February
9
2017
NATICK --- The Natick Housing Authority recently celebrated the grand opening of a rehabilitated home on Plain St. that will provide two two-bedroom affordable units. The home was rehabbed with $435,000 in state and federal funds, including $125,000 in federal funds from the MetroWest HOME Consortium.
February
8
2017
PROVINCETOWN - Voters in a Tuesday, Feb. 7 special election o again said yes to a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion that will allow the town to borrow $10.7 million to buy a bankrupt time-share complex for use as middle-income rental homes. The election means the town can now bid on buying the 26-unit Harbor Hill development. Sealed bids are due Feb. 14 and the final auction is slated for Feb. 27.
February
8
2017
WENHAM --- After getting considerable push back from abutters, the town's Affordable Housing Trust (AHT) is choosing to back away from soliciting housing development proposals for a parcel of town land located behind the Public Safety Building and the Winthrop Elementary School. This would be a step back in the town's efforts to create housing as it had signed non-binding "compacts" with two nonprofits to explore development on town parcels and the private market.
February
8
2017
CHILMARK --- Rather than just allowing large houses with a septic system large enough for each bedroom, a local resident is pushing the town to also allow the construction of four "tiny" homes on a single lot with a single septic system. The move would be similar to a proposal adopted by Nantucket, which passed the measure to help address its affordable housing shortage.
February
7
2017
AMHERST --- Hours after the Zoning Board of Appeals OK'd Beacon Communities' 130-apartment mixed use plan for the town's Mill District, the Select Board voted unanimously to grant the developer a $2.8 million tax break during the first decade the project is complete.
February
7
2017
NEWTON --- The City Council's Land Use Committee could vote tonight (Feb. 7) on a plan that proposes to replace century-old buildings at the corner of Washington and Walnut streets in the Newtonville section with a mixed-use development that would include commercial, 160 apartments and 346 parking spaces. If approved, the proposal by developer Robert Korff could move forward for a vote by the full City Council.