November 13, 2026 By Carol Britton Meyer
A Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on a proposed 68-unit senior affordable housing development at 100 Beal Street, adjacent to Bare Cove Park, is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 17. The remote meeting begins at 7 p.m.
AHSC Beal Street LLC has filed an application for a Comprehensive Permit under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 40B to construct a 68-unit affordable rental development for households with residents age 62 and older. The proposal calls for a three-story building on approximately 5.074 acres of the property, located in the Official and Open Space District. The development would include 64 one-bedroom and four two-bedroom apartments.
Although the development parcel is wooded, it is considered previously disturbed land because it was formerly part of the Hingham Naval Ammunition Depot. According to the development and project narrative, four depot-era buildings were located there until they were demolished in the 1990s.
The state’s Chapter 40B comprehensive permit process allows developers to seek relief from most local zoning requirements in exchange for providing affordable housing, generally requiring at least 25 percent of units to be affordable.
If approved, the development would be built on a portion of the Hingham Housing Authority’s 15.32-acre property at 100 Beal St. All 68 apartments would be income-restricted and eligible for inclusion in the town’s Subsidized Housing Inventory.
According to a letter to the developer from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities, which recently approved the project’s eligibility determination under the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, the proposed rent restrictions would be distributed as follows: 22 units at 30 percent of Area Median Income (AMI), 36 units at or below 60 percent of AMI, and 10 units at or below 80 percent of AMI.
Because rental apartments are in short supply and high demand, all qualifying income-restricted rental units count toward the state’s required 10 percent affordable housing threshold.
As background, a June 2016 letter from then-Select Board Chair Paul Healey to MassHousing regarding the proposed Broadstone Bare Cove development at 230 Beal St. under Chapter 40B — which was ultimately approved and is located adjacent to Lynch Field and across from Lincoln Plaza — references an earlier proposal for a 20- to 40-unit affordable rental development at 100 Beal St. That proposal did not move forward at the time.
For more information about the current proposal, visit the town’s Pending 40B Applications webpage.
Visit the town website calendar for remote access information and to view the hearing agenda.