Housing Headlines

WORCESTER --- With the Pawtucket Red Sox move to downtown Worcester sparking development near low-income neighborhoods, nonprofit affordable housing developers like Worcester Common Ground's Yvette Dyson are scrambling to secure sites and housing opportunities for lower-income residents before outside developers drive prices out of reach.

TRURO --- In a meeting to discuss whether the Truro Motor Inn should be shut down due to the owner Daniel DeGizzi's failure to make repairs. the Board of Health gave year-round tenants and the owner a reprieve, ordering DelGizzi to begin work on bringing the property into compliance within 48 hours. The news came as good news to residents in the 36-unit property, who said they would have no place to live if the affordable housing was shut down.

BOSTON --- In providing an update on progress toward its goal of 69,000 new units by 2030, the City of Boston released some other interesting stats: 1) Hub has permitted 62% of all units in the Boston Metro area; 2) city has grown by +7,000 each year Mayor Walsh has been in office; 3) This year, 81% of units permitted have been outside downtown core neighborhoods; 4) Goal-wise, Boston has permitted or built 30,442 units, with 6,004 of them income restricted.

BOSTON --- Dudley Square property owner Greg McCarthy's plan to build a five-story mixed-use building with 26 mixed-income condos was met with stiff opposition at a recent public meeting, with residents voicing concerns about displacement and charging that McCarthy has been issuing no-fault evictions and not maintaining a small six-unit apartment building nearby. A no-fault eviction is an eviction where the tenant is evicted through no fault of their own. McCarthy said he has not collected rent from any tenant in 18 months. The Boston Planning and Development Agency said it would hold another public meeting to address community concerns.

TRURO --- The Truro Board of Health has asked Truro Motor Inn owner Daniel DelGrizzi to attend a public hearing next month to explain why his Route 6 property should not be vacated due to his failure to make improvements to his property. If the property is shut down, at least 36 year-round tenants would face eviction. Positioned as a short-term respite for vacationers, longtime Cape Cod Times reporter Mary Ann Bragg wrote that the motel "appears to be a de facto year-round affordable housing apartment complex" that faces closure "because of illegal quarters for habitation, fire hazards and a lapse in licensing."

BRAINTREE -- Debate continued on a bid by the Holland Companies to obtain a Ch. 40B comprehensive land use permit so it can build 70 mixed-income apartments and eight town-house condominiums on a two-acre lot behind Washington Street storefronts in Braintree Square. According to the Patriot Ledger, the focus of the most recent zoning board of appeals meeting was traffic, with residents saying the 148 parking spaces in the new building would lead to more traffic that would spill over into nearby neighborhoods. Countering those concerns was Shaun Kelly, a traffic engineer. He said the development wouldn’t have a “major impact” on traffic, adding 454 daily vehicle trips. Kelley said 16,000 vehicles a day use Washington Street and 2,000 use Storrs Avenue on the northern end of the property. Another study will be done in October.