Housing Headlines

NATICK --- After noticing families hanging out in the parking lot of a motel, Boston photographer Belinda Soncini decided to document the lives of homeless families living in motels and her photo exhibit is now on display at the Amazing Things Art Center in Framingham.

LAWRENCE --- A blighted lot at 314 Haverhill Streetwill soon be occupied by four first-time homebuyers thanks to the Bread & Roses community land trust, which bought the property and redeveloped it with support from the City of Lawrence and the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp.

PROVINCETOWN - Prompted by town Housing Specialist and past MHP Housing Hero Award winner Michelle Jarusiiwicz, the Provincetown Housing Authority has stepped in to purchase three affordable one-bedroom condos at the Grace Gouveia building, ending a two-year dispute between the Community Development Partnership (CDP) and developer New Ventures/26 Alden Street LLC.

BOSTON --- Several big projects recently approved by the Boston Planning Development Agency promise to bring more than 1,100 apartments to Roxbury, but neighborhood leaders are calling these and other smaller projects a "mixed bag" as they would like to see more affordable apartments coming to an area where 75 percent of the residents are said to make less than $50,000 a year.

NATICK --- A bid by a local attorney for a zoning change that would allow housing for seniors on a Union Street property near downtown sparked a larger discussion of expanding such zoning as Planning Board members said there is a need for more senior housing.

WATERTOWN --- By a unanimous vote, the Watertown Planning Board OK'd a mixed-use redevelopment for the Arsenal Mall. To be rebranded Arsenal Yards, Boylston Properties and the Wilder Companies plan to redevelop the site into 350,000 square feet of retail and entertainment, just over 500 residences, and 100,000 square feet of existing office space.