Opinion: A once-in-a-generation opportunity: Getting Fall River’s waterfront right for everyone

Like many people and organizations across Fall River, members of United Interfaith Action of Southeastern Massachusetts (UIA) are excited about the future of our waterfront. 

The 20-acre site along the Taunton River has been described as the city’s last frontier, a defining opportunity for the South Coast, and the future downtown and new center of Fall River. The Mass. Department of Transportation (MassDOT), which owns the land, estimates increased property values of more than $200 million, and the project is expected to generate approximately $1 billion in private-sector investment.

On July 24, MassDOT took a major step forward and issued an invitation to developers to submit bids to build and transform the land. As one observer notes, “there’s no better time to be a developer with an eye and an appetite for the Fall River waterfront.” 

We agree. But this should also be the moment to ensure that current Fall River residents have the opportunity to live in the new neighborhood. This publicly created asset has the potential to reshape Fall River for generations. We cannot afford to get it wrong.

This extraordinary opportunity exists because the public created it. MassDOT, together with the city’s $1.4 million in ARPA funds, spent an estimated $118-$140 million to remove Route 79, reconnect downtown to the Taunton River and light up the Braga Bridge, making this new waterfront possible. MassDOT’s bid package anticipates millions more in state and local funds. These taxpayer investments should produce a waterfront that serves the entire community with parks and open space, public access to the river and responsible stewardship of public resources. Most importantly, these public funds must support housing opportunities for people across a broad range of incomes — not just those who can afford market rate and high-priced apartments. Unfortunately, Fall River’s current plans point in a different direction.

The City envisions as many as 1,500 new homes on the waterfront emphasizing market-rate development rather than mixed-income neighborhoods. As noted in the MassDOT invitation to bid, “[Fall River] has indicated a strong preference for market-rate housing as the development option for the Property.” 

Fall River’s waterfront Master Plan calls for strategies to “capture market-rate demand,” obtain a “meaningful rent premium,” and attract tenants who “can afford the rent proposed by the development.” The city has also designated the area as an HDIP district, making market-rate developers eligible for millions in generous state tax credits. However, the waterfront Urban Renewal Plan contains no meaningful commitment to mixed-income or affordable housing. And market rents may be just the beginning. The Davol Master Plan indicates that developers can initially expect rents about $300-800 higher than Fall River market rate rents — there will be no limits. Unless the city takes a different approach, one of the commonwealth’s most valuable publicly created development sites may offer little, if any opportunity for lower-income Fall River residents.

The city’s vision for more high-end housing on the waterfront matters because Fall River faces one of the commonwealth’s most serious affordable housing shortages. Nearly one-quarter of Fall River residents are severely cost-burdened, spending more than half their income on housing, and among renters, 52% are cost-burdened. Despite a growing number of 100% market-rate projects that have recently opened or are under construction, rents continue to rise. 

Fall River is no longer “cheap” relative to other Gateway Cities. Recent studies from MassINC and Housing Navigator Mass. rank Fall River among the Gateway Cities with the greatest shortage of housing affordable to lower-income households. At the same time, while 116 cities and towns produced affordable housing in 2025, Fall River developed none. Zero. The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute’s report, “Fall River Needs a Balanced Housing Strategy,” concludes that the city’s shortage of affordable housing reflects decades of local housing policies that emphasized market-rate production while largely neglecting homes affordable to working families, seniors, and residents with lower incomes.

This once-in-a-generation public investment should create a once-in-a-generation public benefit. UIA urges Fall River leaders to revise the waterfront plans to include mixed-income housing alongside parks, public spaces, and economic development. A waterfront built with extraordinary public investment should reflect the needs of everyone in Fall River — not just the well-off. Future generations will live with the decisions made today. We should make sure those decisions create a waterfront that truly belongs to everyone.

Tracy M. Albernaz is a UIA Fall River Community Organizer. United Interfaith Action (UIA) is a faith-based organization founded in 1996 that promotes social and economic justice and works to improve the quality of life for all residents of Southeastern Massachusetts, with a particular focus on Fall River and New Bedford. For more information, please contact United Interfaith Action of Southeastern MA at www.unitedinterfaithaction.org.