Chelsea, MA Development: 3 Projects Changing the Area

What's being built in Chelsea, Massachusetts right now?

Three very different projects are converging on one small city just across the Mystic from Boston. Demoulas Super Markets, the owner of Market Basket, has floated a conceptual plan for 162 apartments on underused lots at its 30-acre Chelsea property beside the commuter rail and Silver Line stations. Mass Audubon, GreenRoots, and The Neighborhood Developers now own the 18-acre former Forbes industrial site on Chelsea Creek and plan a public waterfront sanctuary with up to 225 affordable homes. And across the city line in Everett, the Kraft Group is pursuing a 25,000-seat New England Revolution stadium and a four-acre waterfront park on a former power plant site, with a likely opening around 2030. None of the three has broken ground. All three are worth watching if you're buying or own in this part of Greater Boston.

By Katherine Kranenburg | November 11, 2026

Is Chelsea becoming one of Boston's most interesting places to watch?

I've been saying yes for a while, and this fall the headlines caught up. A grocery chain wants to build apartments. A conservation group bought an abandoned factory. The owner of the Patriots wants to build a soccer stadium next door. That's a lot of attention for one small city.

Here's what each project actually is, where it stands, and what it could mean over the next decade.

Market Basket wants to build housing on its parking lots

Start with the one that surprised everyone. Market Basket's flagship Chelsea store sits on a 30-acre property that used to be the Mystic Mall, right next to Chelsea's commuter rail station and the SL3 Silver Line terminus. According to Banker & Tradesman, the site is owned by Demoulas Super Markets, and two 1.25-acre lots along the Second Street side of the property have sat largely unused since the site was redeveloped about 15 years ago. One stores snow and snow-removal equipment. The other is grass. City Manager Fidel Maltez calls them "the pigeon parcels."

In late September, Market Basket came back to the city with a conceptual plan. Boston.com reported on November 5 that it calls for 162 apartments in two mixed-use buildings with structured parking, plus three additional retail buildings. The Boston Globe's Power Play newsletter described it as a 40-page conceptual master plan and quoted Maltez's line on the whole thing: "Pigeons don't pay taxes."

Two things to keep straight. First, this is a concept, not a filed project. Banker & Tradesman notes Market Basket would still need a private developer to actually build it, and Boston.com says it's unclear when shovels will hit the ground. Second, the reason it's even possible is zoning. Chelsea's City Council passed the West Chelsea Mixed-Use Overlay District in June 2026, which allows multifamily by right, removes parking minimums, and permits buildings up to 12 stories or 150 feet, per Banker & Tradesman. The city also reworked its affordable housing rules at the same time, moving from a flat 15 percent requirement to a tiered system, according to Boston.com.

Maltez told Boston.com the city has been talking with Market Basket and other property owners for about a year, and that more developers have reached out since the zoning changed. He also said the city is open to tax incentives to get projects moving in a high-rate, high-cost environment. That's the posture of a city that wants to grow.

The Forbes site is becoming a waterfront sanctuary with housing

The second project is further along and completely different in character. For years the 18-acre former Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing property sat mostly vacant at the point where Chelsea Creek meets Mill Creek, through bankruptcy, failed redevelopment attempts, and a fire. The city asked a court to put it in receivership in late 2024.

In March 2026, Mass Audubon officially took ownership. Its June 2026 announcement lays out the plan with partners GreenRoots and The Neighborhood Developers: publicly accessible open space and waterfront access, nature programming, a GreenRoots office on site, and up to 225 units of affordable housing on part of the property. The initial purchase price was $8 million, which Mass Audubon describes as a down payment on a project it estimates at about $68 million in total, covering real estate, environmental testing, design, and construction. More than $3.5 million in state funding and an $850,000 federal Mystic River Watershed grant are already in hand.

The Boston Foundation, writing in August 2026, put the significance in one number: only about 3 percent of Chelsea's land is green space, against a national median of 15 percent, and the entire city is designated an urban heat island. Eighteen acres of restored waterfront is a big deal in a place like that. The Foundation also reported that more than $26 million had been raised, that about $30 million is needed to open the site to the public, and that roughly $10 million of that was still outstanding as of August.

The first work, per Mass Audubon, is unglamorous: seawall maintenance, deciding which old buildings to keep or demolish, and clearing debris. There is no construction start date for the housing yet. But the land is secured and the partners are real, which is more than this site has had in a generation.

If you're weighing a purchase in Chelsea, Everett, or anywhere east of the city and want to understand how pipeline projects like these could affect value and daily life over a five- to ten-year hold, that's exactly the conversation I have with buyers every week. Reach out here and I'll walk you through it.

