Burlington Board of Health approves 188-unit Middlesex Turnpike housing project unanimously

FRAMINGHAM -- May 12, 2026, Burlington Board of Health unanimously approves 188-unit housing project on Middlesex Turnpike. The board voted to approve the site plan and special permit application from the Nordblum Company to redevelop 129 and 131 Middlesex Turnpike in Burlington's MBTA overlay district, replacing two aging 1970s office buildings with a single residential building featuring two levels of underground parking and 69 surface spaces. Attorney Robert Buckley of Reamer and Broadstein and Todd Fremont Smith of Nordblum presented the project, with civil engineer Frank DiPietro reporting that stormwater peak flows into the Great Meadow Road drainage system would fall from 61 percent of existing conditions to 37 percent, and phosphorus removal is projected at roughly 50 percent. Environmental scientist Jim Ash of GEI Consultants said a groundwater contamination plume sits more than 20 feet below the site and that a vapor migration system will be installed beneath the building's slab. The approval carries 17 conditions negotiated at an April 27 subcommittee meeting co-chaired by Vice Chair Andrea Sheehan; the Planning Board special permit process remains ongoing.