Who Decides What Happens to the ENC Campus Now?

"Our goal is not to build 600 rental apartments or destroy the tremendous benefits that this property offers to the city," James Marathas, executive director of the Quincy Housing Authority, told a crowd on the former Eastern Nazarene College lawn on October 17, as reported by The Patriot Ledger. "Our goal is to work with the community, develop a realistic low-density housing opportunity that makes sense for this location."

Four months earlier, the Quincy City Council voted down the same purchase at the same price. The buyer this time is a housing nonprofit, and its purchase doesn't need a council vote. If you're weighing a home in Wollaston, that matters more than any one building on the campus. The 27 acres at 23 E. Elm Ave. will now take shape through a housing nonprofit's master plan, not a city borrowing vote, and most of that plan is still unwritten.

The same $21 million, a different buyer

The city's version needed a supermajority. In May, MassLive reported that the agreed price was $21 million on a property assessed at $58 million, and that the purchase needed approval from both the Massachusetts Attorney General and two-thirds of the City Council. On June 15, the deadline in Mayor Thomas Koch's letter of intent, the council voted 6-3 against borrowing $22.5 million to cover the price plus related costs, according to The Boston Globe.

Councilors who voted no pointed to the city's debt load. Council President Anne Mahoney told the Globe, "My responsibility is to protect the taxpayers, and my responsibility is to understand risks before approving additional debt." Councilor at Large Noel DiBona backed the deal because the price was "less than half of what it's assessed for." Mahoney, Ziqiang Susan Yuan, David Jacobs, Virginia Ryan, Maggie McKee and Deborah Riley voted no. DiBona, Walter Hubley and Richard Ash voted yes.

The buyer is now the Quincy Housing Authority Development Corporation. It was organized in 2014, does business as QuincyCARES, and has a stated mission of helping low- or moderate-income residents. Its board voted unanimously to acquire the campus. Councilor McKee wrote that Marathas told her the nonprofit signed the purchase paperwork on Friday, October 16.

The ENC Transition Board's announcement lists two remaining conditions for the sale: due diligence and approval by the Attorney General. It also says the deal covers the 27-acre main campus and 14 residential properties nearby. The council still has to approve one piece, which is the city's separate plan to buy Bradley Field and the Babcock Arboretum with Community Preservation funds. So the vote that stopped the city in June now covers only the open space.

Three plans the campus almost got

Each version of the campus's future had a different density, and the density is what shapes the surrounding streets. Here's how the site got from closure to this month:

The 2024 subdivision filing, as The Patriot Ledger described it, split the campus into 30 single-family lots and two multifamily lots, with a new road and two cul-de-sacs. It didn't include building plans or a unit total. Crain Company's concept, reported by The Boston Globe, would have reused many existing buildings for multifamily homes, townhouses and senior residences. The transition board later said in a brief statement that the sale wasn't finalized "due to factors outside of its control," The Patriot Ledger reported.

The city's own spring plan wasn't low-density either. In her October 17 newsletter, Councilor McKee wrote that it involved selling or leasing 73% of the main campus for development and building 60 housing units on the athletic field. In that light, "low-density" is the first commitment about scale that any buyer has made publicly. It's still a description, not a site plan.

What is actually on paper

Two pieces have been named, and both come from the announcement and the follow-up coverage:

• Young Apartments. The existing building will be renovated as housing for residents 55 and older. McKee reported that Marathas put the count at 57 affordable units. Marathas told The Patriot Ledger that work will "likely start in December."
• Fourteen single-family homes. Houses the college owned will be renovated and offered through a first-time homebuyer program for Quincy residents.
• Open space. Koch said the city intends to buy Bradley Field and the Babcock Arboretum to preserve them permanently, which will require Community Preservation Committee funds and a council vote.
• Process. Marathas said the nonprofit will form a neighborhood committee. McKee wrote that the mayor also promised a public website and public meetings "every step of the way."

Everything else is undecided, including whether other campus buildings stay.

Fourteen houses in a city that had 51 for sale

Fourteen homes sounds small next to 27 acres. Compared with Quincy's single-family market, it isn't. In September 2026, Massachusetts Association of Realtors data showed 51 single-family homes for sale in Quincy, down 3.8% from a year earlier. The city had 40 closed sales that month at a median of $772,500, up 14.9% year over year. Fourteen renovated houses is equal to more than a quarter of that month's citywide single-family inventory, all in one neighborhood. They'll reach buyers through a program limited to Quincy residents, not through a standard listing, and the program's terms haven't been published.

Condos look different. In September 2026, Quincy had 109 condos for sale, up 38.0% from a year earlier, with 28 closed sales at a median of $620,000. That median is up 54.6% year over year, but on 28 sales one month can swing a long way, and MAR's report warns that small samples can produce extreme readings. The inventory figure tells you more. Quincy buyers in September had roughly twice as many condos to choose from as single-family homes.

So the campus plan adds detached houses, the type of home Quincy is short on, and it adds them in Wollaston. For a buyer considering a single-family home near East Elm Avenue, the question isn't whether 600 apartments are coming. It's how the 14 houses and the 55+ building get priced and delivered, and what the master plan does with the rest of the land.

What still has no number on it

These open items will settle the campus's effect on the neighborhood:

1. Financing. McKee wrote that the cost and funding sources weren't discussed at the October 17 event, though Marathas thanked Eastern Bank. No loan terms have been made public.
2. Taxpayer exposure. McKee said she's "unclear how taxpayers will be affected" and filed an order to start council discussion, which she expected to go to the oversight and finance committees.
3. Affordability levels. Income limits for the 55+ units haven't been set, according to McKee. She also wrote that the Affordable Housing Trust Committee will take up funding for the ENC housing and for 94 senior units behind 80 Clay Street at the same meeting, after the mayor recommended $1 million for 80 Clay Street instead of the $3 million requested.
4. Land sales. McKee wrote that Marathas said it hasn't been decided whether any part of the campus will be sold to developers.
5. Closing date. The transition board expects to finalize the sale "in the coming months."

Property taxes are a separate unknown. The Quincy Assessor's most recent posted residential rate is $11.78 per $1,000 for FY2026. The FY2027 rate hasn't been posted.

The next concrete step to watch is the December start on Young Apartments, followed by the council's vote on Bradley Field and the Babcock Arboretum.

This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. If you're thinking about the first-time buyer program or any financing tied to it, confirm the details with the right professional.

If you're weighing a Wollaston home against the rest of Quincy while the ENC plan takes shape, Your Partner Chris Real Estate can show you how nearby sales compare with what's happening on the campus. Start with an instant valuation, and we'll keep you posted as the master plan and the council votes come in. Get Your Instant Home Valuation.