Housing Headlines

NORTH ANDOVER --- The longtime owner of the Royal Crest Estates is talking with Boston-based development Trinity Financial about replacing the 50-year-old, 76-acre 588-apartment and student housing complex with a mixed-use residential complex that would include a hotel, office space, retail, Merrimack College dormitories and 993 apartments, 90 of which would be affordable.

HARWICH --- Despite protests from neighbors about increased parking, the town's planning board voted 6-1 to OK the conversion of the former 31-unit Royal of Harwich assisted living facility into 26 apartments. The proposal is permissible due to a town meeting vote last year to change multifamily zoning to encourage apartments. The new regulations lower the acreage requirement and bases the number of units on septic capacity and parking requirements.

TRURO --- Two neighbors who say they aren't against the Cloverleaf affordable housing development have filed suit to modify or annul it, arguing that the town did not account for traffic and parking impacts and approved the project with an "unproven" septic system.

CHATHAM --- Reacting based on need and a flurry of support from residents, the select board voted recently to support the idea of using 19 acres of town land off Middle Road for affordable housing development. Final decision lies with voters, who will likely be asked to declare the site as surplus property at May town meeting.

BOSTON -- The Baker-Polito Administration recently announced $46 million in funding to support the development ofaffordable apartments across Massachusetts. All told, these funds will fund 12 developments in eight communities, creating 572 new apartments.

BOSTON --- In an op-ed column for the Boston Globe, Father Bill's Mainspring CEO/president John Yazwinski makes a strong case for turning hotels into homeless housing, as his organization is doing in Quincy and Brockton, and as California, Washington are doing more regularly. "This is a relatively quick solution, and one that could be put to scale across Massachusetts," he argues.