2Life Communities celebrates opening of $37m 68-unit Leland House for older adults

Waltham, MA Senior housing developer, owner, operator, and advocate 2Life Communities celebrated the completion of Leland House, joined by partners and advocates that helped make the $37 million development possible. The new 68-apartment community for older adults at 21 Newton St. replaces the former Leland Home, a 38-bed rest home that provided compassionate care to older adults for over 100 years. All Leland House apartments are affordable to households with incomes up to 60% the area median income (AMI).

2Life purchased the property adjacent to the William F. Stanley Senior Center in 2022 and broke ground in 2023. Residents began moving in in December 2024.

Welcoming guests, 2Life president Lizbeth Heyer noted the property’s 140-year history of caring for the city’s older adults and providing a place where residents can “live with connection, care, and dignity,” adding, “There is no better place to age in community than right here in Waltham. The loving kindness of our new neighbors, both within the building and in the community that surrounds us, has already made Leland House a very special place to live.” 

On hand for the ribbon-cutting celebration were Leland House residents, 2Life staff and board members, project partners, funders, and elected officials, illustrating the power of public-private partnerships to address the region’s growing housing crisis. 

Mayor Jeanette McCarthy highlighted this in-depth collaboration before introducing Leland House resident Cissy Spear, who spoke movingly about the challenges she and Bill, her husband of 46 years, faced upon retirement. A former middle school math teacher, Spear explained how rising costs, a finite income, and a house that had become a financial burden caused the couple to move to a 500 s/f, one-bedroom apartment two miles away. When the landlord increased the rent 48%, even that tiny space became unaffordable. Understanding the unlikely odds of being selected, Cissy and Bill applied to live at Leland when they saw it being built next to the senior center.