Housing Headlines

HARVARD --- Earlier this month, two developers outlined to the planning board plans to turn three properties on Ayer Road into commercial space and 42 units of senior affordable housing, as is permitted by town zoning. The developers said they hope to finance the housing through low-income tax credits.

ACTON --- A 350-unit housing development just over the Acton border in Concord cleared one of its last hurdles in early October as the Acton Zoning Board of Appeals gave its OK. The project needed Acton's approval because a major road into the project is in Acton. The town will receive $900,000 from the project developer - Trammel Crow Residential - to mitigate traffic impact. In June, the Concord ZBA also approved the 40B rental project, which will increase the town's percentage of affordable housing to over 10 percent, meaning it has greater control over future 40B proposals.

NEW BEDFORD --- The city says a year-long battle between "demolitionists" and preservationists may be nearing an end, with the owner of the Cliftex Mill building nearing an agreement to sell his property to a development partnership that promises to preserve the mill by using historic tax credits to fund an affordable housing development.

PEABODY --- The Carriage House Motel, long a refuge for individuals and families caught between more permanent living situations, has been shut down by the city due to various complaints and code violations.

SUDBURY --- AvalonBay has backed away from plans to buy a family farm and build a 200-unit residential rental community. Previously, the town had tried and failed to buy the land with $600,000 in CPA funds.

NORTHAMPTON --- The city council is weighing a request to use $225,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to help renovate an 11-room rooming house in the Florence section of the city. The grant would help the local non-profit Valley Community Development Corporation do a $2 million upgrade on the property.