Housing Headlines

BOSTON --- The flurry of development in the Seaport should include more affordable housing, Mayor Martin J. Walsh said at the topping-off ceremony for One Seaport Square, an 832-unit multifamily development that will include 100 units of affordable housing.

LOWELL --- Multifamily properties on Appleton St. and Shaw St. have been condemned after the building commissioner found numerous safety code violations at both properties. According to the city, both properties are owned by Charles DiDonato of Westford and the buildings came under scrutiny after a June 23 drug raid resulted in the arrests of 22 people on drug-distribution charges relating to the selling heroin and fentanyl.

AGAWAM --- Neighbors are concerned that an affordable housing complex may be built on a 12.5 acres farm in their neighborhood after learning that it has been purchased by HAP Housing, a Springfield-based nonprofit. But a HAP official attending a neighborhood meeting insisted that the type of housing to be built has not been determined yet.

WORCESTER – The Worcester Housing Authority this week was awarded more than $336,000 for its federal self-sufficiency program – the highest tally of any city statewide. The money will be used to support WHA’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program – a federally-funded program that helps people achieve goals and get better jobs. Called FSS, it is similar to WHA’s more intense “A Better Life” program, but, unlike “A Better Life,” it is voluntary, with no threat of eviction.

GRAFTON --- Residents filled a Grafton Selectmen's meeting recently to voice their opposition to a developer's plan to build 54 units with a Ch. 40B permit, saying the project would increase congestion, traffic, school crowding, tax burdens, and degrade the neighborhood.

WESTPORT --- For the second time in six years, police have discovered dead or dying animals, makeshift cabins and people living in small lots on a 70-acre property reportedly owned by a local man who charges cash for people to live there.