Housing Headlines

WEYMOUTH --- The need to pump in water from Route 18 to fight a four-alarm fire at Union Point earlier this month has city officials discussing ways of increasing water pressure and other safety measures to ensure fire safety not only at the new development on the former air base and all over the city.

ALLSTON --- As part of a three-phase $85 million mixed-use development, developer Harold Brown's Hamilton Company recently celebrated the start of construction of 40 workforce housing units on Gardner Street in the Packard's Corner area of Allston. The development involves the integration of one of the last remaining historic "Mahogany Row" Victorian houses with a new four-story residential building.

WEST TISBURY --- Developer William Cumming has indicated he would like to rezone a 27-acre farm as a cluster development with mixed-income homes for year-round workers, a plan some residents say is a reversal from what was indicated when the property was first purchased.

AMHERST --- Despite an order from the town to make six affordable apartments available by mid-October, the owner of Presidential Apartments says he won't be able to comply until next year. The six affordable apartments were created as a requirement of a 2013 special permit allowing Presidential Apartments to add 54 apartments to its existing 85-unit complex. The Amherst Housing Authority held a lottery for the units this summer, picked the winners, but then learned the apartments would not be available on Sept. 1. The owner, Allen Cohn, told the Daily Hampshire Gazette he did not anticipate that the lottery would be held during the summer and had received permission from town officials to go ahead and rent the units. He also said he set aside six affordable units and four handicapped accessible units for the housing authority in 2015-2016 but those units were not filled. The town has issued Cohn a notice of violation of the special permit, which includes a $100 per day fine beginning Oct. 18.

HOLYOKE --- In Hurricane Maria's aftermath, the Holyoke Public Schools are bracing for an influx of new students, as homeless families seek shelter with relatives in Holyoke, where 80 percent of the public school population is of Puerto Rican descent. School Supt. Stephen Zrike said the school department is preparing for students, many who will come without records. “Whether it’s their [Individualized Education Program] records; whether it’s their immunizations; that’s one thing we’re in active discussion about: how do we get them enrolled as quickly as possible.”

BOSTON --- In a creative attempt to address housing needs, the City of Boston is launching a pilot program that would pair empty nest senior citizens with graduate students. Based on research that found more than 100,000 Baby Boomer homeowners with more than two empty bedrooms, the pilot will attempt to match adults with students who are eager to engage with their community. “The Intergenerational Homeshare Program achieves two very important goals — it not only allows senior homeowners, who may be living on fixed incomes, to offset their housing costs and get some assistance around the house, but it also has the potential to relieve the pressure students can put on the housing market,” said city housing director Sheila Dillon. “We need to think creatively about housing solutions as we continue to add additional stock to stabilize the market.”