Housing Headlines

AMHERST --- A home-rule petition which gives Amherst a tool encouraging developers to provide affordable housing through property tax relief has been approved by the state Legislature. The approval allows the town to consider tax incentives for any residential or mixed-use development with 10 or more units in which 10 percent are affordable.

HAVERHILL --- Viewpoint at Bixby Crossing - the first downtown industrial site to be turned into apartments - will be undergoing a facelift as Boston Andes Capital LLC has announced a $5 million plan to add seven market-rate apartments, better common space and a balcony that will extend over the Merrimack River.

BOSTON --- Mayor Marty Walsh has unveiled plans to revise the city's Inclusionary Development Policy. Changes include charging developers more to opt out depending on the neighborhood they are planning to develop in and raising the median income for affordable units in some neighborhoods from 70 to 100 percent AMI.

BOSTON --- In an opinion piece for Commonwealth Magazine, CEDAC's Roger Herzog and Bill Brauner warn that the state is facing the loss of over 4,000 units created under a 1970s program called 13A and sees one solution in a proposal to provide more state tax credits specifically to save this housing.

WELLFLEET --- In a Cape Cod Times op-ed piece, Wellfleet resident Brent Harold warns that the second home real estate market is killing communities on the Outer Caper and urges action, from creating more affordable housing to providing incentives so that year-round homes are sold to people who will live in them year round.

NEW BEDFORD --- Police are using specialized patrols to police downtown parking garages to stop people from staying overnight. So far, nine people have been arrested.