Housing Headlines

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.

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.