Housing Headlines

WORCESTER --- With approximately 60 chronically homeless living on the streets or in a shelter, and fears that this number will rise, City Manager Ed Augustus announced he will be forming a task force of 20 to 25 members that will be tasked with coming up with a plan to provide permanent supportive housing for those in need.

BOSTON --- In an attempt to preemptive about gentrification and rising real estate prices, city officials and its partners are buying properties in Uphams Corner and hope to develop them based on recommendations from residents. In the last year, the city has bought the former Bank of America building and a land trust run by the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative has bought the former Citizens Bank branch.

Mayors from around the state joined Gov. Charlie Baker in signing a letter urging the federal government to extend benefits to more than 500 Puerto Rican evacuees, who are in danger of losing their housing this month if the Federal Emergency Management Agency does not reverse its decision to extend benefits. Mayors from Boston, Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence, New Bedford, Springfield, and Worcester all signed the letter.

CHATHAM --- A zoning amendment that would allow property owners to build accessory dwelling units on their properties has sparked fierce debate, with the planning board chair and town planner saying it will create more housing opportunities and residents saying it will increase the number of units and overcrowd the town, especially since the bylaw does not require that the units be affordable. "It's a developer's dream. It's a neighbor's nightmare," said one resident.

LEE --- Special town meeting representatives voted 30-4 to approve a Smart Growth Overlay District that will position nine shuttered Eagle Mill paper-making factory buildings on a 6.2 acre site to be redeveloped into a mixed-use development with mixed-income housing, commercial and retail space. The bylaw does not address any specific project although discussion at the meeting centered on the broad outlines of developer Jeffrey Cohen's $70 million plan for the property.

BOSTON --- The development company Nordblom filed plans for the old Boston Globe plant last week, proposing to turn the 700,000 square foot building on Morrissey Boulevard in the Savin Hill neighborhood into multi-tenant innovation park that could employ up to 2,000 to 3,000 people - as many as once worked at the facility during the newspaper's hey day. The plan does not include housing, which goes against a 2011 master plan for the area that envisioned a number of apartment buildings on the site.