Housing Headlines

AMHERST --- Selectmen have voted 3-1 in favor of a town meeting warrant that would ask voters to appropriate funds to buy and preserve the affordability of Echo Village Apartments, which stands to lose 24 affordable units if the new owners go through with their plans to raise rents to market levels.

BEVERLY --- Two new housing developments, both within a few blocks of the Beverly commuter rail station, will add a total of 46 new units of affordable housing to the downtown neighborhood. North Shore Veterans Counseling Services will redevelop a former rooming house at 45 Broadway into 14 single rooms. The building will also contain an outreach center, offering drug and alcohol awareness counseling and post-traumatic stress disorder counseling to veterans in the region. Additionally, Windover Construction will transform a former box factory at 60 Pleasant Street into 32 studio apartments.

PEABODY --- The city council has approved a housing plan that is aimed at fending off unwanted multi-family affordable housing developments. The plan, which must be approved by the legislature, identifies areas where so-called "friendly 40Bs" might go.

FRAMINGHAM --- When it comes to dealing with housing developers seeking Ch. 40B comprehensive permits, towns in MetroWest are taking a variety of approaches. For example, while Natick received nearly $2 million in mitigation from AvalonBay Communities to deal with the financial impacts of its Avalon Natick development, Westborough recently approved a new complex that officials say will cost the towns millions each year without any benefit from the developer.

HARWICH --- Town meeting voters approved spending $455,000 of Community Preservation Act money to help create 20 units of affordable rental housing in five buildings in a $4.5 million project on Route 28 in West Harwich. The land is owned by the Harwich Ecumenical Council for the Homeless.

CLEVELAND --- Once filled with middle-class families, the neighborhood where Ariel Castro allegeldy kept three women captive is plagued by abandonment and foreclosures. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the block is littered with seven vacant lots and most of the nearly 20 structures on the block look neglected or abandoned. Previous stories have indicated that Castro's home at 2207 Seymour Ave. was in foreclosure due to non-payment of taxes.