Housing Headlines

BROCKTON --- The Brockton Planning Department has released a master plan for a former rail yard which is located less than a mile from its downtown. The "preferred" plan includes 25 to 35 single-family homes, 100 to 225 apartments, a park and a new police station.I n total, the plan identifies more than 60 acres of land — divided into 47 parcels with 26 different owners — that the city hopes to bundle together and rezone.

LYNN --- Three non-profits have joined to propose building 24 units of supportive housing for low-income young adults on the top two vacant floors at 57 Munroe Street in the city's downtown. The proposal is being spearheaded by The Haven Project, a seven-year-old Lynn nonprofit that helps homeless teens and currently operates its non-profit and a cafe from the same building. Together with East Coast International Church and Harborlight Community Partners, they propose to provide 250 square-foot studio apartments and services for young people making no more than $22,000 per year.

CAMBRIDGE --- Harvard University announced this week that it is recommitting its $20 million fund to increase affordable housing in Greater Boston. Called the Harvard Local Housing Collaborative, the fund partners with three nonprofits to provide low-interest loans to developers during the early stages of development and to help low- and moderate-income buyers purchase a home. The three nonprofits are Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), BlueHub Capital (formerly Boston Community Capital), and the Cambridge Affordable Housing Trust.

DORCHESTER --- The City of Boston's Zoning Board of Appeals has OK'd a plan to replace Our Saviour's of Lutheran Church on Talbot Ave. with a four-story mixed-use building and ground floor commercial space that will include a smaller space for the church.

Noting how reaction from the community and local politicians in South Boston caused developers to scale back its plan for the former Edison plant from 1,700 units to either 750 unis or zero units, the Boston Globe editorial page chides opponents for missing the big picture - the city has a chronic housing shortage.

BOSTON --- In an interview with the Boston Globe that appeared in print and on video, the Pine Street Inn's Lydia Downie discusses why her organization has pivoted to finding housing for the homeless population it serves. “If we’re going to be about housing, everything we do has to be about leading people to housing,” she said. “We took a really hard look at every single program we had, and if we weren’t getting the outcomes in terms of housing outcomes, we said we’re not doing this anymore."