Housing Headlines

WEYMOUTH --- State and local leaders were on hand recently to dedicate the opening of an apartment building for low-income military veterans at 741 Main St. Developed by NeighborWorks Southern Mass., it is the seventh housing development the organization has developed in the last eight years. The project was funded with state, federal and NeighborWorks funding. NeighborWorks Southern Mass. Executive Director Rob Corley stressed that federal money is important part of helping vets. “(The funding) has been caught up in a narrative of ‘draining the swamp,’ as you may have heard,” Corley said. “But what I see today is not a swamp. I see jobs. I see community development. I see a tremendous project and great community partnerships.”

WORCESTER --- One week after the Boston Globe did a story on racial disparities in mortgage lending, Telegram & Gazette columnist Clive McFarlane used the same data from the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council report to write that while the Fair Housing Act of 1968 might've made redlining illegal, "the laws on the books are not necessarily the practices on the streets."

FALMOUTH --- In its continuing deliberation over a developer's plan to build 104 apartments downtown, the Zoning Board of Appeals have asked the developer to do an impact study of shadows the proposed four-story building may cast, while also asking that the developer include first-floor retail in the plans. The developer was cool to both suggestions.

FITCHBURG --- For 31 years, National Community Development Week has been a time where local lawmakers are encouraged to come out and see improvements funded by two federal grant programs - HUD's Community Development Block Grant Program and the HOME Investment Partnership Program. This year, with federal cuts looming, city and nonprofit officials highlighted all the improvements made with these funds and what could happen if these programs were cut or eliminated.

BROCKTON --- Naomi Cordova's decision to settle for buying a home in Brockton underscores the racial divisions of homeownership around the region, where only five communities accounted for almost half of the homes bought by black borrowers in 2015, and where seven communities accounted for 42 percent of the homes purchased by Latinos.

EASTHAM --- Developers behind a plan to build 50 apartments on a former Route 6 have filed an appeal with the state over the Eastham Zoning Board of Appeals' decision to reject the application for a Ch. 40B comprehensive land use permit back in March. The development is being proposed by Peabody-based Stratford Capital and the Community Development Partnership, an Eastham-based non-profit. “Our hope is that with this appeal, that we’ll have the opportunity to sit down with the town and iron out an agreement to move forward with the project,” said Jay Coburn, executive director of the partnership.