Housing Headlines

LENOX --- The Lenox Affordable Housing Corporation, a local nonprofit organization, has come up with a plan to cooperate with housing developers and give community members a greater voice in deciding what housing projects are built in town.

NATICK --- Twenty-six people were certified as potential homebuyers after an affordable housing lottery was held last month. In total, 48 affordable homes were created in Natick following an agreement when the town approved General Growth Properties Inc.'s 215-unitNouvelle at Natick condominium tower. Twenty-two units are still available to interested and qualified buyers.

GREENFIELD --- Construction will soon begin on the Wisdom Way Solar Village, a 20-unit condominium project that will produce almost as much energy as it uses. Yesterday, the project was awarded nearly $1.8 million in state and federal grants that will help the Franklin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority get the work started.

WAYLAND --- Undersecretary of housing, Tina Brooks, announced $1.7 million in state funding that will help convert the former Nike missile site into 16 units of affordable housing on Oxbow Road in north Wayland. Wayland will use the funds to ensure that 11 of the 16 units are affordable to residents making less than 80 percent of the area median income.

MASHPEE --- After only six months of construction, a 56-unit affordable elderly housing complex is ready to be occupied. Fifty of the units were reserved for residents who make 50 percent of the area median income for Barnstable County.

ASHLAND --- At the Nov. 14 town meeting, Ashland voters approved using $500,000 from the Community Preservation Act fund for a trust fund to buy and develop affordable housing. The decision came after a lengthy discussion on whether the fund would expose the town to liability if it went belly-up, and whether the town should be in the housing market at all. This link takes you to a previous story that discusses in detail why Ashland put this on the ballot.