Another Battle at Bunker Hill? A Long, Complicated Story of Boston’s Largest Public Housing Redevelopment

If you live in Charlestown (or have driven past the brick buildings near Bunker Hill Street…) you have likely heard about the Bunker Hill Housing Redevelopment. Depending on who is telling the story, it is either the future of public housing in Boston or a project that seems to take forever to get off the ground. In truth, it is both. The redevelopment is the largest public housing transformation ever undertaken in the city, and it has unfolded slowly because of its scale, complexity, and the stakes involved for residents who have lived there for generations.

The Bunker Hill Housing Development first opened in 1940 as federally funded wartime housing and later transitioned into public housing under the Boston Housing Authority (BHA). At its height, the complex spread across roughly 27 acres and included more than 40 low-rise buildings with about 1,100 deeply affordable apartments. Over time, however, decades of underfunding at the federal level left the development in significant disrepair. Aging heating systems, failing roofs, accessibility issues, and obsolete layouts were no longer fixable through routine maintenance. By the early 2000s, both residents and the city acknowledged that the buildings needed full replacement rather than piecemeal rehabilitation.¹²

In 2016, the City of Boston formally began planning for a full redevelopment of the site, originally branded as “One Charlestown.” From the start, the process was structured differently from many large projects. Instead of a traditional top‑down redevelopment, the city established a tri‑party partnership that gave shared decision‑making authority to the Boston Housing Authority, the Charlestown Resident Alliance (the elected tenant body), and private developers Leggat McCall Properties and the Joseph J. Corcoran Company. This structure was designed to ensure that residents would not only be consulted, but would directly shape the future of their community.³

Early versions of the plan were ambitious, calling for more than 3,200 units and buildings as tall as 22 stories. That scale generated intense neighborhood pushback and forced years of redesign. After extensive public meetings and negotiations, the development team significantly revised the proposal. By 2019, the city approved a scaled‑down master plan that reduced the total unit count to 2,699, capped heights at roughly 10 stories. Most importantly, they also guaranteed the one‑for‑one replacement of every on‑site public housing unit. Under this framework, 1,010 deeply affordable apartments would be rebuilt within the development itself, while the remaining public housing units would be replaced elsewhere in Charlestown by the BHA, ensuring no net loss of affordability.⁴⁵

Even after regulatory approvals were secured, construction did not immediately begin. Like many large public housing redevelopments across the country, Bunker Hill faced a long gap between approval and action as developers worked to assemble an extraordinarily complex financing structure. The project depends on layers of public subsidy, tax credits, city capital, private equity, and construction loans, all of which became harder to secure during the pandemic and subsequent volatility in capital markets. During this period, frustration grew among residents and neighbors who saw years pass with little visible progress.⁶

A major turning point finally came in June 2023, when Mayor Michelle Wu joined BHA leaders, residents, and developers to break ground on Phase One of the redevelopment. This moment marked the culmination of nearly eight years of planning and signaled that the transformation was no longer theoretical. The groundbreaking underscored the city’s commitment to replacing deteriorated public housing with modern, energy‑efficient buildings while keeping current residents housed throughout the multi‑phase process.⁷

The first tangible results appeared in early 2025, when the development’s initial building, known as Stellata, opened and welcomed residents. The six‑story structure contains 102 income‑restricted units and represented a critical proof point for the redevelopment effort. For the first time, families were able to move directly from aging public housing into newly constructed apartments on the same site. City budget documents later described this milestone as essential for maintaining resident trust and momentum as demolition and infrastructure work expanded across the property.⁸

By the spring of 2026, the redevelopment had clearly entered an active construction phase. In April and May, city officials celebrated the groundbreaking of Building F, a nine‑story, 266‑unit mixed‑income building that includes 58 deeply affordable apartments and 208 market‑rate homes. Financing for this building illustrates how the project is breaking new ground in public‑private housing delivery. Equity is coming from Boston’s Housing Accelerator Fund—a city‑backed revolving fund—while construction debt is provided by the Cottonwood Group, with Leggat McCall and Corcoran serving as sponsors. Mayor Wu and BHA leadership have described this structure as a model for delivering housing even during difficult capital market conditions.⁹¹⁰

Despite this momentum, housing development in Charlestown has not been free of conflict. In April 2026, Boston Sand & Gravel filed a lawsuit seeking to block an unrelated city‑backed housing project near Bunker Hill Community College, citing safety concerns around truck access and pedestrian movement. While that litigation does not target the Bunker Hill Housing site itself, it highlights the broader tensions surrounding growth, infrastructure, and land use in the neighborhood. Project leaders have emphasized that the Bunker Hill redevelopment has secured its approvals and is proceeding phase by phase as planned.¹¹¹²¹³

Looking ahead, the full redevelopment will unfold over roughly a decade. When complete, the site will include 15 new residential buildings, approximately seven acres of publicly accessible open space, a community center, neighborhood‑serving retail, and modern infrastructure designed to reconnect the development with the surrounding streets of Charlestown. Each phase will require additional design review and resident coordination, particularly as families temporarily relocate within the site while new buildings rise.¹⁴

The Bunker Hill Housing Redevelopment matters because it is more than just some construction project. It represents a test of whether a city can rebuild its public housing stock without displacement, while adding new housing in a neighborhood that has seen intense pressure from rising prices and limited supply. After decades of deterioration and years of planning, let’s see what happens.

1. Boston Planning & Development Agency, “Bunker Hill Housing Redevelopment,” project description. [connectcre.com]
2. Leggat McCall Properties, “Bunker Hill Housing Redevelopment.” [nnntriplenet.com]
3. Boston Housing Authority, “Mayor Wu Breaks Ground for Phase One of The Bunker Hill Housing Redevelopment,” June 16, 2023. [emma.msrb.org]
4. Bunker Hill Housing Redevelopment official site, planning history. [connectcre.com]
5. Ibid.
6. Boston Mayor’s Office of Housing, FY26 Capital Budget. [newsbreak.com]
7. Boston Housing Authority, June 16, 2023 press release. [emma.msrb.org]
8. Mayor’s Office of Housing Capital Budget update. [newsbreak.com]
9. Charlestown Bridge, “Groundbreaking Held at the Bunker Hill Housing Redevelopment,” May 8, 2026. [connectcre.com]
10. Boston Housing Authority, “Mayor Michelle Wu and City of Boston Celebrate the Groundbreaking of the Second Building of Bunker Hill Housing Redevelopment,” April 28, 2026. [linkedin.com]
11. Banker & Tradesman, “Boston Sand & Gravel Sues to Block Charlestown Housing,” April 9, 2026. [bcbn.org]
12. Caught in Charlestown, April 9, 2026. [newengland…ouncil.com]
13. Leggat McCall Properties, project updates, 2026. [cremarketbeat.com]
14. Boston Planning & Development Agency, project overview. [connectcre.com]