Housing Headlines

MARLBOROUGH --- City leaders will continue to pour over recommendations by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council about what types of multifamily housing work work best in various areas of the city. The city is hoping to develop a system to help it determine how a project fits into a neighborhood, how it benefits the city, what impact it has on services and if it has an affordable component.

Sen. Harriette Chandler and state Rep. James J. O'Day co-wrote an op-ed piece for the Worcester Telegram calling for new legislation that would update out-of-date zoning laws, which are restricting the Commonwealth's ability to produce more housing and make it more affordable.

SAUGUS --- The town has received word that an entity known as Saugus Residential LLC will be seeking a Ch. 40B land use permit so it can build 300 apartments at 770 Broadway (Route 1 North), which is currently the site of Wal-Mart. If approved, the development would be called Saugus Ridge. The developer has applied to MassHousing for financing. If approved, the developer would then apply to the town for the permit.

BOSTON --- After a year of stagnant enrollments, Boston's colleges are now seeing a student surge and that is translating into more students living off campus, especially in Dorchester where an enrollment surge at UMass-Boston has translated into 2,894 students living off campus compared to 774 last year.

TEWKSBURY --- The town's local housing partnership recently held a public workshop to inform residents about its affordable housing supply and how the 2020 census is expected to impact its percentage of affordable housing, and also to hear from developer James Andella about his plans to apply to the town for a Ch. 40B land use permit in order to build 75 mixed-income apartments on a parcel at the corner of Astle and Main streets.

FRAMINGHAM --- City officials are displeased with developer Howard Fafard's latest design for an new active adult housing development on rural Grove Street, saying the 46-duplex, six single-family home project is abou tthe same size as the one originally submitted and critiqued last year.