Housing Headlines

BOSTON --- Once upon a time, every step along Gaoxin Wu's walk to work was an interrupted reminder of his Chinese heritage. Now, due to rising home prices, he and other longtime residents are watching their neighborhood disappear into the shadows of new upscale businesses and luggage-toting tourists looking for their Airbnb, writes Boston Globe reporter Milton J. Valencia. Indeed, according to the Chinatown Community Land Trust, the number of Asian residents in the neighborhood has dropped from 70 to 58 percent since 2000.

CHATHAM --- Struggling to find workers for his nursing home and assisted living center, Bill Bogdanovich has begun buying Cape Cod properties to rent to his employees. So far, he has bought two six-bedroom buildings an eight-unit building and is now looking for a fourth property. Residents with existing leases have stayed but Bogdanovich has filled open units with about a dozen employees, according to the Boston Globe.

BOSTON --- In a speech to the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, MassMutual CEO Roger Crandall ticked off a list of policy measures he'd like to see his fellow business leaders get behind - Governor Charlie Baker's Housing Choice bill, more downpayment assistance for homebuyers, early childhood education, a commuter rail link between Springfield and Boston, and helping the poor, an issue MassMutual is supporting via a recent $1 million donation to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh's Way Home Fund.

In a column spelling out four ways the Commonwealth can deal with its housing crisis, Karen Kelleher of LISC-Boston and Paul Grogan and the Boston Foundation call for the private sector to get involved in housing solutions, writing it must get involved by providing grant funds and low-cost capital at scale. Kelleher and Grogan cites anchor institutions like Harvard, Mass General and Children's Hospital stepping up as a model businesses can follow.

Earlier this month, Apple became the latest tech company to address California's housing crisis, pledging $2.5 billion - $1 billion for an affordable housing investment fund, $1 billion to buy mortgages and making a $300 million property it owns in San Jose available for affordable housing development. Apple joins Facebook and Google, which earlier this year pledged $1 billion each in grants and loans in California.

BOSTON --- Sign up now for a discussion about ways to promote housing stability and prevent homelessness on Tuesday, Dec. 3 from 9 to 10 a.m. Organized by Metro Housing|Boston, the panel will feature City of Boston housing chief Sheila Dillon and other experts from the state, medical and development community. The discussion will center around the annual report on the state's Residential Assistance for Families in Transition Program (RAFT), which Metro Housing administers in Boston and 28 surrounding communities.