Housing Headlines

AMHERST --- The Select Board has agreed to send a letter to the state in support of Beacon Communities' intention of applying to the town for a Ch. 40B comprehensive permit that would pave the way for it to develop a mixed-use development with 130 apartments in North Amherst's so-called mill district on Cowles Road.

NEEDHAM ---- Needham and Newton have taken a joint approach to reinventing a typical suburban office park along Rt. 128 but Banker & Tradesman Scott Van Voorhis opines that while Needham has succeed in zoning for housing and business, Newton has struggled so far.

GLOUCESTER --- The city and the three-pronged partnership planning to develop the Fuller School site have reached agreement on a $5.6 million purchase-and-sale deal for the 10.6-acre property. The buyers - a partnership of the Cape Ann Y, Windover Construction and Sam Park & Company have proposed a new $15 million to $20 million YMCA, as well as 200 units of market rate housing to be built by the Dolben Co. of Woburn. The project will also include at least 20,000 square feet of retail space for Park, who owns the adjacent Gloucester Crossing property. The development is expected to generate an additional $1 million annually in tax revenue for the city,

LYNN --- The debate goes on in Lynn, with city officials saying it has more than enough affordable housing and certainly more than the 10 percent the state requires, but with advocates countering that 10 percent is considered the minimum and that more is needed, especially considering 66 percent of the population is considered low- and moderate-income.

BARNSTABLE --- The aging trend facing Massachusetts and the nation is on steroids in Barnstable County as a new report released this week says the region is losing young people and that nearly 35 percent of county residents will be over the age of 65 by 2035.

SOMERVILLE --- With the rest of Union Square poised to undergo a dramatic $1 million remake with commercial development and 2,300 units of housing, a development group is hoping to turn this little patch off Somerville Avenue into a new urban marketplace featuring dozens of micro-sized retail spaces, an idea that advocates hope will help "strike a balance with large-scale redevelopment and smaller-scale local ownership,” said Somerville Community Corporation's Danny LeBlanc.