Housing Headlines

LOWELL --- UMass Lowell's $61.5 million purchase of a renovated mill building called Perkins Place is continuing to cause anger residents, who say they are disappointed with reimbursement amounts and the college's denial of giving them more time to move before the property is turned into dorm space.

AMHERST --- Plans by GSX Solutions to build a four-story, 132-unit apartment building on the site of the Amherst Motel on Rt. 9 would require a special permit as the town's planning department has indicated the motel is located in what is now the town's professional research park zone, which prohibits residential uses.

GRAFTON --- A proposed affordable housing development that would include 36 single-family homes on an 18-acre drew criticism from conservationists who said the dense development would fragment and degrade the surrounding wildlife corridor, which includes two popular Grafton Land Trust properties, a community harvest farm and other restricted land.

WELLESLEY --- Brighton-based developer SEB has filed preliminary paperwork on a proposed Ch 40B four-story, 20-unit apartment building in a residential neighborhood along Route 9 in Wellesley, with five of the units set to be affordable.

BEVERLY --- In response to a housing needs assessment that found that more than one-third of Beverly's residents pay too much for housing, a city councilor wants to lower the city's inclusionary zoning requirement for creating units to households earning up to 50 percent of median.

BOSTON --- A four story, mixed-use building with no on-site parking is planned for 206 West Broadway in South Boston, according to filings made with the Boston Redevelopment Authority yesterday. The developers, the South Boston Neighborhood Development Corporation and Catholic charity Caritas Communities, want to combine two City-owned parcels and build 16 apartments.