Housing Headlines

ARLINGTON --- More than 200 residents packed a special selectmen's meeting held to ask questions about Oaktree Development's plans to seek a Ch. 40B permit to build 219 apartments on land in East Arlington owned by the Mugar family.

BOSTON --- Mayor Walsh's housing goal of 53,000 units in 15 years has developers eyeballing the city's surplus land while neighborhood groups are concerned these parcels will be awarded before an overall neighborhood plan is put into place. This is especially true in Roxbury, where the highest share of vacant land is located.

SOMERVILLE --- A consultant's plan to push forward on a community benefits agreement for the billion-dollar Union Square redevelopment was met with resistance at a recent public meeting, with neighborhood groups pushing for a more open process with more public meetings.

BARNSTABLE --- A Hyannis-based housing agency's purchase of a home for a Cape family is being investigated by the state attorney general's office after a longtime employee of the agency reported that the deal may have deviated from usual procedures, the Cape Cod Times is reporting.

(Aug. 8, 2015) --- In an op-ed piece for Fox News, former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown urges presidential candidates in New Hampshire to talk housing because there's a shortage of affordable housing in the Granite State and voters are concerned about it.

WALTHAM --- After spending just under $5 million to remodel the Banks School into 24 condominiums for seniors 62 years of age or older, the city has received no bids to buy the building outright and will now begin the process of marketing and selling the condos individually, Waltham Mayor Jeannette McCarthy says. The building includes three affordable units priced at $235,000.