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The continuing redevelopment of industrial properties in Greater Boston is widening inequity, straining transportation networks and could hurt the region’s future competitiveness, a Metropolitan Area Planning Council report says.
Nearly 11 million square feet of industrial space was removed from the local market inventory between 2011 and 2021, MAPC said, three-quarters of which was in MAPC’s “inner core” region stretching from Lynn to Quincy and west to Waltham. During the same period, industrial development has increased in outer-lying suburbs amid increased demand for e-commerce distribution centers.
The shift has placed industrial companies further from their employees, many of whom commute from nearby Gateway Cities and lack public transit options.
The geographical disconnect points to the need to reform zoning, enabling some industrial uses to be built near housing and retail space, MAPC Research Manager Jessie Partridge Guerrero said.
“There are definitely examples of trying to be creative about how to hold onto the industrial space and how to make it successful,” she said.
Miami, for instance, adopted a form-based zoning code that allows light manufacturing to be built alongside office and residential buildings.
Employers at the Cherry Hill Industrial Park in Beverly and Danvers asked MAPC and other local economic development groups for solutions after difficulties attracting workers because of inadequate transportation and housing options. The property has approximately 80 businesses with 3,000 employees, and a majority of workers commute from Gateway Cities such as Lynn, where 20 percent of employees live.
Potential solutions recommended by MAPC included creation of shuttles to Lynn, Peabody and Lawrence, and rezoning the property for multifamily housing under the state’s Housing Choice Law.
Industrial rents have risen up to 41 percent in the past decade, threatening the livelihood of smaller, locally-owned firms, the report said.
The report also recommends that communities adopt financial incentives to retain industrial space.
