Healey weighs in on rent control
Healey weighs in on rent control
Dec. 12, 2025
Good morning,
Max Woolf here with the final edition of Need to Knows for 2025.
As the year comes to a close, we want to thank everyone who reads this newsletter.
Over the past year, we published 96 editions featuring well over 500 stories. We take pride in that consistency—and in keeping you informed on the issues that matter most to employers, workers, and our local economy.
Maybe we’ll shoot for 100 in 2026.
Healey weighs in on rent control
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Governor Maura Healey is a firm NO on the 2026 ballot question that would bring statewide rent control to Massachusetts.
“Rent control is not going to be the solution to how we get through this crisis. We need to build more homes,” she argued in an appearance on GBH’s Boston Public Radio, adding that “if you look at the studies, [rent control] effectively halts production.”
This is already playing out in real time in the Twin Cities.
After St. Paul enacted a 3% cap on rent increases in 2022, new apartment permits in the city fell by 79%, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Just across the river, Minneapolis took a different approach– choosing against rent control in favor of supply-side reforms, including upzoning commercial corridors and legalizing duplexes and triplexes citywide.
The results are clear. Since St. Paul adopted price control, rents there have risen faster than in Minneapolis. From 2022 through 2024, rents in St. Paul increased an average of 3.3%, compared with just 0.7% in Minneapolis.
Our housing crisis is about both affordability and availability. Rent control’s well-documented impact on housing production would be especially damaging in communities that already lack sufficient rental options.
And we need more options'
A new report from Boston Indicators shows that most of our chamber communities fall into a category that researchers call “rental deserts,” defined as places where fewer than 20% of homes are available for rent.
They found that Needham and Wellesley are nearly entirely rental deserts, with an average rental share of just 16.4 %. In Newton, villages such as Waban, Newton Center, Chestnut Hill, and Oak Hill have rental shares averaging a dismal 8%. Watertown, by contrast, has no rental deserts. (see map)
The report notes that although high home prices pose a clear affordability challenge across Greater Boston, the shortage of rental opportunities only worsens the problem.
That's because rental housing plays a critical role in healthy local economies. It gives workers — including teachers, health care employees, service workers, and young professionals — a realistic option to live near their jobs.
While adding rental housing at scale can also help stabilize prices, its role in attracting workers and bringing back young professionals to our community is equally important.
Why this Orange Line study matters to Needham
Earlier this month, the Massachusetts House of Representatives approved a feasibility study to evaluate extending the MBTA’s Orange Line south from Jamaica Plain to Roslindale Village.
The $100,000 report, due by June, will examine costs, ridership, environmental impacts, and funding options, according to Sam Drysdale of State House News.
While the proposal focuses on Boston neighborhoods, any future extension would have direct implications for Needham, as it would likely require major changes to— or even the replacement of — the existing Needham Commuter Rail Line.
A 2023 TransitMatters report examined that corridor and concluded that neither commuter rail upgrades nor an Orange Line extension to Needham makes sense, given the town’s density and infrastructure constraints.
Instead, the report recommended pairing an Orange Line extension to West Roxbury with a future Green Line spur from Newton Highlands, along Needham Street, and into Needham Center. That configuration would enable more frequent, subway-style service better aligned with the town’s needs.
“This is all linking up to the T’s upcoming 25-year outlook,” said Caitlin Allen-Connelly, executive director of TransitMatters. “The study is coming at a good time to look at the system as a whole.”
Robotics win in Watertown
One Watertown startup is developing the next robot warehouse worker.
Located just outside Coolidge Square, Tutor Intelligence has raised $34 million in venture capital funding, according to Scott Kirsner of MassLive.
Their robots, already in use nationwide, can pick up and place 14 heavy boxes per minute, helping warehouses move goods faster and more reliably.
Tutor is not alone: many robotics companies are born here in Massachusetts. The challenge is that the scale-up capital needed to grow these businesses often comes from elsewhere—in Tutor’s case, a Manhattan-based firm, Union Ventures.
