Housing Headlines

SPRINGFIELD - The city's latest auction of tax title properties resulted in the sale of 34 houses, buildings and lots and generated $253,890 in revenue. The salesranged from a house on Commonwealth Avenue that sold for the top price at $67,200, to small lots on Colonial Avenue and Northampton Avenue that sold for $105 each.

WESTPORT --- Town Meeting passed over an article proposing to end the Community Preservation Act tax surcharge and later amended their 2005 inclusionary zoning bylaw to give developers who build more than 10 units the option to give cash or land to the town in lieu of including affordable units in their development.

GREAT BARRINGTON --- RiverSchool Development LLC recently announced that they will soon launch a $19 million redevelopment project to convert the former Searles-Bryant school facility into a mixed-use development comprised of office, living, and retail spaces. The developers plan to construct 40 condominium units, with 16 units designated as affordable.

HYANNIS --- Despite urgings from the police chief and a state senator to close or reduce beds at a Hyannis homeless shelter, Housing Assistance Corp. Executive Director Ric Presbrey told a downtown organization that his board has voted not to reduce the number of beds unless the need for homeless shelter beds lessens.

LYNN --- A local developer who had originally planned to build 156 condominiums and then adjusted into an rent-to-own scenario when the real estate market slumped has now put his project on hold and has withdrawn his request to seek a special permit from the city council.

NEWTON --- A plan to redevelop a Rt. 9 Chestnut Hill property that has been vacant since a fire several years ago has raised the ire of nearby Brookline residents who fear a back road leading to the site will bring traffic to their neighborhood. Newton-based New England Development hopes to build a one-story retail building along Route 9, an eight-story residential building behind it and two retail/office buildings behind that.