The proposed map has gone through three versions since March. In the first version, the River Street block between Hyde Park Avenue and Harvard Avenue was zoned for seven stories. By June that block was down to six on paper and then cut again, to four. Davison Street and Pierce Street were inside the rezoning in March and were out by summer. Blake Estates was taken out in June and put back in October.
On October 15, 2026, the BPDA board voted unanimously to adopt the Cleary Square Squares + Streets Small Area Plan and to send the zoning map and text to the Boston Zoning Commission. The Commission hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, November 18, 2026. Until the Commission adopts it, the new zoning isn't in force.
The upzoning applies only to a short list of named corridor blocks. The rest of the neighborhood is left out. Whether a property gains new potential depends on the exact parcel, and the market hasn't started pricing that in.
Every Revision Moved a Specific Block
The city has described the changes as a gradual reduction in height and scale. Looked at block by block, though, some areas lost height and others gained it. Here's how the main pieces changed between the March draft and the October version the board adopted.
| Area | March draft | Where it landed | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hyde Park Avenue, Cleary Square blocks | S4, seven stories | S3-6, six stories | Down |
| River Street between Hyde Park Ave and Harvard Ave | Seven, then six stories | SC, four stories | Down |
| Fairmount Avenue | SC, four stories | S3-6, six stories | Up |
| Hyde Park Avenue between Winthrop St and Everett St | SC, four stories | S3-6, six stories, as of October | Up |
| Walnut Street at Dana Avenue | S1 | S0, larger setbacks | Down |
| North Hyde Park Ave, Davison/Pierce, south side of Walnut St | Inside the rezoning | Removed in June | Out |
| Blake Estates | Inside the rezoning | Removed in June, added back in October | Back in |
Two of the changes went up. The planning department's June summary says the Fairmount Avenue increase "aligns with HPNA map and responds to comments about desire for more growth in this area." The October Winthrop-to-Everett change happened after the public meetings had ended. The Hyde Park Bulletin reported that the planning department held no public meeting to present the final board version. Instead, the neighborhood's ad hoc zoning committee walked 30 to 40 residents through the map on October 14, the night before the vote.
The Bulletin also reported a six-story S3-6 area near Fairmount station, running parallel to Pierce Street. The city's stated reasons were community interest in housing near transit and the fact that a larger footprint can fit structured parking for both residents and commuter rail riders.
The Lines Were Drawn by Organizing
The map shrank for a traceable reason. According to the Bulletin, the city kicked off Squares + Streets in Hyde Park in February 2024. By that summer, neighborhood volunteers had formed an ad hoc committee and drafted a citizens petition to the Zoning Commission. The petition pushed the city to engage. The process paused for a time, City Hall released an anti-displacement action plan, and the city added two new Squares + Streets districts, shaped by the petition, to the six it had codified in April 2024. The four-story SC zone now on River Street is one of those two.
The Bulletin reported that District 5 City Councilor Enrique Pepén and State Representative Rob Consalvo acted as go-betweens between the committee and the planning department. In April, the Bulletin covered Hyde Park Neighborhood Association president Mimi Turchinetz's objection that the March proposal went further on height and density than people expected. In October, the Bulletin quoted her at the committee meeting:
"They respond to organizing and they respond to people power, and we're just going to have to keep on addressing those issues."
For a buyer, that history means the map reflects specific negotiations over specific blocks. That's why it can't be read as one neighborhood-wide upzoning. It also matters for what comes next. Concerns about anti-displacement, affordability, a neighborhood traffic study and the tree canopy were still unresolved at the October 14 meeting, so people will still be raising them when the zoning reaches the Commission.
What the Lines Mean for a Specific Address
Inside an S3-6 or SC block. These are the parcels where the building limit goes up. The plan calls for zoning that encourages mixed-use, multifamily buildings, and for an arts corridor along River Street, Fairmount Avenue and Central Avenue. The zoning also sets no parking minimums, and the planning department's responses to public comments say individual projects still go through Article 80 transportation review.
At the S0 edge. The Walnut and Dana corner shows how the city handled the boundary with small houses. S0 allows up to four stories and 50 feet, but it caps a building at 14 units. It also requires a 15-foot rear yard and 14 feet of combined side yards, compared with 10 and 10 under S1. The planning department said the change responded to residents' concerns about how development would affect nearby small-scale homes.
On a side street that came off the map. North Hyde Park Avenue, Davison/Pierce and the south side of Walnut Street were removed in June. Those parcels stay under their existing residential subdistricts in Article 69 rather than the new Squares + Streets districts, and the zoning text amendment lists the unit limits each of those subdistricts carries. A listing on one of these streets that talks about "development potential" from the rezoning is describing a version of the map that no longer exists.
Owners next to the corridor have a separate concern. With no parking minimums on the corridor blocks, the Bulletin reported that residents want a neighborhood traffic study. Someone buying a few doors off River Street or Hyde Park Avenue can follow that issue through the Commission hearing.
Zoning rules can be complicated, and this post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Before you count on what a particular parcel allows, confirm it with a land-use attorney or the planning department.
The Sales Data Hasn't Caught Up
MLS Property Information Network's quarterly report puts the Q3 2026 median single-family sale price in ZIP code 02136 at $658,000, down 7.3% from a year earlier. There were 34 closed sales, down 12.8%, and homes sold in a median of 33 days at 100.1% of list price. For Suffolk County in the same quarter, the same report shows a median of $850,000, up 4.0%, on 307 sales.
Thirty-four sales is a small sample, and those numbers cover single-family homes only. Still, they show that zip-wide single-family prices moved in the opposite direction from the county during the same months the map was being finalized. The rezoning changes what can be built on a few corridor parcels. It does nothing for a three-bedroom Colonial on a street that was removed. For buyers, the question to ask about any specific address is which side of the line it's on.
The Dates That Matter Next
- November 18, 2026. The Boston Zoning Commission is scheduled to hear the Cleary Square zoning map and text amendment.
- The adopted documents. The October plan, the color-coded zoning map, the text amendment and the summaries of changes are all posted on the Cleary Square page. The October 15 BPDA board summary covers what the board approved.
- December 2026. The city expects to set FY2027 property tax rates then, so carrying-cost estimates for any Hyde Park purchase stay provisional until that happens.
The plan has added smaller items along the way. In June, the planning department added text pointing to a possible trail from the West Street Urban Wild to Fairmount station, along with a new recommendation for bike routes.
If you're weighing a house, a two-family or a mixed-use building near Cleary Square, Juan Real Estate Group can check the address against the October map, walk the block with you, and tell you plainly what the new zoning does and doesn't change for that property. Let's connect: book a free valuation or consultation.