Housing Headlines

BOSTON --- On the heels of Ed Glaeser's article that high prices and the lack of housing supply are big reasons why homeownership rates are down among young people comes a Boston Chamber of Commerce report that the Hub ranks number one in college graduate talent and resulting innovation.

BROCKTON --- City Housing Authority Director Richard Sergi says a new state program designed to encourage middle class housing in industrial cities could help the city modernize its downtown. The Patrick Administration's new Housing Development Incentive Program encourages construction of market-rate housing in the state's smaller industrial Gateway Cities" by offering local-option tax exemptions on increased property values and a state tax credit to support rehab costs. Projects may include commercial space, must contain no more than 50 market-rate residential units and 80 percent of the residential units must be market rate.

SUDBURY - After getting the developer Robert Moss to pare his 120-apartment Johnson Farm 40B development down to 58 townhouses, the Zoning Board of Appeals is now indicating it would like to see the project cut to 56 units.

SOMERVILLE --- A resident group called "Union Square Rising" is continuing to protest plans by the Somerville Community Corporation (SCC) to knock down the former Boys & Girls Club on Washington Street and replace it with a five-story building featuring 40 units of affordable housing. Residents have circulated a petition stating that the site should be used differently while SCC Executive Director Danny LeBlanc said affordable housing is needed now before the MBTA's Green Line Extenstion drives up housing prices in the neighborhood.

SALEM --- After many discussions with the city, Salem's historical society (HSI) has agreed to drop its lawsuit to stop the redevelopment of the St. Joseph's Church property. The agreement, signed recently in Mayor Kim Driscoll's office, gives HSI a more defined role determining how the property will be developed. The developer, the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, said work will start in six to eight weeks. POUA plans to demolish the 61-year-old church and construct a four-story building with 51 apartments, retail space and a community meeting area.

BEVERLY --- A single-family affordable home that had fallen on hard times is about to go back on the market thanks to the combined efforts of the Beverly Affordable Housing Coalition and the North Shore Habitat for Humanity.