Housing Headlines

BOSTON --- The president of Carney Hospital will soon leave his position to begin a new role as president and CEO of Rogerson Communities, a non-profit that specializes in providing health care and affordable housing to low-income elders and families Greater Boston. Walter Ramos will succeed James F. Seagle, who led Rogerson for 45 years.

PLAINVILLE --- Due to a decline in golf business, the owners of the 27-hole Heather Hill golf course have drawn up preliminary plans to convert the property into a 435-unit senior village. The planning board is reviewing the plans and is considering recommending that zoning for senior villages be amended to require more open space.

MEDFIELD --- The state has given the go-ahead to a town-supported housing proposal that will bring 16 units to North Meadows Road. The project will be built by Matt Borelli and Needham Investment Company. This is the third so-called "friendly" affordable housing development the town has supported recently. the others being eight units by Borelli on North St. and another devdelopment at 67 North St. This flurry of development activity is enough to give Medfield "safe harbor" from Ch. 40B developments for the next year.

There's no shortage of stories that the housing market is tight. In the latest chapter, the Globe reports on the struggle people are having to find homes south of Boston. The story includes a family that had to pay more than it wanted to buy in Duxbury, a couple that wanted to be near Boston but settled for Brockton, and a warning from the South Shore Chamber's Peter Forman: "We do have a risk of stagnating. The best way to do that is to fall behind housing production, or to keep building either age-restricted, 55-plus communities or big houses no young people can afford.”

WILLIAMSTOWN --- Residents aren't happy with a new zoning map, saying that the proposal to move from one general zone to four districts with different density requirements is inequitable in that it opens the door for some neighborhoods to shoulder more of the town's housing needs than others.

BELMONT --- After a decade of attempts to get permitting and financing, the Bradford Development in Cushins Square has finally received a building permit from the planning board, allowing Toll Brothers to proceed with developing the site into 112 apartments and 38,000 square feet of retail space. Smith Legacy Partners was the original developer, finally getting a special permit on its third try in 2013. But the developer was unable to get financing and sold it to Toll Brothers in 2016 for about $14 million.