Housing Headlines

WALPOLE --- Two months after town meeting rejected a proposal to buy the Walpole Woodworkers commercial propety so as to have control over its development, a Texas-based company has an agreement to buy the 16-acre property and plans to use a comprehensive permit (40B) to build 250 apartments.

FALL RIVER --- Fall River's failure to approve a redevelopment plan for Watuppa Heights by the agreed-upon deadline could cause it to lose control of the site and put the future of the now-closed public housing property back in the hands of the state.

MEDWAY - Since town meeting voted in June to put $433,000 in CPA funds into a newly-formed affordable housing trust, Medway has been hard at work figuring out how to use the funds to spark the creation of more affordable housing. The town hopes to have a part-time housing specialist hired by September and is also discussing putting aside $100,000 to buy new land for construction, $125,000 to develop new homes and $175,000 to keep existing affordable homes.

SOMERVILLE --- With over 100 units already in its portfolio and more on the way, the non-profit Somerville Community Corp. is making a bid to buy the former Boys & Girls Club near Union Square and use the property for affordable housing near the MBTA's planned new green line extension.

LITTLETON --- The town's Zoning Board of Appeals has ruled that Omni Properties' comprehensive permit (Ch. 40B) application is complete and has scheduled a public hearing for September so residents can voice their concerns about the proposed 200-unit rental project.

HARVARD --- The town-appointed team responsible for vetting development proposals for nearby Fort Devens is probing Trinity Financial's proposal to build 246 mixed-income rental units on land previously zoned for commercial use. Trinity has proposed that four out of every five units will serve households making less than 60 percent of area median income and the town's analysis team is trying to figure out who might qualify for those units.