Housing Headlines

NEWTON --- With an accessory bylaw that has produced only 72 apartments since 1994 and makes only 13 percent of the city's one- and two-family lots eligible, Newton is discussing expanding its bylaw to permit more properties to add in-law apartments.

In the Sunday Globe, columnist Dante Ramos connects Rust Belt voters' decision to go with Donald Trump because their economic fortunes are stuck with high home prices in blue states, which prevents workers from moving to high-economic opportunity areas like New York, San Francisco and Boston.

SHREWSBURY --- A local developer has shelved plans to build a mixed-use project with 136 apartments and 700,000 square feet of commercial space along Rte. 9, and instead has proposed to build 626,500 feet of commercial space and two single-family homes. Residents objected to the earlier plan last year, focusing on the developer's decision to clear cut 19 acres of trees off the 30 acre site, a move that caused the state to write the developer had violated "the spirit" of state environmental laws.

BOSTON --- Winn Development and Lendlease Development Inc. have announced plans to replace the Boston Housing Authority's aging 20-unit Clippership Apartments in East Boston with 50 income-restricted apartments. Twenty low-income rental units will be in one-three story building, with 30 studio to three-bedroom condos in the other building.

BOSTON --- Boston’s building boom will need to stretch into some of the farthest reaches of the city to keep pace with a population that could hit 800,000 by 2050, according to a new citywide master plan unveiled by the Walsh Administration. One key element of the plan is the goal to expand neighborhoods on the outer edges of the city. Among the areas targeted for additional development are Suffolk Downs, Sullivan Square in Charlestown, the Beacon Yards in Allston, and Readville in Hyde Park.

FALMOUTH --- The town's plan to use $60,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to provide rental and mortgage assistance to low-income families will not move forward after the state's Dept. of Revenue advised that CPA funds cannot be used for one-time rental assistance payments.