Housing Headlines

BROCKTON --- Mayor Bill Carpenter may seek legal action against a downtown business called Trim-Line Automotive after complaints that the site is a homeless hangout and a defacto junk yard littered with broken-down vehicles and machinery, including SUVs, cars, a delivery truck, a rusting sit-down lawn mower, a camper and a large motorboat.

MARLBOROUGH --- Having already built 350 apartments near jobs off Route 495, Avalon Bay sees an appetite for more housing and is partnering with Atlantic Management to propose 123 one- and two-bedroom apartments at its Marlborough Hills development. Marlborough Hills is located at the former Hewlett-Packard campus on Forest Street, which currently houses GE Healthcare Life Sciences, Quest Diagnostics, a Whole Foods headquarters, a 153-room Hilton Garden Inn, a Learning Experience Child Development Center daycare and the Avalon apartments.

HOPEDALE --- The Hopedale Planning Board delayed its vote on a 500-unit, $50 million renewal plan for the former Draper Corp. property after its principal property owner complained he was not adequately informed of the plan and characterized it as a "land grab" by the Grafton and Upton Railroad, which has pledged to redevelop the property in a public-private partnership with the town. The Grafton and Upton Railroad is a 16-mile rail spur from Grafton to Milford that connects with CSX Transportation rail lines at both ends. It was once a subsidiary of the Draper Corp.

CHATHAM --- Five years after he passed away, the impact of housing advocate Bob Murray lives on, albeit in abridged version as a small group of nonprofits continued Murray's tradition of holding a summer walk to raise funds for homelessness. Murray, who developed housing at nonprofits in Falmouth and Harwich, started a week-long walk-a-thon that raised thousands of dollars for charity. The 25th and last version was held last year but the Harwich Ecumenical Council and Chatham Ecumenical Council for Helping to Prevent Homelessness kept the tradition alive with a one-day mini-walk event this year.

WEYMOUTH --- LStar Capital has announced that it is changing leadership of the redevelopment of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, with Boston division president Gerry Kavanaugh overseeing all aspects of the Union Point development and Kyle Corkum moving into a more national role with the company. Kavanaugh joined LStar in the fall of 2017. He previously served as senior vice chancellor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and president of Higher Education Partners, a consulting firm that works with community colleges and universities. Kavanaugh also was chief of staff to the late U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and held leadership positions at the Boston Redevelopment Authority during Mayor Ray Flynn’s administration.

DENNIS --- Saying it's the best way for the town to have maximum control over what's being built, selectmen voted to issue a letter supporting a local initiative program application for Maritime Landing, a 28-unit mixed-income condominium complex being proposed for Route 6A by developer Mark Smith, who has constructed a similar development in Brewster. The state's Local Initiative Program is a version of Chapter 40B that encourages communities and developers to work together. “Given everything that’s said and done, that is our best option to keep local control to the best of our ability and to provide as much input to the developer as possible,” Selectman Sheryl McMahon said of her decision to support the LIP application. Seven of the homes will be affordable.