Housing Headlines

Boston Magazine's Kara Baskin takes a look at suburban tear downs, focusing on Lexington where 595 homes were torn down in a seven-year span. The headline for the story calls the phenomenon a "knockdown, drag-out brawl for the soul of New England's neighborhoods."

CHELSEA --- Reflecting a sentiment that Chelsea has built enough rental housing and needs more homeownership, the Zoning Board of Appeals failed to approve a proposal by Traggorth Companies and The Neighborhood Developers to build 42 mixed-income apartments on a long-vacant lot. The defeat comes as a surprise as the project had city support and the development team was well-known, having teamed up to turn a blighted industrial site into the Box District, an award-winning mixed-income neighborhood near the Silver Line.

HAMILTON --- After voters on Saturday turned down a proposal for the town to contribute $600,000 to a 40-unit proposal on land near the high school, Harborlight Community Partners Executive Director Andrew DeFranza said Monday that his organization will likely partner with a larger developer and apply to the town for a Ch. 40B land use permit so it can build 200 apartments on the same site.

DEVENS --- The long-debated Shirley Commons elderly housing proposal is nearer to reality as the development has received funding commitments from the state Department of Housing and Community Development and the MassWorks Infrastructure Grant Program. The Boston-based nonprofit Women's Institute will be developing the project, which will include 58 affordable apartments.

QUINCY --- FoxRock Properties has taken the next step in its plans to redevelop the 15-acre Quincy Medical Center site into 598 apartments, submitting a site plan to the planning board which will begin its review on Oct. 24. The area's neighborhood association is opposing the development but has signaled its willingness to work with the developer on a plan that is satisfactory to everyone.

NEWTON --- Before an audience of over 200 at Newton North High School on Sept. 27, developer Robert Korff of Mark Development unveiled plans to redevelop the Hotel Indigo property and other sites adjacent to the Riverside MBTA station into eight residential buildings, 663 apartments, two office buildings and a hotel. Korff, who is partnering with Normandy Real Estate Partners, hopes to seek a special permit from the city in 2019.