After several years in limbo, the Northland Upper Falls development—now revised with more housing in lieu of office space—is set to go before the full City Council Tuesday night.

“While I’m disappointed that the commercial space was largely eliminated, I’m glad to see the project moving forward and housing being built,” Mayor Ruthanne Fuller wrote in her Friday email update to the community.

The City Council approved Northland’s original development plan in 2019, and the following year the voters approved it by referendum. But the inflation crisis that followed the COVID-19 pandemic brought construction delays across the nation, and Northland was no exception.

Then the pandemic, as well as the post-pandemic “new normal,” made remote work more commonplace and eliminated demand for new office buildings. And that reshaped the commercial real estate market and, thus, the financial feasibility of projects like Northland, which was set to incorporate office space, retail and residential units in its proposal for the 22.7-acre Upper Falls lot.

Last year, Northland Development announced changes in its plan, which would have to go through another approval process. The changes would convert the Saco-Pettee Mill building into 100 housing units instead of offices and cut five planned small residential buildings while reducing the footprint of two other residential buildings.

The revised plan would add more housing with a smaller footprint, and company representatives have said it would bring much less traffic than the original plan.

At recent public hearings on the revisions, many speakers supported the changes, but some said the project was too big or won’t have enough parking.

And others wanted Northland to include more commercial space despite studies presented that show demand for office real estate down sharply since the pandemic.

But, the mayor noted, the development comes with some added perks from the developer. As part of the special permit deal, Northland will pay the city $5,000,000 for a traffic study and transportation improvements, $1.8 million toward city sewer and infrastructure, and $1.5 million toward construction of the new Countryside School.

And the development will have a large splash pad open to the public.

“Importantly, all the conditions of the original special permit, including the free electric shuttle service on Needham Street to the T station in Newton Highlands, and the splash park along the Upper Falls Greenway are unchanged,” Fuller wrote.

The discussion on Northland will follow the mayor’s presentation of her Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal.