Housing Headlines

CHELSEA --- The Neighborhood Developers, a housing nonprofit based in Chelsea, is part of community group that is distributing financial aid to residents who have been impacted by the COVID-19 health emergency. The fund, called the ONE Chelsea Fund, is an effort that includes TND, the City of Chelsea, the United Way of Mass. Bay and Merrimack Valley, the Chelsea Collaborative and Green Roots.

FRAMINGHAM --- A five-story mill complex near downtown that's being converted into 258 market-rate apartments has been the target of protests by a labor union that is arguing that construction projects like this should be shut down in order to protect worker safety. Housing projects like this have been deemed essential work by Gov. Charlie Baker but unions have resisted this. Last week, a similar project in Lynn was shut down following similar protests.

LYNN --- In what's being described as a move to reduce tensions and ensure worker safety, developer Michael Procopio of Lynnfield-based Procopio Companies has shut down all non-essential construction work on a 10-story, 259-unit market-rate apartment building in downtown Lynn. Protestors have been gathering at the site to raise concerns about workers not following safety protocols and possibly being exposed to COVID1-19. Procopio alleges workers have been harassed at the site and followed home, charges protest organizers deny.

The Waltham City Council's decision to OK Mayor Jeannette McCarthy's plan to use $1 million in Community Preservation Act Funds for emergency housing assistance on April 13 could be the first of several as both Newton and Chelsea are considering similar measures. Newton's preservation commission is scheduled to discuss using funds for rental assistance while Chelsea is discussing earmarking $1.25 million in CPA funds as grants to cover three months of rent for COVID-19 impacted residents who earn up to 50 percent of the area's median income.

SALEM --- Citing data showing that over 40 percent of the shelter population in Boston is COVID-positive, Mayor Kim Driscoll and the City of Salem are taking no chances, setting up shelters and temporary homes at the Salem High field house and looking for property owners to make vacant apartments available for those in need. In addition, Salem State University officials are also working on converting the Bates Complex on South Campus into housing for health care workers and others on the front lines.

HAVERHILL --- An unused wing of a local motel has been designated as potential space for homeless residents and first responders who may need to be quarantined as the result of COVID-19, Mayor James Fiorentini has announced. The announcement came as welcome news to Jeannie Murphy of the Emmaus emergency homeless shelters, who spent the last week combing the area's colleges, hotels and religious institutions for quarantine space.