‘New Era’ for Needham Housing
May 8, 2026
• At 100 West St., local officials broke ground on a 189-unit multi-family housing development Thursday.
After the old Carter building at 100-110 West St. was demolished earlier this year, officials celebrated the next chapter of the site: a nearly 200-unit apartment development set to be completed in the fall of 2027.
The project marks the town’s first large-scale multi-family housing development under the MBTA Communities Act zoning.
As Select Board Chair Heidi Frail proclaimed, “This is a new era.”
“This development will be a place where people live, where families and neighbors form connections and where new memories are made,” Frail said during the ceremony Thursday afternoon. “It will support nearby businesses and contribute to the vitality of this area and welcome new faces to our community.”
Under the ownership of real estate development company Greystar, the project will include a mix of studios, one-bed, two-bed and three-bed units. Twenty-four of the 189 units will be affordable. The groundbreaking signifies the start of vertical construction.
The property sits just feet away from the Needham Junction train line, adhering to the MBTA Communities requirement to allow housing within half a mile from transit. The Commuter Rail sounded its horn during the ceremony, as Greystar Managing Director Ryan Souls underscored the significance of the build and the “much-needed housing” it will provide.
“This site has been underutilized for some time,” Souls said. “You see a flat site now because of the rezoning efforts of the Town of Needham in activating this into a vibrant residential community that can benefit from the direct proximity to the MBTA transit line.”
Officials and project crew gathered in front of mounds of dirt and construction vehicles to pose for photos, donning safety helmets and ceremonial shovels. Select Board members, as well as Town Manager Katie King, Needham Police Chief John Schlittler, state Rep. Josh Tarsky and staffers from the offices of state Sen. Becca Rausch and U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss attended.
The state’s housing shortage appeared a central theme in remarks from Tarsky and Executive Office of Housing and Living Communities Undersecretary Chris Kluchman. Both highlighted the parcel’s potential to create something out of nothing, an unused lot into homes.
“Massachusetts is facing a real housing shortage, and we know that if we want to make our communities more accessible, more affordable and more sustainable, we need to build more housing and build it in the right places,” Tarsky said. “This site, directly across from the Needham Heights Commuter Rail, is exactly that kind of location where that growth makes sense.”
One in four renter households in Greater Boston spend more than 50% of their income on rent, Kluchman said, and half of regional renters spend more than 30% on rent. Allowing for housing development through the MBTA Communities Law reduces competition for homes, she added.
The 100-110 West St. project coincides with another housing effort at 888 Great Plain Ave., where developer Jay Derenzo aims to build a four-story mixed-use building at the former Hillcrest Gardens site. Zoning changes for the property will come to a vote at Town Meeting, likely next week.
Needham’s Economic Development Director John Sisson expressed his excitement for the anticipated growth in economic vitality and activity in the Heights, particularly in Avery Square.
“It’s going to be wonderful to have 189 new households frequenting the stores around Needham Heights and the rest of the town,” Sisson said after the ceremony. “People tend to spend more closer to home, and hopefully that will have more [impact] in the public spaces around them.”
The venture is a collaboration between Greystar and Haesko North America, a U.S. subsidiary of a Japan-based condo construction firm.
Needham natives may remember the Carter building when it was a children’s department store, founded in Needham. The site began as a knitting mill founded by William Carter in 1864. In its last iteration, it served as an assisted living and skilled nursing facility until 2018, with project plans delayed since then.
The building, Frail said, “is still used as an everyday landmark among folks of a certain vintage here in Needham.” With that history in mind, she said she is looking ahead to its future use.
“Today’s groundbreaking at 100 West is the next chapter in the life of a site that has really meant a great deal to Needham for a very long time,” she said. “So today, I’m just very pleased to be here to recognize the history of this property, the hard work that brought us here and those who did that work and the promise of what comes next.”
