New Possibility for an Old Site

April 16, 2026
• Property owner Bulfinch is looking to change course on its vision for the former Muzi Ford property. The company approached the Planning Board with its latest concept on April 7, hoping that housing would provide the best use.

When the Planning Board approached Town Meeting to rezone a portion of Highland Avenue, first in October of 2019, and then again at the May 2021 session, the town was hoping to stimulate growth in the area of Muzi Motors, creating a new gateway to Needham as people approached off the highway and from Newton. That gateway has proven elusive over the last five years.

The initial concept was to develop the site as an innovation center, with accessory retail applications, a pursuit that raised the concerns of nearby residents. Resulting delays and an economic downturn in the life sciences industry put those plans on hold, and the site has remained vacant since that time.

In June 2025, Bulfinch returned to the Planning Board, altering their design to incorporate a variety of uses, adding housing and hotel use to medical offices and retail space. Again, the concept has not yet gained traction, and the firm recently met with the Planning Board to review potential iterations of the property’s redevelopment.

This time around, Bulfinch eliminated the hotel option from the design, further distanced its intention for medical offices and deepened its embrace of housing as the primary use of the lot. Envisioning up to 480, possibly age-restricted, residential units, Bulfinch tested the waters with the board in advance of pursuing the necessary zoning changes which would allow those changes to occur. Municipal producer Melissa Marchese explains why, after five years, time is once again of the essence.