Housing Headlines

EAST LONGMEADOW --- Stymied several times to get the town to OK zoning to build a mixed-use residential/commercial development, a local developer is now making plans to build a mosque on the property he owns in the center of town.

HYANNIS — The name of the downtown homeless shelter has changed and there have been significant improvements there since Catholic Social Services took over operations last month, officials from the Fall River-based agency and the state Department of Housing and Community Development told the Barnstable Town Council this week.

NEWTON --- Northland Development Corp. recently unveiled plans for a 27-acre site on Needham St. in Upper Falls, proposing to build 950 mixed-income units and 100,000 square feet of retail and 175,000 square feet of office space. The proposal has the support of Mayor Setti Warren but would need to garner approvals from the Newton City Council.

CAMBRIDGE --- The City Council took a big step toward changing an affordable housing bylaw that's been in place since 1998, sending forward a proposal that would require multifamily developers to make 20 percent of the units they build affordable, up from 11.5 percent. If the proposal is OK'd Planning Board and Ordinance Committee, the City Council could make a final vote on the measure early next year.

BROCKTON --- Two redevelopment projects that would create a combined 75 new apartments in downtown Brockton took big steps toward breaking ground when City Council voted on Monday to approve local tax increment exemption agreements under the state Housing Development Incentive Program.

BOSTON --- The Boston Planning and Development Agency board has approved the latest development plans at 64 Allandale St., a residential project proposed for the border of West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, despite continued objections from residents who feel the project is too close to Allandale Woods, a 100-acre parcel of city and privately-owned woodlands in Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury. Developers have cut the project from 20 to 18 units and increased the buffer zone between buildings and the woods.