Behind the parking lot at BoMain Pizza Bar & Grill on Main Street, there's a strip of land that runs back toward Claflin Street. A neighboring church sits on one side, and a single-family house at 10 Walcott Street sits on the corner. Capital Group Properties wants to build 13 condominiums there. According to the Hopkinton Independent, it is the first project proposed under Hopkinton's new MBTA Communities zoning.
Hopkinton spent three Town Meetings getting this zoning approved, so it's fair to expect it to produce new housing. Its first real test is a small parcel with a lot of complications, and the Planning Board has not voted on it yet. If you are shopping for a Hopkinton condo and hoping new supply will ease prices, that slow pace changes your plan. Your negotiating room this fall comes from the existing condo market.
The zoning allows hundreds of units, but nothing requires anyone to build them
On June 8, 2026, the state's Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities issued its compliance determination for Hopkinton. It found the town's MBTA Communities Multifamily Overlay District compliant at 54.9 acres, with an estimated as-of-right capacity of 775 multifamily units and a gross density of 17.7 units per acre. That is above the town's required minimums of 50 acres and 750 units. Hopkinton falls under the law as an "adjacent community" because it sits near the Southborough commuter rail station.
Getting there took a while. The Hopkinton Independent's recap of the May 2026 Annual Town Meeting lays out the history:
- May 2024: Town Meeting rejected the zoning bylaw, 118 votes to 126.
- November 2024: A Special Town Meeting passed a new plan, 236 to 167. It covered The Preserve, Walcott Valley and downtown.
- After that: The state found the plan only partly compliant because it failed the requirement that at least half the district be one contiguous area.
- May 2026: Town Meeting added a strip of eight parcels on Walcott Street to connect downtown with Walcott Valley, and the fix passed by a two-thirds voice vote.
At that same meeting, Planning Board chair Rob Benson stressed that the plan "only affects zoning" and does not require any multifamily housing to be built. For a buyer, that is the key point. The 775 figure is the state's estimate of what the zoning allows. Actual homes get built only when an owner decides a particular parcel is worth developing, and downtown parcels come with their own complications.
The first filing shows how much friction one small lot can carry
The BoMain plan uses three lots that aren't zoned the same way. Attorney David Clay, representing the applicant, told the Planning Board that the downtown part of the overlay "only captured" 14 Main Street and the lot behind it, not 10 Walcott Street. The Board of Appeals granted a special permit in June to allow multifamily use on the Walcott Street lot. The plan qualifies for 15 units as of right, and the applicant is asking for 13.
The project was filed as mixed-use because the restaurant is commercial, even though a parking lot separates it from the condos. At the October hearing, the Hopkinton Independent reported that Chair Matthew Wronka called the merged-parcel plan "a little confusing." Member Rob Benson told the applicant, "You can't have the best of both." The board raised several questions:
- whether 10 Walcott Street needs a dimensional variance, and whether it meets parking requirements
- whether the plan meets setback requirements
- how gated access and the ramps connecting to Claflin Street and Main Street would work
- whether the project counts as mixed-use or multifamily, given that each comes with different rules
The applicant has already responded to two peer reviews, went before the Design Review Board, and staggered the units at that board's request. It also dropped seven proposed parking spaces on Claflin Street after pushback, and agreed to six-foot fencing requested by the neighboring Korean Presbyterian Church of Greater Boston. Abutters had raised traffic, runoff and Claflin Street access at the first hearing in August. In October, abutters also raised water-system capacity. The hearing resumes Nov. 16.
So in the five months since Town Meeting fixed the map, the overlay has produced one 13-unit proposal, and it still has no approval. Downtown's other large housing project, Main Street Crossing on the former Hopkinton Drug site at 48–52 Main Street and 6 Cedar Street, was approved under separate zoning in January 2025 with 60 apartments over first-floor retail. As of the developer's June 2026 update, it was still listed as in progress. Those are rentals, not condos for sale, so they won't add to the inventory a condo buyer is choosing from.
The condo market is already where buyers have room
While new supply moves this slowly, the two halves of Hopkinton's for-sale market have moved in different directions. Here is the Massachusetts Association of Realtors' September 2026 Local Market Update for Hopkinton, January through September of each year:
| Year to date through September | Single-family 2025 | Single-family 2026 | Condo 2025 | Condo 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closed sales | 127 | 125 | 45 | 47 |
| Median sales price | $1,040,000 | $1,226,000 | $881,500 | $875,000 |
| Days on market | 29 | 45 | 64 | 62 |
| % of original list price received | 100.2% | 101.1% | 100.5% | 98.0% |
In the first nine months of 2025, the median condo cost about $158,500 less than the median single-family home. In the same stretch of 2026, the difference was about $351,000. The single-family median rose 17.9%, while the condo median dipped slightly. Single-family homes are taking longer to sell, but they still closed above original list price on average. Condos went the other way, from slightly above original list in 2025 to 98.0% in 2026.
The September snapshot shows the same split. Hopkinton had 3.5 months of condo supply against 2.7 months for single-family homes. The six condos that closed in September took 74 days on market and sold at 96.1% of original list, compared with 29 days and 100.3% a year earlier. MAR notes that one month of data can look extreme because of small sample sizes, so the year-to-date figures are the steadier signal. The monthly and year-to-date numbers both show Hopkinton condo sellers giving up some ground on price.
What this means if you're choosing between a condo and a house here
If you're aiming for a single-family home in Hopkinton, the extra days on market give you time to think, but price is a different story. Through September 2026, single-family buyers still paid slightly more than original list on average. Budget for paying full asking price. Don't plan on a longer listing period earning you a discount.
If you're a condo buyer, you have room to negotiate now. You won't get it by waiting for the overlay to fill in. One 13-unit plan is moving through hearings at the rate described above, and nothing has been filed at The Preserve or Walcott Valley yet. The new zoning won't bring meaningful condo supply soon, so it won't push resale condo prices down soon either. The softer pricing comes from resale condos competing with each other, and it shows up when a listing has been sitting.
It's also worth comparing a condo's price with what you would pay for a single-family home. A Hopkinton condo bought at the 2026 median left about $351,000 in the budget compared with the median house. That money can go toward a down payment, an updated kitchen, or a lower monthly payment.
Quick answers
Does the new zoning mean apartment or condo buildings are coming to downtown Hopkinton? It allows them in the overlay district without special permission, up to the state's estimated capacity of 775 units. Building still depends on property owners proposing projects. So far, one 13-condo plan has been filed.
When will the BoMain condo plan be decided? The Planning Board continued its hearing to Nov. 16. Questions about a variance, setbacks and access are still open.
Are Hopkinton condos cheaper than houses by about the same amount as last year? No. Through September, the difference between the condo and single-family medians was about $351,000 in 2026, compared with about $158,500 in 2025.
Is Main Street Crossing adding condos? No. The approved plan calls for 60 apartments above ground-floor retail.
If you're deciding between a Hopkinton condo now and a single-family home later, I'm happy to run the numbers with you. We can look at recent resale prices, what it would take to update a unit, and how the monthly cost compares with a house. Reach out to Annie Oakman and let's connect.