Tuesday grab bag
- Boston College professor and former Real Estate professional Ed Chazen has submitted papers to run for Kathleen Woodward’s seat on the Wellesley Planning Board in March. Chazen has previously led visioning studies for the Wellelsey Community Center property in Lower Falls. Swellelsey Report
- City Realty’s nearly one-million-square-foot redevelopment of a vacant Route 9 office park will go before Brookline Town Meeting this spring. Located on the Newton border, the proposal includes three buildings — one taller than 14 stories — with office, hotel, and residential uses. Brookline News
- Unlock the resources your business needs to grow. Join state economic development leaders for a fast, practical webinar exploring the Business Front Door, the state’s new, one-stop pathway to grants, incentives, workforce support and expert guidance through state programs and permitting. Jan. 15 at 10 a.m. via Zoom, RSVP
- The Alliance for Community Media presented NewTV’s Jenn Adams with its Brian Wilson Mentor Award for someone who is an inspiration and mentor to others in community media. Adams has been the news director for nearly 25 years and has helped more than 100 interns pursue successful careers in broadcast journalism.
- Flavor chemist and author Arielle Johnson will speak at the Needham Free Public Library on Sun. Jan. 11 (2–3:30 p.m.), exploring why we love the foods we love through the lens of science and her book Flavorama. This free program is presented by the Friends of the Needham Public Library.
- Blue Ribbon Barbeque will shut down its Dedham Square location on Jan. 1. Its other locations in West Newton, Time Out Market and Arlington will remain open.
- We’re building a master list of 2026 volunteer opportunities offered by our nonprofit members. Nonprofit members: Submit your volunteer needs using this form.
- A Newton-based real estate investment trust, Service Properties, is on track to sell almost all of its 113 hotels by the end of the year. They hope to use this opportunity pay off debt and focus on their retail properties. BBJ
- The Globe’s Catherine Carlock has a great spotlight on 2Life Communities’ new project, Opus Newton. 2Life’s CEO, Amy Schectman, received the chamber’s RL tenant award at our Fall Business Breakfast this fall.
New councilors to take office
At noon on Thursday, Newton’s incoming City Council and Mayor Marc Laredo will be sworn in at City Hall. Read about the farewell remarks of the seven outgoing councilors they will be replacing at Fig City News.
Meanwhile, Watertown will welcome its new City Council on Friday at 6 p.m. during a swearing-in ceremony at the Mosesian Center.
With only one council seat turning over, outgoing Councilor John Airasian offered his farewell remarks to the council earlier this month.
But not before Council President Mark Sideris read a proclamation recognizing Airasian’s service, noting that he has “carried the torch lit by his late father, John S. Airasian…ensuring that the name Airasian remains synonymous with the standard of Watertown integrity.” John’s father passed away last month.
In his own comments, Airasian thanked his family, city staff, and fellow councilors, adding, “This is the way government should work,” he said, “ We don’t always agree on everything, but we don’t kick and scream, and we keep moving forward for the betterment of Watertown.”
Airasian, who served two terms, did not seek reelection and will be succeeded by newcomer Theo Offei.
Bobbitt bids adieu to the Bay State
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Michael Bobbitt is stepping down as executive director of the Massachusetts Cultural Council this week but not without a clear call to action.
In a farewell address, Bobbitt warned against complacency in the arts and cultural sector, pointing to the state’s “underfunded systems, minimal cultural policy, exhausted, broke artists and fragile institutions.”
He argued that this status quo is not sustainable and called for courageous advocacy, urging leaders to “see the cultural sector not as decoration but as a driver.”
That message of culture investment driving economic development is the same one he shared with us in 2024 — one that helped inspire the creation of our Arts & Culture Committee and continues to shape our advocacy today.
Former director of New Repertory Theatre and a Watertown resident, Bobbitt is moving on to a new role with OPERA America.
His full farewell address is worth reading — especially for those not engaged with the arts sector.
And that's all you need to know, unless you need to know that we avoided a leap second this year.
See you all in 2026
Public Policy and Government Affairs Manager
Charles River Regional Chamber
617-431-6101
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