Mark Development is proposing a new development partnership and a series of changes to its Riverside project, including converting one of the planned residential buildings to senior housing, reducing the project’s overall number of apartments, and shortening the height of its main parking garage.
The changes were presented August 6 to the Riverside Liaison Committee as Mark Development works to secure financing and move the long-delayed project toward construction.
Under the proposed restructuring, Mark Development would partner with Greystar and Harbert South Bay, with the three companies dividing ownership and development responsibilities among the project’s six buildings.
The changes would modify the plan approved by the Newton City Council in December 2025. That plan called for roughly 753 residential units, ground-floor retail and a large parking garage near the Riverside MBTA station.
Robert Korff, CEO of Mark Development, said the company immediately began seeking financing after the December approval but had difficulty capitalizing the project. Mark Development needed approximately $150 million, he said, while the project’s agreement with the MBTA requires construction to begin by March 2027 and be completed within four to five years.
“It was not easy to do,” Korff said of financing the project.
As a result, Mark Development decided to divide the project among three entities, according to Korff.
Greystar would serve as the lead developer and would construct the project’s infrastructure, including the parking garage, building pads and on- and off-site improvements. It would also own and develop Buildings 1 and 6.
Mark Development would retain Buildings 4 and 5.
Harbert South Bay, a senior-housing developer, would own and develop Buildings 2 and 3 as a senior-living community.
Buildings facing Lower Falls would become senior housing
Buildings 2 and 3, which face the Lower Falls neighborhood, were previously planned as conventional multifamily housing. Under the proposed changes, they would instead include independent living, assisted living, and memory care.
The number of units in the buildings would fall substantially from the previously approved plan. The committee materials put the new senior-housing count at approximately 267 units, compared with 353 previously planned for the buildings.
The two buildings would also become taller, increasing from approximately 52 feet to 59 feet. Project representatives said the revised height would remain within the 60-foot zoning limit.
The increase is partly related to a new drop-off area beneath the building. The revised design would allow vehicles to enter beneath the building to drop off residents and visitors rather than using the loop drive that had previously run through the central green space in the 2025 plan (see below).
The buildings would also be constructed with steel or concrete rather than the wood-frame construction previously proposed.
Joel Sherman, senior managing director of Harbert South Bay, said his company has developed more than 80 senior-living communities across the country and focuses on independent living, assisted living, and memory care.
The senior-housing component would also include a shuttle service for residents traveling to doctor’s appointments and grocery stores.
Fewer apartments, shorter garage
The overall project could have approximately 55 to 75 fewer units than the version approved by the City Council in December. The final number, however, is still being discussed.
Councilor Cyrus Dahmubed (Ward 4) said he would like the project to remain as close as possible to the previously approved unit count, particularly given the reduction in parking and expected traffic associated with the senior-housing conversion.
Korff said the development team is examining whether smaller average unit sizes could allow it to add approximately 10 to 15 units without changing the overall size or scale of the buildings.
That possibility could create a tradeoff with another neighborhood priority. Representatives of the Williams School have expressed interest in preserving more two- and three-bedroom apartments, which are more likely to house families with school-age children.
The developers are also proposing to reduce the height of the project’s main parking garage by two floors.
The garage would contain approximately 720 spaces, down from the 980 spaces previously planned. The senior-housing buildings would have 152 underground parking spaces, compared with 90 in the approved plan.
Korff said the change is possible because senior housing requires less parking than conventional multifamily housing. He said the remaining parking ratio for the multifamily portion of the project would be approximately the same as in the previously approved plan.
Senior-housing visitors would be able to use valet parking, and guests could use the main garage if spaces are available.
The retail component of the project would remain unchanged.
More open space, new playground location
The revised design would also eliminate the loop drive that previously crossed the project’s central green space.
Instead, the playground planned near Grove Street would be moved into a larger green area farther from the street. The former playground location would include resident gardens, stormwater management, and a social gathering area.
A small bistro and patio area would also be added near the rotary.
Rob Adams, a landscape architect working on the project, said the changes would create more usable public space.
“The big takeaway is that additional public realm,” Adams said during the meeting.
The redesign also includes a narrow glass connector between Buildings 2 and 3. Project representatives said the connector would preserve much of the separation between the building masses that had been incorporated into earlier versions of the project.
The developers said they recently received clearance from the Fire Department for the revised drop-off and access arrangement.
Updated elevations and renderings are expected to be available later this fall.
Traffic expected to decrease
The developers also expect the revised project to generate less traffic, although a new traffic study has not yet been completed.
Korff said the project’s traffic numbers are expected to “come way down,” attributing the reduction in part to the shift toward senior housing and the overall reduction in residential units.
The project team has not yet provided updated traffic figures.
Councilor Randy Block (Ward 4) said he views the proposed changes positively.
“I personally think that the partnership with Greystar is a great improvement over just Mark Development trying to do this all on its own,” Block said. He also described the senior-living component, reduction in number of residences, and expected reduction in traffic as changes “moving in the right direction.”
Affordable housing could change
The developers are also considering changing how affordable housing would be incorporated into the project.
Korff said the reduction in the project’s overall unit count could result in the loss of approximately 70 affordable units compared with the previously approved plan.
He said he is exploring whether Building 5 could instead become an entirely affordable-housing building through a project with funding from the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. Korff said in that scenario, the building could potentially contain 42 affordable units. He noted that State funding would require matching funds from the City, which potentially could come from funds generated through a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) arrangement associated with the senior-housing component.
The proposal is preliminary. Councilor Dahmubed said he supports increasing the amount of affordable housing but wants to consider the implications of concentrating affordable units in a single building rather than distributing them throughout the development.
Korff cited a similar project in Somerville as an example of a development with one entirely affordable building alongside market-rate housing. (Newton’s project for the West Newton Armory is 100% dedicated to affordable units.)
The discussion illustrates one of several unresolved tradeoffs as the developers refine the project.
Greystar addresses fair-housing concerns
The committee also questioned Greystar about fair-housing litigation involving the company in other states.
Ryan Souls, Greystar’s managing director of development for the Northeast, said the company is committed to fair housing and equal housing opportunity.
Greystar manages more than one million apartment units across the United States, Souls said, and 80% to 90% of the units it manages are on behalf of third-party owners.
Souls said the company seeks to maintain consistent standards across its portfolio and described fair housing as central to Greystar’s operations.
Greystar is also developing a transit-oriented project in Needham, he said.
Another step toward construction
The Riverside project has undergone several major revisions over the past decade.
The earlier version included substantial office and laboratory space, but the project stalled as rising construction costs, higher interest rates, and declining demand for commercial real estate changed the economics of the development.
Mark Development proposed shifting the project toward residential development in 2024. The revised plan ultimately called for six residential buildings, ground-floor retail and more than 750 housing units.
Fig City News previously reported on the City Council’s review of that plan in September 2025, when officials and residents discussed the project’s size, traffic, parking, and impact on surrounding neighborhoods.
The City Council approved the project in December 2025, and the latest changes would require an amendment to that approved plan.
Mark Development expects to complete its zoning review with the City by September 1, which Korff described as the first step in the special-permit amendment process.
The Riverside Liaison Committee plans to meet again in mid-September, after the zoning review is filed. Updated elevations and renderings could be available by then.
The developers expect the revised plans to continue evolving before they return to the City Council for consideration.