Nine months since an optimistic opening, only 17 of 48 affordable housing units are filled at the mixed-use 40 Thorndike tower in East Cambridge, according to a publicist for the developer.
Responsibility for filling the units falls to the city of Cambridge, where there are long waiting lists for affordable homes. At a 40 Thorndike ribbon-cutting Oct. 2, Cambridge housing director Chris Cotter anticipated the apartments would be occupied quickly. “It might be 30 days, it could be 60 days,” he told Cambridge Day. All 48 could be filled in three months, he said.
A message was left with Cotter on Monday asking why homes are still empty at 40 Thorndike. When there was no response, a message was left Tuesday with a city spokesperson. Again there was no response.
The 20-story, 475,000-square-foot tower opened with a party, speeches and tours after a long and controversial development process. The proposal for a mixed commercial and residential building was unpopular with those who wanted only housing to replace East Cambridge’s courthouse and jail, and it was an increase in the number of affordable units that pushed the project to approval: City councillor Sumbul Siddiqui gave a tie-breaking vote in 2019 that granted parking for the Leggat McCall development on the condition developers doubled affordable units to 48.
An economic downturn since has increased office vacancies, and even Cambridge and 40 Thorndike has suffered from the lack of tenants.
The building remains empty, but “tour activity continues, with multiple showings during the last few months” to potential tenants, said Pam Jonah, who represents Leggat McCall. The building has hosted community and business events.
A first-floor day care remains vacant, though, Jonah said, and much of the residential space: Just over 35 percent of units are filled.
Screenings for tenants from around 3,500 applicants were underway when the building opened, Cotter said, ensuring they met requirements such as income limits.
At the time, Cotter anticipated the homes to fill as soon as residents could relocate from former living arrangements.
The redevelopment also included the renovation of 9,000 square feet of vacant retail space on neighboring First Street. Amba Café and Rotisserie and First Street Farmer’s Market have been open on the block since last May and August, respectively.
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I live very close by. I have seen no lights on in any of the residential units. I am shocked to learn that some folks are actually living there. Do they have no electricity?
My memory is that the written agreement with the city allows LMP to opt out of providing housing if they donate to the affordable housing trust. I assumed they had done that.
I asked Chris Cotter about this three months ago. Here’s my exchange with him:
From: Heather Hoffman
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2025 1:42 PM
To: Cotter, Chris
Subject: former Big Ugly Courthouse
Are the 48 below-market apartments being occupied yet? I see no sign of human habitation, but I could always be wrong.
Heather Hoffman
On Thu, Apr 17, 2025 at 8:47 AM Cotter, Chris wrote:
Hi Heather,
You are correct, resident have not moved in yet. Approved eligible applicants are now touring the property and making decisions about the opportunity to live there. We expect to see folks living there soon now that applicants have seen units and are now making their decisions. This will continue as we work with applicants and see how many we can offer the opportunity to.
Chris
From: Heather Hoffman
Date: Thu, Apr 17, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Subject: Re: former Big Ugly Courthouse
To: Cotter, Chris
Thank you. How come it’s taken so long?
Heather
I never got an answer.
This deserves some more investigation! We are rightfully pushing for more building, but this is a problem. Is there a city competency issue at play here? Why would this take so long if there is a waitlist of 3500 people? My gut says that the department hasn’t streamlined process/paperwork. Would love to understand this better.
how many other similar examples are around the city where there are vacancies after the fact? and how about the two renovated midrise apt buildings on Harvard and Mass Ave soon to be on -line? how many units there? What is the total vacancy of housing are there? would be nice to know before towers, crowding, and more foreign investments.
A major task in getting people settled in subsidized housing is the multitude of exacting personal and financial verifications that are required. These were often instigated at the insistence of homeowners who wanted to control not only the materials, style and colors of their neighbors’ homes, but to have a say in the specifications of the people who lived in them.
Maybe they failed to learn anything from Mr Rogers.
These affordable housing units should be reserved for people who work for the city of Cambridge.
The City Council needs to bring this to immediate attention, and Cotter and representatives of Leggat McCall should be asked to both attend a meeting to find out why this is taking so long and what is going on in general with the building.
Nine months and still empty? Vacant? Still? Need to ask a few more questions to fill in the gaps in this story.
This article deserves an update or follow-up.
In a July 9, 2025 email to the council, Cotter explained the circumstances impacting Thorndike. I don’t think all of them are good justification, but it doesn’t paint the same picture we’re seeing here.
I’ll summarize briefly:
Due to the presence of a childcare center on premise, building management requested permission to require CORI background checks for residents. The tenant screening plan was approved in March.
Screening and tours began in April. People who are offered apartments at Thorndike have 60 days to move in.
Per Cotter’s email,
“At this point, 28 of the 48 units have been accepted by applicants. The article noted that 17 households are currently living in affordable units. An additional 8 households will be moving into their new homes this month, and another 3 are now signing leases and scheduling move-in dates.”
Does the October – April timeline seem egregious? Yes, but let’s get the facts straight
Just maybe, the demand for this type of housing does not exist. Maybe the folks who demand the giant leap of this type of housing have it incredibly wrong.
CORI checks? How come Chris Cotter didn’t say a word about that in his correspondence with me, which finally got posted four days after I first submitted it? If anyone ever rents one of the offices, will every employee have to submit to a CORI check? Is this a normal requirement in any building where a childcare facility isn’t the only use in the building?
People are jumping to some wildly unsupported conclusions here.