Housing Headlines

SHREWSBURY --- Town meeting last night lifted a nearly 30-year cap on the number of units that can go into an assisted-living complex. The town limited the number to 60 in the 1980s after the 233-unit South Gate was built and later granted a variance so that a 64-unit facility could be built. In support of the change, Town Manager Daniel J. Morgado said South Gate is the third largest taxpayer in town, that facility with 100 to 120 units is standard and a facility that size would generate about $120,000 in annual tax revenue.

EAST BOSTON --- The Boston Redevelopment Authority recently approved a mixed-used residential development on the waterfront that will include residential units, a restaurant, a recreational marina and water taxi landing. An existing nine-story building will be renovated to include 165 residential units and a proposed six-story building will contain 59 residential units or 106 hotel/extended stay rooms. Construction is expected to begin sometime in 2012.

SPRINGFIELD --- Completed mortgage foreclosures in Hampden County are up 49.13 percent this year, according to the Warren Group. The real estate data service also calculated that lenders are now taking an average of 138 days to move properties through the forclosure process, compared to 234 days in 2008. Jennifer Kinsman, foreclosure prevention manager at Springfield's HAP Inc. said lenders had been holding off on foreclosures because the homes couldn't have been sold but that now "it looks like some of the lenders are following through."

NORTON --- Rhode Island Homes recently purchased ten Massachusetts affordable housing complexes with plans to preserve the affordability of 931 units scattered across the state. The developer has proposed making a total of $16.5 million in capital improvements to sites within the first year of ownership.

WORCESTER --- The city continues to debate its housing policy, with the mayor asserting that the emphasis remain on neighborhoods and affordable housing, and the city manager proposing a housing policy less reliant on subsidized low-income units.

WESTWOOD --- Town meeting's OK of four articles has cleared the way for Westwood Station developers to pursue a scaled-down version of its plan to develop land around the train station at the intersection of Routes 128 and 95. The original Phase 1 plan - never started due to the economic crisis - included 2.5 million square feet of stores, offices, and housing The new version calls for a Target, a Wegmans (New York-based grocer), six mid-sized retailiers, 15 smaller retailers, and two restaurants on 35 acres of the 146-acre site.