Housing Headlines

WEYMOUTH --- Mayor Robert Hedlund said he is meeting with a developer this week who is interested in making a massive investment in the sprawling 1,450 acre Union Point site but said LStar Ventures must first cut ties with its former managing partner, who has been accused in a lawsuit of misspending millions and meddling in the business after he was ousted.

QUINCY --- Despite issuing building permits for more than 2,500 new housing units since 2015, few if any are will be affordable to low- and moderate-income residents, even though the data shows that 40 percent of the city's residents could qualify for housing subsidies.

BRAINTREE --- One of the communities that is part of the Metro Mayors Coalition pledge to build 185,000 new housing units is redoing its zoning for the first time since the 1970s. The City of Braintree is using Nathan Kelly of the Horsley Witten Group to preserve the city's "quality of life" while enhancing it, according to Mayor Joseph Sullivan. Changes could include allowing six-story buildings in some districts and changes to districts to eliminate properties that straddle different zoning districts.

DORCHESTER --- The lockout of National Grid workers is slowing the installation of gas lines and delaying the completion of Hub housing developments into next year. According to reporter Jennifer Smith, one of the projects she looked at is switching to electric rather than wait for gas lines to be put in.

WORCESTER --- The second largest housing authority in New England has just taken over more responsibility as commissioners recently approved contracts to have the Worcester Housing Authority take over management of the Holden Housing Authority, as well as to provide management consulting for the Leominster Housing Authority.

Economists on the editorial board of the economic journal MassBenchmarks recently released some consensus findings showing that employment in Massachusetts has grown 1.9 percent year-to-date through August, the labor force has grown by 145,700 and domestic migration to Massachusetts seems to be on the rise.