Housing Headlines

SUNDERLAND --- A two-thirds majority of about 75 special town meeting attendees authorized the Board of Selectmen to convey a parcel of land at 120 North Main St. — purchased by the town in 2014 for $265,000 with help from Community Preservation Act money — for the purpose of seeking a developer to build senior housing.

BOSTON --- In a protest outside of the Walker Building in late September, about 10 members of the Fenway community voiced their opposition to Emerson’s plans to lease a residential building to house 115 students in the area for two years during the renovation of the Little Building. John Labella, one of the protesters, is a Fenway resident of 31 years. The rent hikes, according to Labella, were pushing long-time families and workers out of the neighborhood.

BARNSTABLE --- A shortage of year-round housing and the ability of landlords to make more money renting to tourists are two of the reasons why the Cape Cod wait list for affordable housing vouchers is 10 years and why only 50 percent of the residents who get housing vouchers can find housing, according to a new report released by the Housing Assistance Corp. of Cape Cod.

SOUTH DEERFIELD — The South County Senior Center director does not support a recently proposed senior housing condominium project near Mount Sugarloaf, if it is not affordable to local residents. The 72-apartment, 22-acre project was proposed preliminarily by developer Mark Wightman during a recent town Planning Board meeting.

BOSTON --- A group that specializes in creating housing for the elderly is proposing a 54-unit apartment building at 16 Ronald St., which is just off the Columbia Road-Geneva Ave intersection in Dorchester. Hearth, Inc. has filed plans with the BPDA (formerly the BRA) for a $17.6-million building, to be called the Hearth at Four Corners, that would have 52 one-bedroom apartments and two studios for people 62 or older who make no more than 60 percent of the Boston area median income.

HINGHAM --- Five months after town meetings gave the go-ahead for an assisted living development on the town-owned Beal Street parcel, selectmen pulled the plug and will now seek the town's OK to seek a developer to build 100 units of family housing for all ages. Selectmen cited several reasons for their reversal, one being the developer who was hoping to build elderly housing was going to ask the town to kick in local funds to help support the project.