Massachusetts is opening bids for developers to build up to 400 homes on a 72-acre state-owned parcel that once housed the Lancaster Industrial School for Girls — the latest project under a $5 billion state law that promises affordability but leaves taxpayers on the hook for the real cost.
The former reform school campus at 220 Old Common Road has sat vacant since state offices relocated to Northborough. Now, under the Massachusetts Affordable Homes Act signed by Gov. Maura Healey in 2024, the state is putting the land in play. The law commits roughly $5 billion over five years to combat rising housing costs statewide. What the Worcester Telegram & Gazette framed as an "exciting opportunity," taxpayers might reasonably call a blank check.
Plans call for at least 288 housing units, with potential for nearly 400 if local approvals come through. The planning and design firm Speck Dempsey helped craft the development blueprint alongside state officials and the town of Lancaster. A developer could be chosen by early 2027, with 18 months for the land transfer before construction begins.
"It's going to be an exciting opportunity for Lancaster," Town Administrator John Woodsmall told the Telegram & Gazette, noting the benefit of returning the long-vacant, state-owned land to the tax rolls. Fair point — no tax revenue comes from land the government hoards.
But what Woodsmall didn't address, and what the Telegram & Gazette didn't ask, is what subsidies, tax credits, and public financing will flow to whichever developer wins the bid. The Affordable Homes Act's $5 billion commitment doesn't grow on trees. Every dollar of "affordable housing" subsidy is a dollar taken from somewhere else — or borrowed against future receipts.
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll offered a prepared statement: "Building more homes is one of the most important things we can do to make Massachusetts more affordable." The Healey administration claims it has advanced plans for more than 5,000 homes on nearly 700 acres of state-owned land across 33 communities since 2025.
The pattern is familiar. Government-backed "affordable housing" projects routinely cost taxpayers multiples of the original promise while delivering units that remain out of reach for the working people they were supposedly built to serve. The developers collect the subsidies. The politicians cut the ribbons. The public carries the debt.
Across the Atlantic, the political economy of social housing draws sharper scrutiny. On CNews, France's most-watched 24-hour news channel, commentator Thomas Bonnet argued that social housing is used by "a small group of individuals, the elites" to influence election results. "There are many cities, many elected officials who deliberately put in more social housing because generally, social housing is associated with voting for the left," Bonnet said, as reported by Europe Says. National Rally lawmaker Philippe Ballard claimed 30 percent of French social housing goes to foreigners while police officers "sleep in their cars." Whether that framing is right or wrong, the underlying question transfers: who gets these units, who decides, and when the subsidies flow, who profits?
Rezoning for the Lancaster site could begin this fall, with public hearings and a town meeting ahead. The Telegram & Gazette covered the process. It did not cover the price tag.
