Modera Weston preleasing, affordable housing lottery open

Both an affordable housing lottery and preleasing for Modera Weston, the 172-unit housing complex at 751 Boston Post Road, are now open.

The development, owned and operated by Mill Creek Residential, features one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and townhomes with numerous amenities available to renters, including a sports simulator, pet spa, dining area, swimming pool and more. The complex is still under construction, with an estimated completion date of September 2027.

The first move-ins are slated for later this summer as construction continues. Mill Creek declined further comment beyond a July 15 press release.

Of the 172 units, 43 are designated as affordable, capped at 80% of the area median income in the Greater Boston area. The area median income for the Boston area is $164,600, and the 80% threshold is $137,100 for a four-person household, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Rents for these affordable units are $2,401 for a one-bedroom, $2,861 for a two-bedroom and $3,280 for a three-bedroom apartment.

The affordable housing lottery application deadline is Aug. 31 at 2 p.m, and a public information session is planned for Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. on Zoom. More information is available at sebhousing.com/property/modera-weston.

Lease agreements for move-in-ready units begin at $7,510 a month for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom 1,455 square-foot home, according to Mill Creek’s website. Owners of dogs and cats pay a recurring $75 per month charge.

It has been a long path for 751 Boston Post Road, which received a comprehensive 40B permit with conditions from the Zoning Board of Appeals in November 2020. Under state law, if less than 10% of a town’s housing stock is designated as affordable, developers of 40B projects are able to bypass some town zoning restrictions to receive a comprehensive permit.

The developer, however, appealed the decision, requesting the ZBA’s decision on its permit with numerous conditions be overturned, instead asking the state to grant the comprehensive permit it had applied for. The Board and Weston BPR LLC, the project applicant, agreed to a revised comprehensive permit in 2021. Finally, in 2022, Mill Creek and the ZBA agreed on a reduction in the number of units from 180 to 172.

While large housing developments are already controversial in Weston, 751 Boston Post Road was mired in further controversy due to a finding by the State Ethics Commission that former Select Board member Douglas Gillespie had violated the conflict of interest law, for which he paid an $8,000 civil penalty.

Gillespie, while serving on the Select Board, repeatedly violated the state’s conflict of interest law by participating in matters affecting 751 Boston Post Road, land that he owned with his brothers. The State Ethics Commission, in a March 2021 press release, said he also directed Select Board minutes “be altered to conceal his conflict of interest” and he used his position to provide his family an advantage in negotiating the sale of the property. The property was sold to Weston BPR LLC for $16.65 million, according to the deed on file with the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds.

The State Ethics Commission also found that Gillespie forwarded to his family letters of opposition and support, emails from the town manager and confidential legal advice from his Select Board email account..

For more information on Modera Weston and 751 Boston Post Road, visit moderaweston.com. Mill Creek Residential is a national investment and rental housing company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. It is operating or constructing more than 42,700 rental units in 150 communities across the country, according to its press release.

“We’re eager to welcome our first residents to Modera Weston, the first professionally managed community of its kind in Weston,” said Doug Arsham, Mill Creek’s executive managing director of development in Boston, in the press release. “This is a truly special location, and we’re excited to offer the area’s renters a genuinely unique, top-of-market experience in one of the most inviting and scenic neighborhoods in the nation.”