Cambridge Said Yes to Letting Tenants Buy Their Buildings. Now Beacon Hill Has to Say Something
An 8-0 vote backing the House's local-option tenant opportunity to purchase plan. The conference committee holds the pen.
By Dez Marlowe ·
The Cambridge City Council voted 8-0 Monday to back a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act and to push the Legislature's conference committee to adopt the House's local-option version in the economic development bill, per the council's vote record.
TOPA is simple: when a multifamily building goes up for sale, tenants get a chance to make an offer or match one, or hand that right to a nonprofit.
The order cites 19 no-cause eviction cases in Cambridge in 2025. Those are the sponsors' numbers, but you don't need a study to know what happens when a building sells and everyone gets a notice.
My opinion: local option means cities that don't want it don't have to do it. Cambridge wants it. Let Cambridge try it.
The vote now is on Beacon Hill, not in Cambridge.
Sources
Dez Marlowe is a Boston Uncut reporter covering Boston, Massachusetts, national and world news.