Westford Planning Board Member Details 530-Unit Powers Road Project and Housing Pipeline

WESTFORD — February 11, 2026 — Westford Planning Board member Joni Croteau and Affordable Housing Trust volunteer Christy Bates detailed an active pipeline of more than 900 new multifamily housing units and a suite of renter-assistance programs during a February 11 appearance on the public-access program "Need to Know Westford." Croteau described the recently approved 530-unit rental project at 37 Powers Road — the former Westford Materials site, sold to ZOM developers — as the first major build-out under the town's MBTA Communities overlay district, with negotiated affordability levels ranging from 50 percent to 100 percent of area median income in perpetuity. A second project at the former Westford Regency, closed since December and now under new ownership, is expected to yield roughly 300 rental units with a revised plan that preserves a historic on-site house; an 80-unit garden-style condo development with mixed-use retail has been proposed by the Gutierrez company in Tech Park East. Bates highlighted the Westford Emergency Rental Assistance Program, WEWRAP, which recently expanded to serve eight concurrent recipients, and noted a vacancy remains on the Affordable Housing Trust's alternate-member roster. Croteau said the town's subsidized housing inventory stands at approximately 11.75 percent, above the state's 10 percent mandate, and that a new five-year Housing Production Plan is now underway with a stated priority of defining and funding "workforce housing" for residents earning up to 120 percent of area median income.