139 Bishop Allen Drive (1-15 Vail Court)
139 Bishop Allen Drive, familiarly known as Vail Court, is a 28,201 square foot lot located in Mid-Cambridge that was acquired by the City of Cambridge through eminent domain in 2016. In June 2017, the City Council voted to transfer the property to the Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust (CAHT) for redevelopment as affordable housing. In July 2017, the City and CAHT held an initial community meeting to discuss the site and next steps, but the process was paused due to the onset of litigation. That litigation has now been resolved and the CAHT is restarting the process of planning for an affordable housing development for the site.
The CAHT plans to issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to seek and select a development team to create new affordable housing at the 139 Bishop Allen site. It is expected that the site will be developed under the provisions of the Affordable Housing Overlay (AHO). Once an affordable housing developer has been selected, a community process will be conducted to review redevelopment plans for the site.