City of Newton California Street Manufacturing District Zoning Study Newton, MA

Once an industrial and manufacturing area with large mills, Newton's California Street is now a diverse mix of single-family houses, small stores, unique small manufacturing enterprises, and an increasing number of multi-family buildings including a 40B. Its assets include proximity to the Charles River and several parks. Landwise Advisors teamed with Utile was engaged by the City of Newton to study amending district zoning. Landwise was specifically responsible for the market analysis and determining emerging sectors and competitive clusters that might be appropriate for the scale and location of the district and identifying implementable strategies for growing the economic base.

Zoning recommendations were the result of an iterative process informed by community input, real estate market trends, and financial analysis to encourage a balanced mix of commercial, small-scale industrial and residential development that is not only context-appropriate and visually compelling, but also market-feasible. The study recommended commercial buildings east of Los Angeles Street with projected life science space on second, third, and possibly fourth floors and "boutique" industrial or possibly some retail space on the first floor.