Expanding our Commercial Tax Base

[Last updated May 4, 2022]

As identified in the Brookline Comprehensive Plan 2005-2015, "new commercial development is a powerful resource for allowing the town to maintain and improve its public services and facilities." Commercial developments are taxed at a higher rate than residential development, and commercial developments generally require fewer services than residential developments. Proposition 2 1/2 limits the revenue that local government can generate from existing property taxes to 2.5% annually. Without new tax growth, the Town of Brookline faces future structural budget deficits.

New mixed-use and commercial developments are encouraged at infill sites within our existing commercial districts as well as the Route 9 corridor (Boylston Street).

Under Study

• Boylston Street Corridor Study Committee
• Lab & Bio/Life Sciences
• 10 Brookline Place Advisory Committee

Recent Town Meeting Action

2019: Waldo - Durgin Hotel & Apartment Redevelopment. In Spring 2019, Town Meeting voted positively on Articles 13, 14, and 15. These warrant articles followed recommendations by the Select Board’s Coolidge Corner Study Committee. The Attorney General approved Article 13 in September 2019. Chestnut Hill Realty filed initial paperwork for a Special Permit in Spring of 2020. They are currently studying geotechnical work to better understand construction options as it relates to sustainability and fossil-fuel free construction. The earliest construction start date is estimated to be Spring 2023.

Under Construction

Children’s Hospital at 1, 2-4 Brookline Place - 229,500 square feet of office and medical office in Brookline Village. As of February 2020, the work is substantially complete. Boston Children’s Hospital is now finishing tenant fit-out work (interior finishes) for the 2 Brookline Place building.

Completed

• 2021: Hilton Garden Inn - 175 hotel rooms & Punch Bowl Tavern restaurant
• 2018: Circle Cinema Theatre Redevelopment at 375-399 Chestnut Hill Avenue - 64 hotel rooms and retail space at Cleveland Circle
• 2016: 111 Boylston Street - Homewood Suites - Claremont Hotels, LLC opened a 130-room, limited service hotel at 111 Boylston Street, known as the former Red Cab site. This site had formerly been vacant for over 15 years
• 2011: 10 Brookline Place - expansion of 18,000 square feet of office space, including significant renovations to the existing building. This expansion/ renovation project brings in over $300,000 of new commercial tax revenue to the Town annually.