On July 3, 2025, Middlesex Superior Court issued a summary judgement in favor of The Trustees of Boston College (BC) in its ongoing litigation against the City of Newton, and subsequently the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, related to the Year 2019 City of Newton appropriation of a significant portion of Webster Woods via eminent domain. The judgement invalidated a 1954 deed restriction preventing development on the land. The practical effect of the ruling, if upheld, is likely a sharp increase in the value of the property without that restriction.
A summary judgement is issued when there are no material questions-of-fact between the parties to a dispute, or in this case a component of a dispute, and therefore the court may apply its interpretation of the law to those facts in favor of one party, without a full trial.
Webster Woods is a 22-acre parcel of land abutting the west side of Hammond Pond Parkway north of the Chestnut Hill Mail and south of Beacon Street. A relatively small portion of the property contains a building, parking lot, and access roads, while the majority is undeveloped green space. Last month’s judgement ruled that a 70-year-old deed restriction on the property, limiting its uses to religious or educational purposes, was invalid due to the State constitution’s Anti-Aid Amendment and the Federal Establishment Clause. That restriction placed upon it in 1954 was a condition of the State selling the land to Congregation Mishkan Telifa in that year.
In 2016, BC purchased the land from the Congregation (according to its website the oldest Conservative synagogue in New England), which then moved to Brookline MA. The 2016 purchase price was $20 million and included the continuation of the 1954 deed restriction. In 2019, the City exercised eminent domain to compel the sale of 17.4 acres of the parcel’s undeveloped portion from BC, as described in Mayor Fuller’s e-newsletters on November 12 and December 3 of that year….