The first MBTA Communities Act housing development in Lexington is open. Just about every unit at “The Lex Residences” at 93 Bedford St. sold and some residents have moved in.
Most of the 30 condos in the three-story main building sold for between $1.2 million and $2 million, mostly to older couples looking to downsize, Ben Finnegan, a partner at Finnegan Development, one of the developers on the project, told the Observer. There are also 4 affordable condos that were offered via lottery.
The new complex is made up of two buildings — the main building, and a renovated historical house, which is currently being flipped into two condos.
Eighteen of the condos in the main building have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and twelve of the condos have two beds, two baths, and a den. The two units in the historical house will be one-bedroom units.
The historical house is still being worked on and its two units have not yet hit the market. Finnegan guessed they could launch in spring 2027.
Finnegan Development and Katz Development, the other developer on the project, sold all of the units in the main building early enough for some buyers to customize the interior of their condos.
The Lex Residences appealed mostly to empty nesters, Finnegan said. Only one family with children moved in.
One concern some Lexington residents had about the MBTA Communities Act was “how much stress this is putting on the schools,” Finnegan noted. “We could say, not at all. That’s for for-sale condos. I think apartments are probably a different story.”
Asked how the MBTA Communities Act altered his experience building a condo complex as a developer, Finnegan said, “the biggest difference for us was the permitting process.” In municipalities affected by the new zoning law, multi-family housing must be permitted by-right, which means developers don’t need to seek special permits, zoning variances, or face two-thirds local legislative votes to approve basic use, which helped streamline the process for developers.
Finnegan added that the new law allowed his business to bring something to Lexington that he felt was missing.
“The MBTA Communities Act, for us, really opened up a lot of opportunity to deliver a product that we’ve actually been building since the late 1990s, which is stacked flat condominiums,” he said. “They’re generally targeted for down-sizers…and in my opinion, were greatly lacking in the town before this.”
Stacked flat condos are essentially condos that are configured in a multi-unit building and have garage-under parking, Finnegan explained.
“So everybody goes under, has a deeded parking spot, and then they get in a central elevator and there are single level residences on each floor.” At The Lex Residences, there are ten condos on each of the main building’s three floors.
The complex has 40 underground parking spaces, each with electric vehicle charging — one spot for each resident, and ten extras that residents can buy. Each residence also has a storage unit in the garage. Visitors can park in the complex’s outside lot.
For residents who prefer biking, the historic house will have bike storage attached to its back side. For public transit users, there will soon be a bus canopy built along Bedford St. in front of the property.
The amenities don’t stop there — The Lex Residences also has a communal gym for its residents and an outdoor patio with a shared grill and furniture.
Finnegan said he’s noticed increased competition, which may be linked to the MBTA Communities Act.
“There are more national players with Pulte,” he said. “As a local developer, it is rare that we see players like that competing.” Pulte Homes, which is headquartered in Atlanta, GA, is one of the largest residential homebuilders in the United States. Its New England division is the developer on the MBTA Communities Act project at 475 Bedford St. in Lexington, which will boast 150 condos.
While there is currently more competition in building multifamily developments, building single-family houses is still way more competitive, Finnegan added. He attributed that, in part, to having to finance building larger complexes and all the added work that goes into building a larger building.
Finnegan Development and Katz Development have built over 30 condo complexes like The Lex Residences across eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.
The two developers just broke ground on their other MBTA Communities Act project in Lexington, “The Marrett,” at 419 Marrett Rd. The Marrett will host nine units, all of which will have two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a den.
“It’s kind of a boutique, smaller building,” Finnegan said. “I imagine that will attract the same type of buyer [as The Lex Residences].”
Finnegan Development will announce pricing for the units at The Marrett around January 1, 2027.
There are 17 different housing developments, including The Lex Residences, coming to Lexington as a result of the MBTA Communities Act, totaling 1,662 units.