Housing Headlines

VINEYARD HAVEN --- The Island Housing Trust (IHT) recently held a ground breaking to kick off the second phase of its Wentworth Way affordable homeownership effort. Using a Ch. 40B permit issued by the town, IHT plans to build a total of six townhouses in three duplex buildings. Two duplexes with four townhouses were built during the first phase of construction and sold to income qualified applicants.

DORCHESTER --- A Boston developer will file plans with city officials to build a five-story, $60 million residential complex on a long-vacant parcel of land next to the JFK-UMass MBTA station on Morrissey Boulevard. The two- building complex would house 278 units of rental housing intended for a mixed market of young professionals, families, and older residents.

CANTON --- Selectmen recently approved a $1.95 million mitigation package from Avalon Bay Communities of Boston as part of an agreement allowing the developer to build 196 apartments on 43 acres of land near the Canton-Randolph border on Randolph Street.

YARMOUTH --- Town Meeting has OK'd the use of $625,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to support the nonprofit Housing Assitance Corp. of Cape Cod's plan to build 17 one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom affordable rental apartments in back of the Christmas Tree Shops on Rt. 28.

NORTON --- Selectmen are frustrated that units in three 40B proposals not yet in construction cannot be counted toward the 10 percent affordable housing threshold the state requires before towns can block other 40B development proposals.

MARBLEHEAD --- In a recent survey of its board, the Council on Aging found the town's attitude and resources for the elderly to be adequate and specifically mentioned that the town lacks handicapped accessible elderly housing, a vital need considering it is expected that 31 percent of the town's population will be elderly by 2020.