Housing Headlines

BROCKTON --- Following Monday's dismantling of a longstanding rail yard homeless camp for 75-80 people, Brockton officials are continuing to kick homeless people out of new encampments that have sprung up while a nonprofit group is calling for a "housing first" strategy that will provide the homeless with some place to go.

BOSTON --- Criterion Development has confirmed to have already had six meetings with groups and individuals about plans to turn a parking lot across from the Forest Hills T stop into 260 apartments.

WEYMOUTH --- In order to help the city qualify for a state grant so it can uncover a section of Smelt Brook, Mayor Robert Hedlund has asked the developer of an adjacent property to increase the size of his housing proposal from 54 to 84 apartments, even though the project has drawn criticism from residents for being too large in the first place.

BOSTON --- Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow cities like Springfield to revive local ordinances requiring banks to pay to maintain properties that are under foreclosure. "All we're asking for is that the banks or financial institutions have the same responsibility as other landowners," said Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, who supports the bill and called foreclosures "a cancer to our neighborhoods."

WEYMOUTH --- The redevelopment of the sprawling South Weymouth Naval Air Station will have a new name as the Boston Business Journal is reporting that LStar Communities of Raleigh has changed the redevelopment's name from Southfield to Union Point in reference to the three towns - Weymouth, Rockland and Abington - that comprise the 1,500 acre site.

BROCKTON – Just after Brockton workers cleared out the longstanding homeless encampment known as Tent City, a local nonprofit met with neighborhood residents to talk about new plans for supportive housing in the former Catholic Charities building on North Main Street.