PITTSFIELD — Berkshire County made meaningful housing gains in 2025. So what is to come in 2026?
Massachusetts’ housing landscape saw major changes in 2025: Accessory dwelling units were established by right, more than half of Berkshire County’s towns are eligible for special housing help as so-called seasonal communities, and the state has provided support for major affordable housing projects — all in an attempt to combat the housing crisis.
Many of these changes took effect with the passage of the Affordable Homes Act. Gov. Maura Healey and her administration see the law as an avenue to create 220,000 additional housing units and make housing as a whole more attainable.
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Berkshire County responded in turn, with organizations like Hearthway, the Community Development Corporation of Southern Berkshire and the Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity developing and bringing units to market, with many of these units being designated for affordable or workforce housing.
Developers were not alone in addressing the housing crisis. Organizations like Upside413 gave legal help and local affordable housing trusts helped produce municipality-specific programs to rehabilitate homes, build new units or provide financial help in some form.
The Eagle asked the leaders of several organizations about what they were proud of in 2025, and to offer a look at what they’re working toward in 2026.
People view one of the nine apartments at The First, the first of its kind daytime shelter in Pittsfield on Thursday. The space, developed by Hearthway, had its grand opening on Dec. 18, capping off the radical change that the housing landscape underwent in 2025.
Eileen Peltier, the CEO and president of Hearthway, said, “We are feeling hopeful about being funded for our Linden Street project in Pittsfield, which we will hear about soon. As well, we are looking forward to leasing up Eagle Mill Phase I this spring and getting Eagle Mill Phase II under construction by the end of 2026. And of course, we are excited to see the real impact of the housing at West Housatonic and First Street as well as The First.”
Hearthway, the nonprofit formerly known as the Berkshire Housing Development Corporation, most recently unveiled The First, a daytime warming and housing resource center in the Zion Lutheran Church. On top of the center, the organization also showed off 37 permanent supportive housing units — nine in the same church as the resource center, and 28 in a new building at 111 W. Housatonic St.
The Eagle Mill project in Lee will bring more than 100 affordable units to market. The first part of the project, which will house 56 units, will open this spring.
Across the street from the Eagle Mill development is the proposed West Center Street complex, headed by the Community Development Corporation of Southern Berkshire (CDCSB), which will bring another 69 affordable units to the town.
“CDCSB is focused on turning planning into progress by advancing projects like West Center Street in Lee and Egremont Plain Road Housing, working closely with our local and municipal partners to create homes people can truly afford and call home, and to ensure South Berkshire remains a place where people can live, work and stay,” said Stephanie Lane, the executive director of the organization.
The organization’s Egremont development will bring four condo-style, workforce housing units to the town.
Bill Swindlehurst at the accessory dwelling unit that he is building on his property in Lee. The right to build an ADU in Massachusetts took effect in February of this year, marking one of the major changes in housing for the year.
Construct Inc., the Southern Berkshire-based affordable housing nonprofit, recently started a rental and mortgage assistance program in partnership with Stockbridge and the town’s affordable housing trust.
“This year our resolution is simple: to provide timely, personal, and compassionate assistance to our neighbors and to work towards building and maintaining affordable housing throughout the Southern Berkshires,” said Hillary Howard, director of operations for Construct.
One of the biggest changes coming in 2026 is the potential adoption of the seasonal town designation.
Eighteen Berkshire County towns are eligible to accept the designation. If a town votes and accepts their seasonal status, they will gain access to tools like increased income limits for affordable housing programs and specialized funding.
“This framework is essential to fostering a stable, year-round inventory,” said Peter Most, a member of Great Barrington’s affordable housing trust. “In Great Barrington specifically, I hope the next stewards of Simon’s Rock embrace this designation to provide the attainable housing so vital to South County’s future.”
Bard College at Simon’s Rock’s campus is currently for sale, and what happens with the former college campus is a big question for the town of Great Barrington. Some have proposed it could become a lynchpin for workforce housing in the area.
A majority of the towns eligible to accept the seasonal town designation are below Pittsfield, but there are big developments coming for North Adams in 2026 too.
“I’m looking forward to closing on the long-awaited RAD [Rental Assistance Demonstration] conversion, which will allow North Adams Housing Authority to be much more versatile with a strategic plan,” said Jennifer Hohn, the executive director of the housing authority.
This process will convert North Adams’ public housing into developments that are contracted for project-based vouchers, providing a more steady voucher access. Once complete, the housing authority can finance debt and seek grants to rehabilitate those developments.
Also coming in 2026 is a statewide ballot initiative that is aiming to cap rents in Massachusetts. The law would cap rent increases at 5 percent or the rate of inflation, which ever is lower, and it would provide some exemptions to small landlords and new developments.
Healey said on a radio show earlier this month that she does not support the ballot initiative.
Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity CEO Carolyn Valli, in pink, looks at one of the six homes in the process of being built. Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity should be brining the six homes to market in the next few months, officials previously said.
Brad Gordon, the executive director of Upside413, which provides legal and other counseling services, said his resolution for the year is much more all encompassing. It is “that we continue to pursue a housing abundance agenda on the local, statewide and national levels. … That all of us work individually and collectively to make the building of more housing the No. 1 priority in our community.”