LANCASTER — On Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, the Healey-Driscoll Administration announced that the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) has issued a Request for Proposals seeking a developer to transform the 72-acre former Lancaster Industrial School for Girls property into a walkable neighborhood with at least 288 homes.
According to DCAMM, the redevelopment will be guided by a community-informed plan created with the Town of Lancaster. The plan will include a mix of housing, public spaces, and neighborhood-serving commercial uses, with the site potentially accommodating up to 386 homes pending local approvals.
The project will follow a Regulating Plan created by the planning and urban design firm, Speck Dempsey, in collaboration with DCAMM and the Town of Lancaster. The plan emphasizes walkability, varied housing options, active public spaces, historic preservation, and high-quality architectural design.
DCAMM said the Regulating Plan was developed following an extensive public engagement process conducted between summer 2025 and spring 2026. During that timeframe, DCAMM and Speck Dempsey held three community meetings, an open design studio, and two pop-up outreach events to garner feedback from residents and local leaders.
“Building more homes is one of the most important things we can do to make Massachusetts more affordable,” Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll said. “By working with Lancaster from the beginning, we have a plan that can turn this property into a neighborhood with different housing options, walkable public spaces, and opportunities for local businesses.”
Under the Affordable Homes Act, the property is authorized for at least 288 homes as of right. DCAMM said that, subject to additional local approvals—including rezoning or an agreement among DCAMM, the Town of Lancaster and the selected developer—the project could ultimately accommodate up to 386 homes, along with commercial uses supporting a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood.
Governor Maura Healey said the project demonstrates how underused state-owned property can be used to address the housing shortage.
“We created State Land for Homes because Massachusetts has underused public land that can and should be helping us build the housing people need,” Governor Maura Healey said. “This project is a great example of what that looks like. We’re taking a large state-owned property that has sat vacant and putting it back to work to create hundreds of new homes, while building on the vision developed with the Lancaster community.”
Chris Dempsey and Jeff Speck, co-founders of Speck Dempsey, said the plan incorporates the property’s historic buildings, trees, hedgerows, roads and paths while reducing infrastructure costs and environmental impacts.
“The Girls Industrial School occupies a beautiful site with some lovely historic buildings, specimen trees and mighty hedgerows, but, more than that, deeply intelligent traces: roads and paths laid out at a time when there was a more natural sense of topography and placemaking,” Dempsey and Speck said. “By embracing these roads and paths, preserving almost every majestic tree and hedgerow, and organizing itself around its best historic buildings, the plan creates a place of unique character while minimizing infrastructure costs and ecological impact.”
Juana Matias, secretary of the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), said the redevelopment would create a new neighborhood for Lancaster and return the long-vacant state property to local tax rolls.
DCAMM, in consultation with EOHLC, anticipates selecting a development team in late 2026 or early 2027. After the developer is selected, the property is expected to transfer to the developer within approximately 18 months, with construction beginning afterward.
DCAMM said it will continue working closely with the Town of Lancaster as the project moves forward and expects the town to consider proposed rezoning this fall. The rezoning would allow for additional housing and neighborhood-serving commercial uses, with the process including public hearings and consideration by Town Meeting.
Jason Allison, chair of the Lancaster Select Board, said the regulating plan incorporates suggestions from residents about how to honor the property through thoughtful development.
“The Town of Lancaster has been working closely with the State and its consultants for over a year to understand the type of development that could occur on this property,” said Jason Allison, chair of the Lancaster Select Board. “The resulting regulating plan incorporates numerous suggestions by the Town’s residents on how to honor the site with a thoughtful, unique development.”
The project advances the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s State Land for Homes initiative. Since its launch in 2025, the program has advanced plans for more than 5,600 homes across nearly 700 acres of state-owned land in 33 Massachusetts communities.
Information about the Request for Proposals is available through the project website.
