SOUTH WEYMOUTH - For over eighty years, the 1,400-acre expanse straddling Weymouth, Abington, and Rockland has served as a mirror for the region’s shifting ambitions. Once a critical front in the Battle of the Atlantic, the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station (NAS) is now a “big blank canvas” that has spent nearly three decades caught in a cycle of grand visions and spectacular failures. As a new era of development takes shape under Brookfield Properties, the South Shore is watching closely to see if this “decades-in-the-making project” can finally clear its final hurdles.
From Blimps to “Shea Field”
The base was born of wartime urgency. Commissioned on March 1, 1942, just months after Pearl Harbor, it served as the Navy’s northeastern hub for Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) blimps. These massive airships patrolled the coast, hunting German U-boats to protect the port of Boston. The site was an engineering marvel, featuring Hangar One, which was then one of the largest structures in the world.
Following World War II, the base was reborn as “Shea Field,” a primary hub for the Naval Air Reserve. During the Cold War, it hosted maritime patrol squadrons and a secretive research unit that tested technologies for MIT Lincoln Laboratories. However, as the Cold War cooled, the base was selected for closure during the 1995 BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) round, officially decommissioning on September 30, 1997.
A Legacy of “Broken Promises”
Redeveloping a site of this scale has proven to be a “complicated puzzle”. For nearly thirty years, the project has cycled through three distinct eras of master development:
• The SouthField Era (2002–2015): Developer LNR Property pitched a suburban residential model with 2,800 homes and a movie studio. The vision stalled during the 2008 financial crisis and collapsed under the weight of “infrastructure insolvency”.
• The Union Point “Smart City” (2015–2019): LStar Ventures took over with a “techno-utopian” pitch. They promised a $ 1 billion “SmartCity” featuring self−driving cars, heated sidewalks, and a partnership with General Electric. Thisv ision “collapsed spectacularly” following a bitter legal battle between partners that revealed $70 million in debt and allegations of financial mismanagement.
• The Stabilization Era (2020–Present): Now, a joint venture between Brookfield Properties and New England Development has taken a more pragmatic approach. Their 2023 master plan calls for approximately 4,000 homes and 8 to 10 million square feet of commercial space.
The Final Hurdles: Water and Governance
The primary barrier to completion has always been the lack of a permanent water source. While Weymouth has enough capacity to start the project, the only viable long-term solution is a connection to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). This pipeline is estimated to be six to ten years away from completion.
In a major breakthrough late in 2025, Beacon Hill cleared a significant legislative hurdle, passing a bill that combines disparate land parcels and aligns the project with the host towns’ current zoning plans. Supporters believe this is the “last step” needed to give developers the “runway to start getting to work”.
Contrast with Devens: A Tale of Two Bases
Local officials often contrast the slow progress at South Weymouth with the swifter success of Fort Devens. The difference boils down to governance and strategy:
• State vs. Local: Devens was a state-led project managed by MassDevelopment, providing up-front capital and unified zoning. South Weymouth has struggled with “tri-town governance,” where local home-rule politics across three towns often clashed with developer goals.
• Industry vs. Housing: Devens prioritized industrial anchors like Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb, while South Weymouth initially relied on a residential-heavy build driven by private market demand.
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For local officials in Weymouth, Abington, and Rockland, the path forward requires a shift from visionary planning to aggressive infrastructure execution. After three decades of “stops and starts,” the project has finally aligned its governance and legislative framework, but it now faces a critical physical bottleneck that could leave some host communities behind if not addressed immediately.
The following steps outline the strategic bottom line for local leadership:
1. Resolve the “Chicken-and-Egg” Water Crisis
The most immediate hurdle is securing a permanent water source, as the development will “stall if the MWRA is not brought in”. While Weymouth has enough capacity to initiate early phases, the long-term viability of the site depends on a connection to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), a project estimated to be six to ten years away. Officials must prioritize the $90 million to $120 million pipeline construction to prevent commercial tenants from looking elsewhere.
2. Prioritize Interim Solutions for Rockland and Abington
Local officials in Rockland and Abington face a “sobering” reality: without an interim water solution, Phase 1 development will be forced almost entirely into Weymouth, delaying tax revenue for the other towns for years. To mitigate this, officials must immediately collaborate with the Abington-Rockland Joint Water Works to study and fund upgrades to offline sources, such as the Myers Avenue well and Fox’s Pit, to create the capacity necessary for early commercial interest.
3. Leverage New Financial and Legislative Tools
Officials should fully utilize the District Improvement Financing (DIF) model recently approved in Weymouth, which allows towns to capture 30% of new tax revenue specifically to fund public infrastructure without raising the general tax rate. Additionally, the 2025 legislative “technical change” that combined disparate land parcels provides a clean “runway” for the Southfield Redevelopment Authority (SRA) to enforce a unified zoning plan across town lines.
4. Align with State Housing Mandates
A strategic move for local officials is to continue using the base’s density to satisfy requirements of the MBTA Communities Law (Section 3A). By concentrating multi-family housing at Union Point—which already hosts a commuter rail station—towns like Rockland can fulfill state mandates while preserving the suburban character and open space of their existing neighborhoods.
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The Bottom Line: The redevelopment of the South Weymouth Naval Air Station has transitioned from a “techno-utopian” mirage into a pragmatic, infrastructure-led reality. To finish the job, local officials must act as regional partners rather than separate entities, focusing their energy on laying the literal pipes that will turn theoretical tax revenue into a tangible community.
Sources for this article include: Town of Weymouth, South Shore News, The Boston Globe, Commonwealth Beacon, Abington News, Boston Magazine, The SouthField Redevelopment Authority, The Massachusetts Legislature, and AI Deep Research tools
