Concord Square Planning & Development, Inc.

Concord Square Planning & Development, Inc. is a planning and development consulting company with an emphasis on smart growth and adaptive reuse. It has extensive experience in municipal planning and public policy, and the development, finance, construction and management of multifamily housing. Concord Square frequently serves municipalities, land owners and developers in a consulting capacity, with a goal of supporting economically and environmentally sustainable development. Two of Concord Square’s 40R zoning projects — in Kingston and Belmont, MA — received statewide planning awards in 2007, and Concord Square received an award from MA-APA in 2008 for its work on the Historical Preservation Plan in Hanover, MA.

Working on behalf of Federal Realty Investment Trust on the 5 million sf Assembly on the Mystic development in Somerville, MA, Concord Square led the preparation of a proposal for $50 million in public infrastructure financing pursuant to the innovative “I-Cubed” state statute. In July 2009, during a press conference on site attended by Governor Patrick, Senator Kerry, Congressman Capuano and others, the project was preliminarily awarded $50 million in I-Cubed funding in addition to $15 million in Federal Stimulus funding.

Concord Square was instrumental in the conceptualization, analysis and political efforts that led to the passage of new Smart Growth Zoning legislation (Chapters 40R and 40S) in Massachusetts in 2004 and 2005. Since legislative adoption of 40R and 40S, Concord Square has served as the lead municipal consultant on six of the approved 40R Districts to date, and has played a supporting role in others. Concord Square is presently engaged with several communities pursuing 40R and other zoning and policy reforms.

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“Smart-Growth Zoning Initiatives Are Exceeding Expectations.” Op-ed in Banker & Tradesman by Ted Carman and Angus Jennings.
Massachusetts Smart Growth / Smart Energy Presentation
40R Background, Chronology, and the Role of Concord Square Planning & Development, Inc.
"Chapters 40R and 40S of the Massachusetts General Laws..." which together address smart-growth zoning... "have been in place for only a few months, but a dramatic change is evident in communities across the commonwealth. Zoning for higher-density housing, in the past highly adversarial, is now proceeding in a far more cooperative fashion. Our conversations with developers and local officials indicate that this new approach to housing development has begun to change the dynamics on the ground..." Banker & Tradesman: Smart-Growth Zoning Initiatives Are Exceeding Expectations
Boston Globe: Housing for Plymouth
"Talk long enough to anyone about the high cost of housing in Massachusetts and the conversation usually gets around to the same illustration of just how tough things have gotten: In more and more places, not just the priciest ones, police officers, teachers, and other mainstays of municipal life can no longer afford to buy a home in the communities they serve...." Boston Globe Reprint: Priced Out
"There has been a lot of noise coming from Beacon Hill, and business has much at stake. There are rival healthcare plans, and the question of who will pay. There is auto insurance reform, and the question of who will compete. Then there is the retroactive capital gains issue, and the question of why anyone should have to pay taxes four years later. . ." Saying Yes to Housing & State to tie school aid to smart growth
The CH 40S is now available for download. Click the link below to view/download it. Chapter 40S as Enacted
November 15, 2005 Boston Globe: Unfinished Business
October 25, 2005 Boston Globe: Speaker Backs a Housing Boost

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617.482.1997 • 294 Washington St. Suite 638 • Boston, MA 02108 • info@concordsqdev.com