Housing Headlines

LEVERETT --- In an effort to make housing more affordable, voters unanimously approved the creation an affordable housing trust fund at fall town meeting. Leverett, a small town north of Amherst with a population of nearly 1,800, will build the fund through future town meeting authorizations of funds raised through the town's Community Preservation Act.

LAWRENCE --- Pending state and federal tax-credit approval, a Boston-based developer plans to restore century-old mill buildings at the Malden Mills property in the city and turn them into a residential community for up to 500 families.

BELMONT --- Residents at town meeting unanimously voted to adopt a smart growth overlay district. The new zoning regulations will allow developers to build more densely and also preserve a church as affordable housing.

LAWRENCE --- Winn Development, a Boston-based firm that was ready to start building new condominiums at Malden Mills, has been forced to walk away because the new owners, Chrysalis Capital Partners, want to redevelop the mill property with their own real estate division.

FALL RIVER --- The state has endorsed eliminating public housing at Watuppa Heights and demolishing the 100-unit, approximately half-occupied complex after the state and city agreed that affordable housing rather than public housing would replace the aging units.

NORTH ANDOVER --- The smart growth 40R development known as Osgood Landing recently received a $600,000 grant from the state. The town's rezoning of the former Lucent Technologies site will allow AvalonBay to turn the property into a mixed-use development that will include 530 housing units, with 20 to 25 percent of them affordable.