Housing Headlines

DORCHESTER --- Local developer would like to buy and redevelop the former Gallagher Insurance Agency site in Fields Corner into a four-story mixed-use property with 23 studio apartments, but only if the neighborhood OKs his plan. During a community meeting, residents debated whether rental or condominiums would be better. As proposed, the development would not offer parking, per the city’s Compact Living Pilot program guidelines, which the property qualifies for given its proximity to a Red Line stop.

MILLBURY --- A Washington D.C. firm whose founder has previous ties with developers Mill Creek Residential and Avalon Bay has purchased the +100-unit Cordis Mills apartments in Millbury for $17.5 million.

EVERETT --- One year after a solicitation for development proposals drew little interest, city officials are now preparing to to evaluate five redevelopment proposals for Everett Square, a 67-acre site that includes a city parking lost and an aging row of commercial buildings (paywall).

NEWTON --- Newton's 2.5 mile Washington Street corridor runs parallel to the Mass Pike and the commuter rail. Some new housing is rising. Other low-slung sites are ripe for the picking. But, a proposal to rezone this stretch for more housing and taller buildings is pitting supporters of growth and affordability against those who fear the city is getting too big.

CAMBRIDGE --- In an effort to break the cycle of poverty, the Cambridge Housing Authority's Work Force program coordinates early-life interventions to ensure that graduating from high school and college, and finding full-time employment is attainable for about 280 young participants, all of whom live in Cambridge’s subsidized housing.

AMHERST --- Residents at two apartment complexes remain frustrated and worried about where they are going to live following an announcement by the University of Massachusetts last week that residents have until June 30, 2020 to move out so that the properties can be demolished and rebuilt as part of a $200 million project that will create apartments for 730 undergraduates and 165 graduate students. Slated for closing are the Lincoln and North Village apartments, the latter or which will mean the displacement of families in 170 apartments.