive communities they can afford. 

Meeting this need requires us to navigate a complex landscape. Each of Massachusetts’ 351 cities and towns has its own zoning rules and approval processes, and even well-supported projects can take years to move forward.  

That said, recent efforts by the Healey-Driscoll administration have helped. For example, the ambitious Affordable Homes Act, which authorized over $5 billion in spending and 50 policy initiatives to counter rising housing costs in Massachusetts, has resulted in tens of thousands of houses being built or entering development.

Building trust through community relationships

Notwithstanding the daunting challenges we must confront in developing new affordable housing communities, we’ve successfully created 142 new units of affordable senior housing over the past five years, with an additional 174 units in our active development pipeline. How we approach our work often makes a meaningful difference in project success.

At Hebrew SeniorLife, we aren’t housing developers who show up, build a new development, and leave. We see ourselves as future neighbors and active members of the community. That means spending time with residents and other stakeholders and having conversations with them about their priorities long before a project begins to take shape. 

These conversations help ensure what we’re building reflects the needs of both future residents and the surrounding neighborhood.

Community input is essential, and neighbors deserve meaningful opportunities to ask questions and raise concerns. At the same time, public hearings don’t always capture the full range of voices within a community. One Boston University analysis found that meeting attendees are more likely to be longtime residents and homeowners, and oppose new housing construction more strongly than the general public. Their voices matter, too, but they don’t tend to represent the entire community.

Building relationships outside of formal hearings lets us hear from a broader range of residents and better understand what people truly need.

We’ve seen firsthand how a relationship-first approach can build trust and shape project outcomes, and we carry that approach through all of our housing developments. A few examples show how this comes to life in our work: 

Strengthening design through rigorous review in Brookline 

At 108 Centre Street in Brookline, which opened its doors in 2025 as an expansion to our Center Communities of Brookline campus, our dedication to collaboration helped shape a successful outcome. The development process consisted of extensive conversations with municipal partners, town planning staff, and, of course, people who have been our neighbors on Centre Street for more than 24 years. We discussed scale, design, accessibility, parking, bike lanes, trash pick-up, and how our new building would fit into the surrounding neighborhood. 

Our rigorous design review strengthened the final result in Brookline. The completed building added 54 one-bedroom apartments and new community spaces. The service-enriched environment supports wellness through programs, including Hebrew SeniorLife’s Right Care, Right Place, Right Time Initiative, which is an innovative program that integrates health and supportive care teams into affordable senior housing.

Returning to our roots in Dorchester 

In September 2024, we opened Leyland Community in Dorchester, MA — the first senior housing building in Upham’s Corner and a meaningful return to our roots. Hebrew SeniorLife was founded in Dorchester in 1903.

Leyland Community is designed to support connection, offering two multipurpose rooms for residents and community members, outdoor green space, a bike room, and a rooftop terrace. Strong partnerships with state, local, and private partners, including the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation, were key to bringing the project to fruition.

We also placed a strong emphasis on connecting with the local arts community when designing Leyland Community’s interior. Guided by Hebrew SeniorLife’s in-house art curator, we incorporated pieces by local artists, including a collage by Roxbury-based Ekua Holmes. As a result, the new space feels deeply rooted in Dorchester’s vibrant culture. 

Prioritizing community input in Stoughton

Our relationship-first approach continues to shape our affordable housing development in Stoughton. Before finalizing design plans, we met with residents of existing public housing communities in Stoughton to better understand what they already had access to and how we could add even more value to the neighborhood.

Residents shared a desire for opportunities for connection, ranging from arts and crafts to access to green spaces and technology. Those conversations directly informed how we are designing and creating meaningful programming for our proposed development.

We also worked closely with Stoughton’s Council on Aging, the Conservation Commission, and other local leaders to ensure our plans complemented existing services, respected the landscape surrounding our proposed new community, and added value to the broader community. This kind of early engagement helps us ensure that what we build reflects both resident needs and community priorities. 

Engaging with the Arboretum in Roslindale 

Our proposed 78-unit affordable senior housing community in Roslindale is near the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, a public park and botanical research institution.

From the beginning, we have worked closely with Arboretum staff to understand potential concerns and share our plans. We conducted detailed shadow studies across different times of year, created visual simulations from multiple vantage points, and walked the site together to discuss potential impacts.

We also selected building materials inspired by the Arboretum, resulting in shades of green and natural wood tones. This level of transparency and collaboration is helping build trust and ensuring the new community meets both critical housing needs and community priorities. 

Keeping older adults connected to the community 

Stable housing is foundational to well-being. As Matthew Desmond, author of Evicted, has written, “Home is the wellspring of a person, where our identity takes root.” That sense of belonging begins with stability and connection. 

Massachusetts needs a clearer path to scaling affordable housing that fully meets the needs of an aging population, including continued policy progress. In the meantime, the way housing providers operate can significantly affect the success of proposed projects.

By building trust, fostering collaboration, and showing up as thoughtful partners to communities, we can create more opportunities for older adults to thrive in homes they can afford.