BOSTON — The Healey administration is putting hundreds of state owned parcels up for sale to developers over the next year as part of broader efforts to build more housing.
The state Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance on Monday released an inventory of more than 450 acres of surplus, state-owned land that could be used for the development of 3,500 new housing units. The list was compiled by several state agencies over the past year
Gov. Maura Healey told reporters Monday the goal is for the state land to be “turned into thousands of new homes that families, seniors and workers can actually afford. We are already getting shovels in the ground for thousands of these units, and we’ll continue to work closely with several developers to get even more projects started.”
The Healey administration posted an online map with several properties that are immediately available for sale, including a 22-acre parcel at Salem State University’s south campus, undeveloped plots on the campuses of Bridgewater State University and Middlesex Community College and a single-family home in Wenham with .79 ares of land.
Another 17 sites will be listed for developers over the the next year, and the state will be issuing Requests for Proposals for 10 sites and holding an auction for seven sites this fall, according to the Healey administration.
Healey, a first-term Democrat, has made housing a key part of her legislative agenda, saying that it, along with transportation upgrades, is one of the state’s toughest challenges.
In February, Healey rolled out a new, five-year “Home for Everyone” plan to help the state achieve its long-term goal of building 222,000 new housing units over the next decade.
The plan identified the Merrimack Valley as having the biggest housing needs, requiring a greater than 10% increase in its housing stock to keep up with future demand.
The metro Boston region, northern Middlesex County, and the North Shore were listed as areas that will require a 7.5% to 10% increase in housing to keep up with demand.
But the report’s authors pointed out that every region of the state needs to increase housing, ranging from less than 2.5% to more than 10% over the next decade.
Last August, Healey signed a $5.1 billion housing bill that included a mix of bonding, policy changes, tax breaks and other incentives to help spur the development of new homes.
The bill also authorized so-called accessory dwelling units to be built by-right in single-family zoning districts in all communities.
The Healey administration is also working with the Attorney General’s office to enforce the MBTA Communities Act, which requires communities along the public transit system to add more multi-family zoning.
Beacon Hill leaders say the prolonged housing crunch is affecting the state’s economic growth, making it much harder to attract new families and companies. Many cite the lack of housing as the top reason that people are leaving the state.
Massachusetts has some of the highest housing costs and rents in the country.
The median price of a single-family home in the state increased by 4.7% to $665,000 in April, according to real estate industry reports, with some cities and towns even higher.
“Utilizing state-owned land to accelerate housing development makes good sense,” Housing Secretary Ed Augustus said in a statement. “The opportunity for new housing from this inventory, which spans over 20 municipalities, is unique, and just the beginning of an ongoing process to leverage even more state-owned land that is suitable for new homes.”