Next door in Everett: a 25,000-seat stadium and a waterfront park

The third project isn't technically in Chelsea, but it's close enough to matter. On the Everett side of the line, the Kraft Group wants to build a New England Revolution stadium on roughly 20 acres of a shuttered power plant site overlooking the Mystic River, across from Encore Boston Harbor.

The deals got done over New Year's. The City of Everett announced a 20-year community agreement on December 31, 2025 that it values at roughly $91.7 million to the city in payments, infrastructure, and benefits, on top of an estimated $100 million Kraft would spend cleaning up and raising the contaminated site. The agreement includes $2.25 per ticket to the city's general fund and $17.5 million toward an Orange Line headhouse at Assembly Row, both subject to permits. Construction Dive put the stadium's estimated cost at $500 million, with $80 million earmarked for demolition and remediation and $20 million for a four-acre public waterfront park with a pedestrian and bike path.

Then reality set in on timing. The Boston Globe reported in July 2026 that the project still needs its Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act review, which started this spring, plus city permits, and that the old plant has to come down first. Team president Brian Bilello described about a three-year process from the day the project gets the final OK, and said the most likely opening is sometime in 2030. The stadium would seat 25,000 for soccer and up to 35,000 for concerts.

If you've read my post on what Gillette Stadium's World Cup turn meant for Boston-area buyers, you know I think stadiums are less about game day and more about the infrastructure that comes with them. A waterfront park, a new Orange Line entrance, and a remediated 20-acre brownfield are the parts of this deal that will still matter on a Tuesday in 2035.

Why this corner of Greater Boston is getting the attention

Zoom out and a pattern shows up. The Globe's Power Play newsletter, citing Boston Indicators, reported that housing permits from 2020 to 2025 rose 31 percent in Chelsea, 59 percent in Everett, and 228 percent in Revere, while Boston's fell 40 percent. Greystar built roughly 1,900 apartments on land straddling the Everett-Chelsea line. The cities north and east of the Mystic are building while much of the region isn't, and I've written before about where Boston's new homes are actually landing.

The transit story is the quiet part. The Market Basket site touches a commuter rail station, the SL3 Silver Line terminus to the Seaport and South Station, and the 111 and 104 bus corridors, per Banker & Tradesman. The Globe notes the drive to downtown can be under 15 minutes without traffic. For a buyer priced out of the city, that combination is the whole pitch.

What does it mean for you? If you're a buyer, it means the east side of Greater Boston deserves a real look, not a drive-by, and my guide to the towns east of Boston is the place to start. Pipeline projects don't guarantee anything, and all three of these could slip by years. But a decade of concentrated investment in housing, open space, and transit tends to show up in the numbers eventually. If you already own in Chelsea or Everett, it means paying attention to the city council agenda, because the overlay zoning and the stadium permits will shape what gets built around you.

Three projects. Three completely different sponsors. One small city that a lot of people used to drive past on the Tobin. That's changing.

Frequently asked questions

What is Market Basket building in Chelsea, MA?

Nothing yet. Demoulas Super Markets circulated a conceptual master plan in late September 2026 for 162 apartments in two mixed-use buildings with structured parking, plus three retail buildings, on underused lots at its 30-acre Chelsea property next to the commuter rail and Silver Line stations. It still needs city approval and a private development partner.

What is happening at the Forbes site in Chelsea?

Mass Audubon took ownership of the 18-acre former Forbes Lithograph property in March 2026. With GreenRoots and The Neighborhood Developers, it plans a public waterfront sanctuary where Chelsea Creek meets Mill Creek, plus up to 225 affordable homes, at an estimated total cost of about $68 million.

When will the New England Revolution stadium in Everett open?

As of July 2026 the project still needed its state environmental review and city permits. Team president Brian Bilello told The Boston Globe the most likely opening is sometime in 2030.

How do you get from Chelsea to downtown Boston?

By commuter rail from Chelsea station, by the SL3 Silver Line to the Seaport and South Station, by the 111 or 104 bus, or by car over the Tobin Bridge, which The Boston Globe reports can take under 15 minutes without traffic.

Sources: Boston.com, November 5, 2026; Banker & Tradesman, October 7, 2026; The Boston Globe, Power Play, October 2026; Mass Audubon, June 29, 2026; The Boston Foundation, August 5, 2026; City of Everett, December 31, 2025; Construction Dive, January 7, 2026; The Boston Globe, July 20, 2026.

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About the author

Katherine Kranenburg, REALTOR , a top-producing Greater Boston REALTOR with Real Brokerage and nearly two decades of experience as a Greater Boston real estate agent. Featured in The Boston Globe and a Boston Common Magazine Dynamic Women honoree, with 5-star Google reviews, Katherine Kranenburg serves relocation buyers, downsizers and move-up buyers across Boston, Newton, Wellesley, Back Bay, Brookline, Newton Centre, Waban, and Newton Highlands.