Arlington Redevelopment Board Approves 225 Broadway, Continues Disputed 126 Broadway Case

ARLINGTON — November 17, 2025 — Arlington's Redevelopment Board split over affordable-housing math and continued a contested mixed-use project on Broadway while voting unanimously to approve a smaller building nearby. At the November 17 meeting, the board continued docket 3862 for 126 Broadway — a proposed five-story, 14-unit mixed-use building — to January 12, 2026, with Chair Rachel Zsembery and member Eugene Benson disagreeing publicly on whether three affordable units satisfies the MBTA overlay district's "at least 22.5 percent" bonus threshold; a 141-signature resident letter argued it does not. The board voted 5-0 to approve docket 3857 at 225 Broadway, a four-unit mansard-roofed multifamily building, subject to conditions including Mass Architectural Access Board approval of an accessibility lift. In a separate and heated exchange, board members told representatives for 455 Mass Ave that the building's constructed facade diverges from both the 2021 ARB-approved drawings and a subsequent Historic Commission version, with member Houston Kinlo telling the developer, "Your elevation is done, unless you can take this all apart and build another one." The developer must submit a remediation proposal by December 8.