Housing Headlines

ACTON --- One town leader called her a force, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge described her as one of his public service mentors and over 500 turned out at the funeral of former Acton Housing Authority Director Betty McManus, who was tragically killed on June 13 when she was struck by a car while walking her dog. She was 75. During her 25-plus year tenure at the housing authority, McManus not only maintained existing public housing authority units but was responsible for creating 150 more units for low-income families and seniors.

PROVINCETOWN --- "It’s summertime and the living is easy — unless you’re trying to buy or rent a home on Cape Cod." That's the lead reporter K.C. Myers wrote to advance the 25th annual Bob Murray Housing With Love Walk, a 103-mile six-day sojourn from Provincetown to Falmouth that's held each year to raise money for affordable housing. Murray, who started it in 1993 and did it every year until his death in 2013, has started a tradition that's raised $4.7 million. The event hopes to raise $300,000 this year and past the $5 million mark. Two hundred are expected to participate. The money helps local agencies provide housing and prevent homelessness. To donate and see the daily routes, go to www.murrayhousingwalk.org

QUINCY --- Despite scaling back its proposal from 40 to 32 apartments, a local family's bid to develop a Wollaston corner into mixed-income housing with a Ch. 40B comprehensive land use permit was denied by the city's zoning board of appeals because the size and scale didn't fit with the neighborhood, according to ZBA Chair Martin Aikens. After the meeting, Sean Carpenter of Shamrock Development Associates, one of the consultants hired by the Boncaldo family, said, “We are disappointed, and are reviewing our options. The process was a bit of a guessing game, as board members were not forthcoming with their opposition until this evening.”

WORCESTER --- Two days before a June 28 fire destroyed the nearly complete Treadmark apartment building in Dorchester, Boston-based Trinity Financial celebrated some good news as the City of Worcester announced that the Boston-based developer had agreed to buy the historic former Worcester County Courthouse and turn it into 125 mixed-income apartments.

HYANNIS --- Two Cape non-profit affordable housing organizations have announced plans to join together to create a Cape Housing Institute to help teach local officials and volunteers how to better navigate the affordable housing process. The free, once-a-week, six-session workshop is expected to take place in the fall and it's modeled after the Massachusetts Housing Partnership's annual Housing Institute.

FRAMINGHAM --- Developer Roy MacDowell Jr. of Baystone Development is proposing to build 240 luxury apartments in the now-vacant Mount Wayte Plaza between downtown and Route 9. Residents have been clamoring for new shops at the site but MacDowell, who has an agreement to purchase the site fro owner Samuel Adams, said demand for retail is low given the site is two miles from the retail hubs on Rt. 9. Framingham's supply of affordable housing is at 10.4 percent.