Housing Headlines

EASTON --- Selectmen recently gave the green light to an affordable housing project, allowing the plan to move onto the zoning board of appeals for final approval. Developer Amos Eisenberg's mixed-use project is being permitted as a "local initiative project" (LIP) and gives local officials more discretion in the review process. The board gave the proposal an initial nod last year, contingent on a slight reduction in the number of rental units from 41 to 38 and the creation of more commercial space

PEPPERELL --- Concerned that the town is not attracting enough 20- to 40-year olds, the town's Affordable Housing Committee has taken initial steps to craft a new five-year afforable housing plan to replace the last one which expired in 2011.

FALL RIVER - The city's zoning board of appeals has granted a special permit to a New York-based development company to turn the the sprawling and largely vacant Northeast Knitting Mill into affordable senior housing. Liberty Affordable Housing of Rome N.Y. proposes to build 115 to 120 apartments and hopes to obtain state historic tax credits to help fund the $25 million project.

WORCESTER --- In an internal investigation, the Worcester Housing Authority has uncovered $1.6 million in fraud committed over the past five years - from residents reporting false income, landlords lying about tenant occupancy and people living in public housing without the public housing agency knowing it.

ANDOVER --- The Andover Community Trust is getting ready to pick a buyer for a permanently affordable three-bedroom home. It is the sixth home the trust has developed and the third affordable home that has been built for the trust by students at Greater Lawrence Technical High School. The home will be sold for $175,000 and preference will be given to first-time homebuyers. The trust already has a site under control to build a seventh affordable home.

BOSTON --- MHP's Foundation for Growth web site has posted excerpts from Northeastern's Barry Bluestone's Boston Globe blog. Bluestone argues that "seismic" demographic shifts will increase the demand for apartments, something most suburan towns aren't zoning for.