Housing Headlines

PLYMOUTH --- A local attorney representing developer Saxon Partners has asked the planning board to consider rezoning Colony Place to allow 240 to 280 apartments to be built behind the commercial property. Attorney Bob Betters told the planning board allowing apartments would fetch twice the tax revenue that a commercial development would bring.

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.

HYANNIS --- A letter to the editor by a tourist from Kentucky sparked a widespread debate on social media and in the community about how to handle the large homeless population in downtown Hyannis.

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.