Housing Headlines

WORCESTER --- With most of its stock 60 years old, no meaningful expansion in 20 years and a waiting list of 6,000, the Worcester Housing Authority is planning to do a feasibility study geared toward outlining scenarios for adding more apartments.

WILMINGTON --- With Wilmington's percentage of affordable housing expected to fall below 10 percent after the 2020 census, the town is planning a workshop to explain to residents how adopting inclusionary zoning can help the town maintain or increase its supply of affordable housing so it can stay above 10 percent and maintain greater control over housing development proposals.

MILFORD --- If all ensuing permitting milestones are reached, three Ch. 40B housing proposals recently approved by the town's Zoning Board of Appeals will add almost 700 mixed-income apartments and put Milford's total of affordable housing units above 10 percent, giving it greater control over future 40B proposals. Projects in the pipeline include The Residences at Stone Ridge (Gutierrez Company, 272 apartments), Brookview (EM Street/Eden Mgt., 268 apartments) and Birch Street Place (Kevin Lobisser, 162 apartments).

SOUTHBOROUGH --- Local developer Scott Bemis has withdrawn his plan to turn a vacant lot in the town's business village district into a mixed-use building because the town's zoning does not allow apartments in its village district. Bemis plans to resubmit his plan by substituting the term "hotel/motel," because it's permissible under state building code, which applies because the town zoning is not specific. Bemis also cited a Route 9 motel as an example of this type of extended stay use as "I don't see anyone gong there for a nightly stay."

HAMILTON --- In a move to support a non-profit Harborlight Community Partners' aim to buy and build about 100 affordable housing units on a parcel near the regional high school, the Hamilton Affordable Housing Trust will seek $1 million from voters at Special Town Meeting this fall. “The overwhelming odds are if we do nothing we’re going to be faced with a 40B that is an enormous size," explained Hamilton AHT member Marc Johnson. "We have a chance of shaping it into something smaller that the town can handle.”

BOSTON --- The 347-unit Fairlawn apartment community - serving the Mattapan area since the 1960s - has been sold to an affiliate of the DSF Group of Waltham for $65 million. The seller was an affiliate of the private equity firm ARES Management, which had owned the property since 2011. Fairlawn consists of 12 four-story apartment buildings featuring 14 studios, 143 one-bedroom and 190 two-bedroom apartments. It is located across the street from the new Blue Hills Avenue Commuter Rail Station, which is set to open in 2019.