Housing Headlines

WORCESTER --- A lawyer and real estate investor from Barre has bought the troubled 68-bed Albion, the troubled Main St. rooming house which has been cited for 84 code violations in 16 months and has had more than 1,500 police and 400 ambulance calls in the last three years.

FALMOUTH --- RAVentures of Westford has dropped its appeal of a decision that blocked its plans to build a hotel and will instead move forward with its fallback plan to pursue a Ch. 40B permit from the town so it can build 104 apartments on Main Street.

CHELSEA --- The Chelsea Housing Authority has chosen Joseph Corcoran Company as its partner in seeking funding for the $100 million redevelopment of the Innes Development into mixed-income housing that would retain the 96 public housing units and add 222 market-rate units. Corcoran was selected over a partnership between Beacon Companies and The Neighborhood Developers, a Chelsea-based nonprofit.

TISBURY --- The Island Housing Trust's plans to build 10 clustered units totaling 20 affordable apartments on 4.5 acres off State Road received a procedural boost recently as the Martha's Vineyard Commission opted not to open up the project to further regional review as project opponents had hoped, instead sending the project back to the town's Zoning Board of Appeals.

GREENFIELD — In-law apartments could be allowed Greenfield as early as next month if Town Council passes a proposed Accessory Dwelling Unit ordinance during its August meeting. A final version will be drafted by the Planning Board and the city's Economic Development Committee, which held a public hearing recently to get feedback. As it currently stands, the ordinance would allow apartments up to 800 square feet to be built either inside existing owner-occupied homes, as additions, as new detached structures or inside existing detached structures, like garages or carriage houses.

METHUEN --- A developer's plan to seek a Ch. 40B permit in order to build 175 apartments was met with stiff resistance by a half-dozen residents, who said the proposal was too big and that the low-income portion of the project would drive down property values.