Around Town

Public Meeting to be Held in Watertown on Affordable Housing Incentives Study

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The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

On March 26, 2026, at 6 PM, Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) staff will present the preliminary results of its testing of potential incentives to promote affordable housing in Watertown. The MAPC study is designed to provide the City with recommendations for voluntary incentives to encourage more and/or deeper affordability in new market rate developments, as well as recommendations for incentives to encourage affordable developments. MAPC tested certain incentives using financial models of market rate and affordable developments. The test results, along with discussion of other incentives not suitable for such testing, will be the basis for MAPC’s final report. Members of the public will have an opportunity to ask questions and comment at the meeting, as well as an opportunity to provide written comments.

Around Town

LETTER: Willow Park Needs Community Support to Win State Funding

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Can you imagine sleeping with your children in your car tonight? Or bedding down beneath an overpass, hoping that layers of tarp and wool blankets can stave off the cold and snow? Housing is a human right. Public housing fills a crucial need in our community, ensuring that every person has a roof over their head and a decent place to call home, regardless of their circumstances. That’s why we support the proposed redevelopment of the Willow Park public housing complex in Watertown. 

Now we’re asking you to join us by signing a letter of support.

Around Town

Affordable Condo in Watertown Going on Sale

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An affordable rate condo in Watertown will be sold. See more information provided by the City of Watertown below. There is an affordable condo for sale at Riverbank Lofts, located at 290 Pleasant St, Unit 116, Watertown for $230,762. The Open House is Saturday, January 10, 2026, from 10:00am-1:00pm. The Condo has:

1 bedroom, 1 bathroom – approx.

Around Town

Community Preservation Funds Approved for 2 Affordable Housing Projects & Work at the Commander’s Mansion

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A rendering of the affordable Willow Park affordable housing complex. Funding for a home for adults with special needs, to help build a 138 unit affordable housing complex, and to replace the elevator at a historic home owned by the City of Watertown were approved by the City Council Tuesday night. The three projects came recommended from the Community Preservation Committee. The funds come from the Community Preservation Act (CPA) surcharge on Watertown properties, which are to be spent in three areas: affordable housing, historic preservation, and open space/outdoor recreation. For each area, 10 percent of the funds collected go into a reserve.

Around Town

Community Preservation Committee Hearing 2025 Project Applications

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Watertown’s Community Preservation Committee will see the presentations for an affordable housing redevelopment project at Willow Park, and rehabilitation of the Commander’s Mansion. See information from the City of Watertown, below. The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) is evaluating project applications and requests for Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding and applicants are presenting their projects to the Committee in the areas of historic preservation and community housing. 

View the Willow Park Redevelopment request for additional funds and the original application.  

View the Commander’s Mansion Building Envelope Rehabilitation and Elevation Modernization project application. 

Join the presentations on Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, at 7 p.m. in person at City Hall, 149 Main St., in the Lower Hearing Room or via Zoom.

Letters

LETTER: Support an Affordable Housing Overlay to Keep Watertown Strong

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​The City of Watertown’s Draft 2026-2030 housing plan puts grim numbers on what we all see everyday. Over the last 5 years, the number of Watertown households that qualify for income-restricted Affordable housing has increased by 23 percent. Roughly 2 out every 5 Watertown households have an income low enough to qualify for Affordable Housing in Watertown, yet there isn’t nearly enough affordable housing for those who need it. 

To be sure, many factors influence the cost of construction and the potential for affordable housing. Interest rates and federal trade policy play major roles, here and across the country. But we also have tools at our disposal here in Watertown. It’s time to take a hard look at the policies we do control — particularly our current zoning. 

The reality is that in most places across the city, our zoning — the rules that dictate what can be built, where, and by what process — makes it impossibly difficult and expensive for new affordable housing projects to be built. In the few places where our zoning is more permissive, like in Watertown Square, along Arsenal Street, and along Pleasant Street, our policies force non-profit affordable housing developers to compete with well-funded national developers for scarce land.

Letters

LETTER: Group to City Council: Voters Want Action on Housing Affordability

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Dear City Councilors,

We write to share compelling evidence that voters in our community — and across the state — are ready for bold action to make housing more affordable. Recent polling reveals that clear majorities of voters support the action needed to build more homes that people can afford, even when that choice is put up directly against protecting neighborhood character from change. In fact, when asked to choose, 71% of voters prioritized building affordable homes over preserving traditional neighborhood character. 

The community acceptance of necessary change is widespread. Housing has emerged as voters’ top concern, ranking above cost of living, immigration, or taxes. And remarkably, this pro-housing sentiment crosses all demographic lines, spanning age, race, income, education, and homeownership status. These results come as Watertown considers new plans and priorities that can make a meaningful difference in housing affordability in the coming months.

Letters

OP-ED: Housing Group Celebrates Well-Attended Forum on Building 100% Affordable Housing Projects

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One of the most pressing ways that our region’s housing shortage affects Watertown is through an acute lack of deed-restricted affordable housing. It’s quite simple: more of these units would help to keep Watertown’s working people in our city. Yet while Watertown’s inclusionary zoning policy ensures that a proportion of each market rate development’s units are set aside as affordable housing, this only chips away at the shortage. What if, instead, there was a way to build more developments that were composed of just workforce and lower income housing? As an effort to explore more expansive solutions to the affordable housing shortage, Housing for All Watertown hosted a forum on February 23rd to share more about what it will take to build these 100% affordable housing developments (click here for highlights of event).