The company would like to build a 138-unit complex in Westwood and has applied for a comprehensive permit for the development, necessitating an affordable-housing component. Equity applied for a comprehensive permit for the proposed development in Sturbridge, which will be between 60 and 70 units.

According to Equity's area vice president, Christopher Reilly, the recent lower vacancies and decreasing rents does not mean the multifamily market here is in trouble. "It was almost too good here," Reilly tells GlobeSt.com referring to the market of the late 1990s. "It is still a supply constrained market here. We operate in 36 states and Boston is one of two states that approaches a healthy market."Equity also has three other projects currently under construction--in Quincy, Braintree and Haverhill. Reilly notes that the lead time in multifamily projects means that by the time most of these projects get off the ground, "the world will get back to something resembling normal." Reilly predicts that while the area won't see the double-digit rent growth it saw in the past few years, it will see a solid five to 8% growth soon. "We will only see a slowdown in growth here," he says, "but it won't be flat."