Housing Headlines

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.

BOSTON --- In an opinion piece in the Dorchester Reporter, Editor Bill Forry writes that before the city embarks on a new planning initiative for Glover's Corner, it may want to check back in with what's going on at Columbia Point, where a series of potential projects and proposals seems to be running counter to the vision put forth in a master plan developed by a neighborhood task force back in 2011.

SWAMPSCOTT --- Neighbors are not in favor of the proposal from Groom Construction to convert the shuttered Swampscott Middle School on Greenwood Avenue into 28 luxury apartments. Town Meeting last spring OK'd a zoning change allowing for a single apartment building, with the developer picking up the $1.3 million demolition cost. The developer will also opt out of the town's affordable housing requirement and instead will contribute $150,000 to the town's affordable housing trust.

BOSTON --- In an opinion piece in the Jamaica Plain News, Egleston Square Main Street board member Tim Reardon writes that "a small group of insiders and protesters intent on discouraging development" have pressured the City of Boston to release a development plan for the Jackson Square/Forest Hills corridor that will actually reduce the amount of new housing that could be built.

CAMBRIDGE --- Measures to boost affordable housing and small business development in Central Square were given a swift kick forward recently as the City Council voted to refer the legislation back to the ordinance subcommittee while also voicing displeasure with the Community Development Department's slow progress on crafting requirements that have been in the works since 2012.