Housing Headlines

HOPKINTON --- A proposal for an apartment complex and other buildings off West Main Street could help the town meet the state's affordable housing requirement for years to come. Land owner Paul Mastroianni envisions asking the town for a Ch. 40B comprehensive permit to redevelop land near Rt. 495 into approximately 200 apartments. The development would also include three new commercial buildings.

WORCESTER --- WinnDevelopment recently detailed plans to renovate the century-old former vocational school on Grove Street into a residential complex. The plans call for 84 one- and two-bedromo apartments with half of the apartments to be rented at discounted rates for lower-income tenants. Construction is set to begin next spring and finish up by early 2014.

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.

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.

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.