Housing Headlines

BOSTON --- Dorchester Reporter Editor Bill Forry weighs the pros and cons of a plan to transform the Port Norfolk section into a new complex of condos, hotel rooms and boat slips, and concludes that while he likes the design, the city's planning department must listen to the concerns of the neighborhood and get the developer to scale down the project.

IPSWICH --- The developer of a proposed apartment complex for residents 55 years and older has cut his project from 40 to 32 units while neighbors along the Town Road site will likely be allowed to tie into the new sewer line that will be built to service the new housing.

HARWICH --- In a reversal from usual town concerns that more students will tax municipal budgets, Monomoy School District Superintendent Scott Carpenter told Harwich selectmen that the town and neighboring Chatham should seek ways to boost their affordable housing stock to reverse declining enrollment at the region's elementary schools. "It would behoove our towns to support initiatives that would encourage young families to live and afford our towns," he said.

BOSTON --- The Dorchester Reporter's Jennifer Smith is staying on the story about the UMass Building Authority's efforts to market the 20-acre Bayside parcel to a developer who would build a mixed-use "destination" similar to a “modern-day Harvard Square, New Balance/Boston Landing, Kenmore Square, MIT Volpe Center, etc.” The deadline for public bids has ended and Smith has the 16 development companies that responded.

FALL RIVER --- Liberty Affordable Housing of Rome New York has begun construction on turning the old granite Knitting Mill on Alden St. into 100 apartments for people 55 and older. It's the nonprofit company's first foray into Massachusetts and a big reason why is that the former mill owner and housing company's founder are both Colgate University graduates, as is architect Lee Woltman, who has done a lot of work for Liberty and who is also a Fall River native who went to Durfee High.

WORCESTER --- The healthy Massachusetts economy is having an impact on Worcester, where it's estimated that outside investors are poised to pour more than $300 million into the city's central core and nearby neighborhoods for housing and economic development. Business reporter Lisa Eckelberger pens an extensive rundown of all the players, from Trinity Financial's first foray into the city to Franklin Realty of Wellesley to companies that specialize in building housing just for students.