Housing Headlines

EASTON --- After town selectmen - who function as the rent control authority - declined a request to raise rents because owners had not demonstrated promised improvements after the last rent increase, Morgan Management it will discontinue operations at its Easton Mobile Home Park by 2019. In a letter to residents and the town, the company said residents had turned down an opportunity to buy the property. The letter also said the company is planning to sell all its Massachusetts mobile home parks.

WALTHAM --- Renewing a theme from her campaign, Mayor Jeannette McCarthy is questioning the need for more multifamily complexes and the City Council's approval of a 260-unit mostly wood frame apartment building that burned to the ground over the weekend, weeks before it was scheduled to open. The mayor said, “Construction by wood frame is idiotic. It’s insane.”

EASTON --- Citing that the owner had not shown evidence of making any improvements, the Easton Board of Selectmen, which functions as the town's rent control board, denied Morgan Management's request to raise the rent for mobile home owners. Through its lawyer, Morgan has said no rent increase means it will have to close the park or sell it to residents, who are in conversation with a nonprofit to buy the property.

BOSTON --- Mayor Marty Walsh and U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano joined other state and local leaders recently to celebrate the groundbreaking for the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg House, a new 61-unit affordable apartment complex for seniors that will be connected by a walkway to the Jewish Community for the Elderly's 700-unit Brighton campus. MHP is using its FHA Treasury Risk-Share program to provide $2.2 million in long-term financing.

WELLESLEY --- Northland Residential Corp. has let town officials know that it is no longer contemplating building 12 homes on 12 acres near the Needham line but will instead apply to the town for a Ch. 40B comprehensive land use permit so it can build 44 condominium units, 11 of which will be affordable.

BOSTON --- The Hub's building boom resulted in $55 million being collected for affordable housing in the last fiscal year, as many private developers have opted to pay into the city's Inclusionary Development Program rather than include affordable units in their projects. The sum is $24 million more than what was collected two years ago.