Housing Headlines

BROOKLINE --- Town Meeting members voted by an overwhelming margin to rezone commercial districts for significantly more apartment and condo construction near its public transit stops. The vote was the result of a coordinated campaign by housing and social justice advocates who pressed the town to comply with the MBTA Communities Act, requiring multifamily zoning near public transit to address the region’s housing crisis.

BOSTON --- The Mayor’s Office of Housing joined state agencies, housing advocates and developers for the grand opening of Morton Station Village, a mixed-income development in Mattapan. The property has been transformed into 40 new homes. The units consist of 28 rental apartments and 12 homeownership condos for individuals and families with incomes ranging from 30 to 100 percent of AMI.

PELHAM --- Construction of the first affordable apartments in Pelham is underway at 20-22 Amherst Road. Groundbreaking comes after a lengthy process of putting together the funding and getting a comprehensive permit under the state’s Chapter 40B law. The $22 million project will provide housing for 34 families when it is complete in early 2025.

BROOKLINE --- As the Town Meeting prepares to take a vote on the state's MBTA Zoning law, the Boston Globe Spotlight team publishes a report on the history of the town's exclusionary zoning practices that have led to decades of slowed down production, along with competing factions for and against housing development.

HYANNIS --- Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Edward Augustus said during a speech at a housing summit that a policy proposal embedded in Governor Maura Healey's Affordable Homes Act could be a tool to address the Cape's housing crisis. A seasonal community designation could mean gaining access to grant programs tailored to community needs or special consideration under certain state grant programs.

ARLINGTON --- Arlington Town Meeting approved a zoning plan allowing three and four-family apartment buildings along the town's major commercial arteries without special approval by a town board. Buildings up to five or six stories, depending on the specific location, will be allowed if 25 percent of their units are set aside for affordable housing or if space on the ground floor is designated for commercial businesses. The town held more than 25 meetings on the zoning rules. Tensions ran so high at one meeting of the town’s redevelopment board that the police had to be called.