Housing Headlines

ARLIINGTON --- Longtime land use activist John Belskis is asking selectmen to back an article that would transfer town land at 1 Gilboa Road to the housing authority so it can be used as affordable housing. Currently, the land is classified as open space, but if used for affordable housing, it would help Arlington move closer to satisfying the 40B land-use threshold, which gives towns greater control of 40Bs if 1.5 percent of its land is used for housing.

MELROSE --- With the planning board not ready to vote on developer Angus Bruce's plan to build 13 single-family homes on 8.7 rural acres near Mount Hood golf course, Bruce has brought in an alternative plan, proposing to apply to the town for a Ch. 40B permit so he can build 165 apartments.

BOSTON, March 15, 2016 --- A new in-depth study of a sample of Massachusetts housing developments finds that the state tax payments made by their residents more than offset any negative local fiscal impacts associated with these developments. Commissioned by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, the UMass Dartmouth study suggests that state tax revenues from new housing are large enough to compensate communities for the negative local fiscal impacts of new housing.

MARSHFIELD --- The town's housing authority is seeking first-time homebuyers for two affordable condominiums, a three-bedroom priced at $130,000 and a two-bedroom at $90,400.

BOSTON --- In February, a development team led by Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion CEO Vanessa Calderon-Rosado met with about 40 residents to discuss IBA's collaboration with the Boston Housing Authority on the rehabilitation of 146 residential units located mostly on West Newton Street. Maintaining the neighborhood's historic look, security and converting some units to accessible units were some of the issues discussed.

PROVINCETOWN — Developers of one to five units who don’t include affordable or community housing units in their projects must pay three percent of the average value of each new unit into town's housing fund — if the April 4 Town Meeting approves the proposed inclusionary housing bylaw.