Arlington Redevelopment Board Approves Amended Permit for Downtown Mixed-Use Project

Redevelopment Board · Meeting of June 15, 2026

Arlington Redevelopment Board approves amended special permit for downtown mixed-use project on Massachusetts Avenue. The board voted Monday to modify the original 2023 special permit for the mixed-use development at 190 and 192-200 Massachusetts Avenue, with developer John Murphy of Real Estate Strategies and project architect David Barsky presenting changes including a reduction in underground parking drive aisle width from 24 feet to 22 feet, necessitated by a previously unknown asbestos pipe on the Lake Street side, and an increase in compact parking spaces from five to eight. The board added special conditions requiring a kitchen exhaust chase for potential restaurant uses, restoration of fourth-floor roof terraces omitted from updated drawings, and selection of a fifth affordable unit sized to meet state EOHLC approval requirements after proposed Unit 203 came in at 511 square feet, well below the 700-square-foot minimum.

"The building is really the same building, only more tightened up and more locked in now," architect David Barsky said. The meeting was also the final appearance of longtime member Rachel Zemberry, with staff announcing that candidate Michelle Shortsleeve is set to go before the Select Board for confirmation on June 22.

In the full story:

• Background and outcome
• Background
• The deliberation
• Background and stakes
• What was before the board
• Facade and fenestration changes
• The complete report — 2,718 words

Source: the Redevelopment Board meeting of June 15, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Correction (Nov. 3, 2026): An earlier version of this story misspelled the names of Chair Kin Lau, board members Stephen Revilak, Vincent Baudoin and Shaina Korman-Houston, nominee Michelle Shortsleeve and Director Claire Ricker. It also reported the permit vote as 5-0, which the recording does not confirm; the board approved the permit. It also credited a remark and a second to members the recording does not identify; those are now unattributed.