Braintree Mulls Massive Housing Complex At Former Industrial Site

BRAINTREE, MA — The town’s planning board on Tuesday will consider more input on the proposal for a sprawling, 752-unit apartment complex that would be the first developed under a new Braintree zoning ordinance.

The $230 million project would create six buildings, each four stories tall, on a 26-acre, formerly industrial site off Plain Street in South Braintree.

Apartments there would range from studios to three-bedrooms, and 76 of the units would be “affordable” as defined and required by state law. Plans also call for more than 1,100 new parking spaces and amenities such as a swimming pool and playground.

Hollingsworth Pond Apartments, as the complex is dubbed by developer Trammell Crow Residential, has been in the works since 2025 – but stems from earlier state and town policymaking.

The 2021 MBTA Communities Act requires Braintree and 176 other towns and cities in eastern Massachusetts to change their zoning in order to promote multifamily housing near public transit.

Braintree got onboard in 2023 by adopting a new overlay district, where developers can build apartments like this one without seeking regulatory exceptions. The town has estimated the project could generate as much as $1.2 million in annual tax revenues.

Many communities have signed onto the new law, but others have been reluctant to change or openly defied the mandate. In Braintree, the first project appears to be headed toward approval. And it could also be the state's largest, according to some reports.

The parcel is a former site of Armstrong World Industries, which made gaskets and foam pipe insulation here for decades. Trammell Crow is based in Dallas, has an office in Boston and is a subsidiary of CBRE Group, a real estate investment company headquartered in New York City.

Although the new zoning district paves the way for development, the project still requires site plan approval and other reviews. The Braintree Planning Board is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the town hall, 1 JFK Memorial Drive. More information can be found here.