Downsizing Without Leaving Weston Hinges on Projects Still Under Review

An October 2 Weston Observer article quoted a former Weston resident who said they would have stayed if they had found the kind of home they wanted.

The same October 2 article quotes Clarabelle Valcin, a social worker at the Council on Aging: "A lot of people are interested in downsizing, but they don't see a lot of options in town, so they look to neighboring communities."

If you own a large, long-held house in Weston and want something smaller nearby, your first question is a supply question, not a price question. Your second is a calendar question. The town's next round of smaller homes is waiting on a building permit, a Planning Board review, state environmental review, and a Special Town Meeting on November 23. When you can sell, and where you can go afterward, depend on how those turn out.

Eight condo sales in six months

The numbers show how thin the in-town move-down market is. In the first quarter of 2026, the Weston Observer counted 27 home sales and four condominium sales. From April through June, there were 41 home sales and again four condo sales. That makes eight condo sales in the first half of the year, in a town where 68 houses changed hands over the same stretch.

Those few sales take place at a very different price level. In 2025 the average Weston condominium sold for about $810,015, according to Warren Group data analyzed by the Observer. The median for all 45 transactions in the second quarter of 2026 was about $2.75 million. Between those two figures sits the cheapest house sold that quarter, a $1.23 million 1968 split-level on Westland Road. Even the smallest single-family houses in town cost more than a typical condo, and they rarely offer single-level living.

Stonegate at Weston is the condo community most people name first. It has 99 units in one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts, some on a single floor and some townhouse-style, created by converting an apartment complex. With only a handful of Weston condos closing each quarter, a buyer who wants one specific layout there may wait a long time for it to come up.

What the pipeline actually adds

The town is producing new housing. Very little of it confirmably comes up for sale.

The Weston Observer reports that Modera's affordable units rent from $2,401 for a one-bedroom to $3,280 for a three-bedroom, for households at up to 80% of area median income. Manor on North comes with a proposed town master lease based on the Brook School model, so it is clearly rental.

That leaves 130 townhomes as the possible ownership homes in the pipeline: 100 at the Quarry and 30 at Reserve Weston. The local reporting and town housing documents describing both projects give unit counts and types, but they do not say whether those townhomes will be sold or rented, and they list no prices. If you hope to buy rather than rent, that is the first question to settle.

The schedules are also long. The Manor on North developer expects 12 to 18 months of construction once a permit is issued. For the Quarry, a September 4 public notice said Boston Properties intended to submit an environmental notification form to the state on or before August 31, 2026, which begins state environmental review. None of these projects can be moved into soon, and some are still waiting on approval.

Why the Regis College vote reaches beyond its abutters

Reserve Weston is the project with a clear decision date, and it matters to homeowners who live far from Wellesley Street. HYM is asking for a zoning bylaw amendment and a special permit to create a senior housing district on 30 acres of Regis College land. The plan changed after the spring, when it became clear the Planning Board was not yet on board. The current version has two connected three-story buildings plus separate townhomes. Heights are capped at 37 feet in zone A and 59 feet in zone B. The natural open-space buffer has grown from 10% to 20% of the site. For affordability, the town can take 10% of the units as on-site affordable housing or a payment of $300,000 per unit for off-site affordable housing in a location of its choosing.

Regis College COO Tom Pistorino told the Planning Board that the land sale depends on the zoning and permit. "If that doesn't go forward, the land will go back to sale and it would probably sell for some other purpose," he said. For someone hoping to downsize in town, a no vote would do more than delay 30 townhomes. It would remove them from the pipeline altogether and put the parcel back on the market for some other use.

The Planning Board's next meeting is October 7, an independent peer reviewer will check a traffic study this fall, and the Town Meeting warrant closes at the end of October.

The cost of staying put while you wait

When the next home is a year or more away, staying in the current house is the default plan, and staying has a yearly cost. The Select Board's FY2027 budget report estimates Weston's tax rate at $11.34 per $1,000, up 4.2% from $10.88 in FY2026. On a home assessed at $1,788,450, that works out to an estimated $20,863 tax bill. That figure is an estimate, not the final certified rate. The same report lists no general Proposition 2½ override for FY2027.

Vida Goldstein, an associate member of the Council on Aging board, described the pressure plainly: "If they bought the house in the 60s for $40,000 and it's worth millions now, they're paying taxes on the millions." Adapting instead of moving can work when a house is already mostly on one level. A four-level colonial is a different project.

Sequencing a sale when the next home is not built yet

Council on Aging Executive Director Stephanie Keane says most of the residents the council sees leaving go to continuing care retirement communities. Maplewood Senior Living offers independent living, assisted living and memory care in Weston at market rates. The waitlists can be long. Brook School Apartments has 127 people waiting for subsidized units, with an estimated wait of about five years. Keane's advice is direct: "Apply early. People don't realize what the waitlists can be."

For a homeowner planning a sale, the coming months come down to a few dates:

1. October 7: Reserve Weston goes back to the Planning Board with revised height-zone details.
2. End of October: The Special Town Meeting warrant closes.
3. November 19: Proposals are due for the town-owned parcel at 0 Riverside Road, which the town has put out for housing.
4. November 23: Special Town Meeting.

Weston's housing market is strong enough that a well-presented house rarely waits long. Sales rose to 31 in the first quarter of 2026 from 21 a year earlier, while Greater Boston and the state saw declines. Selling is rarely the slow part. Having somewhere in town to go next is. Many sellers who want to stay will need a plan for the gap: a rental, a stay in a neighboring town, or a waitlist spot secured well before closing.

A few direct questions

Are any of the new Weston townhomes for sale? That hasn't been announced. The local reporting and town documents covering the Weston Quarry townhomes and the 30 Reserve Weston townhomes give unit counts and types, but they don't say whether the townhomes will be sold or rented, and they list no prices.

Is Manor on North an option for buying? No. Its 17 apartments are planned as age-restricted rentals under a proposed town master lease, and the building is still waiting on fire-suppression approval and a building permit.

What happens to the Regis College land if Town Meeting votes no? Tom Pistorino of Regis has said the land would likely go back on the market for another kind of large-scale development.

Is the $20,863 tax figure final? No. It is the Select Board's FY2027 estimate for a home assessed at $1,788,450 and can change with final assessments and the town's classification vote.

If you are weighing the sale of a long-held Weston home and want to time it around these decisions, The Shulkin Wilk Group can map your sale against the Planning Board and Town Meeting calendar, so you know your next address before your current one goes to market.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.