# Massachusetts H 4205: An Act authorizing the city of Watertown to lease property at 124 Watertown street, Watertown (former Parker school) Massachusetts H 4205, An Act authorizing the city of Watertown to lease property at 124 Watertown street, Watertown (former Parker school), is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by John J. Lawn Jr. (Democratic), Steven Owens (Democratic); status signed, last action 2025-11-12 (Signed by the Governor, Chapter 60 of the Acts of 2025) (as of 2026-11-01). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4205-194 - As of: 2026-11-01 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Massachusetts H 4205 - State: Massachusetts - Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026) - Title: An Act authorizing the city of Watertown to lease property at 124 Watertown street, Watertown (former Parker school) - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-06-05 - Last action: 2025-11-12, Signed by the Governor, Chapter 60 of the Acts of 2025 - Sponsors: John J. Lawn Jr. (Democratic), Steven Owens (Democratic) - Cosponsors: 0 - Subjects: Municipalities and Regional Government, House Steering, Policy and Scheduling - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 1 (11 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 2 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - 30-year leases at former Parker School: benefit, low. Watertown can lease 124 Watertown Street (the former Parker School) for up to 30 years. The City Council sets the rent and terms, and must vote to approve any lease. The city uses an open, fair, and competitive process. The process may give some preference to current lessees when picking a tenant. - Contractors at 124 Watertown: simpler rules, prevailing wage: mixed, low. If the lessee manages design or construction at 124 Watertown Street, some state public-bidding and designer-selection laws do not apply. This speeds up work and can cut red tape for lessees and contractors. But construction contracts at the site must still follow state prevailing wage rules. ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: John J. Lawn Jr. (Democratic), House - Sponsor: Steven Owens (Democratic), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-07-02 | committee | Committee Favorable: Ought to Pass | pass | 11 | 0 | | ## Actions (15) - 2025-11-12: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 60 of the Acts of 2025 - 2025-11-03: Enacted and laid before the Governor (Senate) - 2025-11-03: Enacted (House) - 2025-10-30: Read third (title changed) and passed to be engrossed (Senate) - 2025-10-30: Taken out of the Orders of the Day (Senate) - 2025-10-23: Read second and ordered to a third reading (Senate) - 2025-09-25: Read; and placed in the Orders of the Day for the next session (Senate) - 2025-09-22: Read third and passed to be engrossed (House) - 2025-07-23: Read second and ordered to a third reading (House) - 2025-07-23: Rules suspended (House) - 2025-07-23: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (House) - 2025-07-16: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling (House) - 2025-06-17: Hearing scheduled for 06/24/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in B-1 (legislature) - 2025-06-09: Senate concurred (Senate) - 2025-06-05: Referred to the committee on Municipalities and Regional Government (House) ## Bill text - Chapter 60 of the Acts of 2025, 2025-11-12: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4205.pdf) ## Related bills - H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax abatements (signed) - H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police chief Neal Hovey (passed senate) - H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G.L. chapter 59, section 5, clauses seventeenth D and forty-first C in the town o… (passed house) - H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust to acquire year-round housing occupancy restrictions (signed) - H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the position of firefighter in the town of Dudley (signed) - H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nicholas Spinale (second reading) ## Sources - [Chapter 60 of the Acts of 2025 (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4205.pdf) ## Related - [H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax aba…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4585-194) - [H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police ch…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5435-194) - [H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5515-194) - [H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H3909-194) - [H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the p…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5520-194) - [H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nichola…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5429-194) - [Massachusetts bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/massachusetts/bills) - [Massachusetts state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/massachusetts) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4205-194 (as of 2026-11-01).