Housing Headlines

SOMERVILLE --- Single mom Martine Dreux's ongoing search for affordable housing illustrates how hard it is to find affordable housing in Somerville and why the city officials have proposed creating a centralized waiting list that they could refer to whenever an affordable unit of any type becomes available.

CHELSEA --- Having successfully transformed a former industrial site into a new neighborhood called the Box District, The Neighborhood Developers of Chelsea have run into stiff opposition over its plan to turn a former social club it has purchased into 60 units of affordable apartments. Reportedly, hundreds of residents in the neighborhood known as Mill Hill have signed a petition saying there is too much affordable housing in Chelsea already while others say more homeownership developments are needed.

BOSTON --- The development near Boston Garden that garnered a lot of attention for its inclusion of work force and affordable housing has asked the Boston Redevelopment Authority for tax breaks n its plan to develop 239 apartments, a 220-room hotel, 10,000 square feet of retail space and a parking garage.

BOSTON --- A research firm that tracks sales in a dozen central Boston neighborhoods like the North End, Seaport, Back Bay and Fenway reports that condo units of 450 square feet or less sold for an average of $358,000 in the second quarter, up 14 percent from last year.

MARLBOROUGH --- The City Council has referred to the Urban Affairs Committee a request by developers to pay the city $450,000 instead of marketing nine townhouse units as affordable, which is required under the city's inclusionary zoning law that 15 percent of the units be affordable for developments of more than 20 units.

NEWTON --- Residents and advocates who supported a failed attempt to turn a former firehouse into housing have - in conjunction with the Disability Law Center and the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston - reached an agreement with Newton Mayor Setti Warren on a plan to create permanent supportive housing for the homeless. The agreement, approved by HUD, resolves allegations that the city violated discrimination laws when it failed to support the development of housing for formerly homeless persons at a former firehouse in the city's Waban section. The agreement requires the city to create 9 to 12 units of supportive housing in the next five years.