Housing Headlines

BOSTON --- The fate of low-income residents in a 147-unit Jamaica Plain apartment building continues to hang in the balance as owners and public officials try to find a refinancing solution so that approximately 85 apartments can continue to be rented to low-income households. The property - known as the Forbes Building - was built through the state's 13A program, which was created in the 1970s. Since then, many of these properties have either been refinanced or been converted to market-rate, once the affordable use restrictions have expired. The Forbes Building has been seeking a solution since 2016.

YARMOUTH --- Town officials are discussing how to amend or create a more effective accessory department bylaw that addresses a variety of community concerns ranging from making the law easier for residents to use while addressing some concerns that additional units will eventually be used for short-term rentals.

SALEM --- Two changes aimed at making the city's new accessory bylaw more effective faced criticism during a recent joint public meeting of the City Council and Planning Board. Residents who spoke said Mayor Kim Driscoll's proposal to eliminate the owner-occupied requirement and to allow the construction of stand-alone accessory units would favor developers and goes against the law's original intent to give senior homeowners a way to gain income from their "empty-nest" properties.

Policy and planning expert Amy Dain says the state's new MBTA multifamily zoning requirement will test whether communities will be willing to build new multifamily housing in existing neighborhoods or continue their history of locating it in isolated areas on municipal and metropolitan peripheries.

HYANNIS --- A plan to turn a 40-acre Hyannis golf course into over 300 rental homes has stirred an intense local debate, with neighbors questioning its enviromental impact and some environmentalists saying that multifamily is better than single-family sprawl and golf courses that use chemicals to maintain their grounds.

WORCESTER --- The city's housing authority has published a request for proposals from developers to rebuild the Lakeside public housing development. The RFP is seeking bids on a project that would replace the 202 existing units with 250 units, add more units for households between 60 and 80 percent of median income and possibly add market rate units as well.