Housing Headlines

SALEM --- Nine years after it closed, the transformation of the former St. Jospeh's Church complex into 51 affordable rental homes is nearly complete, with applications being accepted, a lottery scheduled for September and the project expected to be done and fully occupied by Jan. 2014. The new housing, which will be called 135 Lafayette, is being developed by the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, a developer affiliated with the Archdiocese of Boston.

NEEDHAM --- Mill Creek Residential will get a third public hearing Aug. 15 on its proposal to build a 300-unit apartment complex on Greendale Avenue in Needham, even as the town is urging that the project be downsized due to its potential impact on the neighborhood. The town has the 6-acre site zoned so that a maximum of four residential units can be built on one acre, although town officials said guidelines would allow up to 10 units per acre for affordable developments. The developers have applied to the town for a Ch. 40B permit, which would allow them to build 50 units per acre.

NORTH ATTLEBORO --- "We're going to fight you to the end," a resident yelled after a Great Bridge Properties (GBP) had finished explaining changes it was making to its 44-unit housing proposal to address previous neighborhood concerns. During a community meeting attended by about 80 residents, GBP principal partner Chris Davies said new plans included moving the building away from the street, reducing it from four to three stories and doing a colonial design more in keeping with the neighborhood near the intersection of routes 1 and 120. Davies said that the housing should be considered "work force" as opposed to low income and all applicants would get income and criminal checks. "Believe it or not, we really tried to listen," said Davies, whose company redeveloped Attleboro's Bliss School into 38 apartments.

BOSTON --- Work has begun on a $3 million renovation project that will convert the the five-story St. Peter's convent on Bowdoin Street into 32 affordable studio apartments. The building is being developed by Trinity Green Investments, a Milton-based development firm headed by attorney Tom Broderick and architect Tim Russell. Upon completion, the developers have reportedly agreed to lease the building to the Pine Street Inn, which will manage the building and provide services to residents.

WILLIAMSTOWN --- A push by selectmen to have restrictions removed from two properties so that they can be considered for affordable housing has stalled as the Conservation Commission declined to vote on the proposal and instead referred the measure to town counsel. Selectmen and other town groups have been pushing to increase the town's affordable housing supply ever since Tropical Storm Irene floodwaters damaged or destroyed more than 200 homes at the Spruces Mobile Home Park in 2011.

NEWBURYPORT - The drive to create a "smart residential growth district" on 11 acres near the MBTA train station has attracted two qualified bids. Proposals were $1.431 million from MINCO Development Corp. of North Andover and Newburyport, and $1.4 million from Stratford Capital Group in Peabody, according to the MBTA. A minimum bid of $1.38 million was required. The high bid calls for 67 apartments.