Housing Headlines

BOSTON --- Two development teams have submitted mixed-income bids or an MBTA-owned parcel next to its Mattapan Station. Boston's Trinity Financial has proposed three six-story buildings with 267 residential units while Nuestra Comunidad has partnered with Preservation of Affordable Housing Inc. to propose 135 units and 10,000 square feet of retail.

NEW BEDFORD — Of 3,850 arrests in the city last year, 2.36 percent occurred on public housing property, a number that reflects the New Bedford Housing Authority's concerted effort to reduce crime and provide residents with safe, quality housing, public officials said. Housing Authority Director Steve Beauregard credited the stats on a three-year effort to improve safety, which included the installation of 130 security cameras.

WORCESTER --- A Main St. 68-bed rooming house known as the Albion has been put on the market for $1.1 million and neighborhood residents are hopeful about new ownership of the troubled property, which has been plagued by code violations, criminal activity and somebody dying "every 60 days" according to a former building manager.

QUINCY --- An update on Quincy's "luxury at a discount" urban renewal, which took off after the selected master developer plan failed, forcing the city to focus on one parcel at a time, a strategy which has resulted in 500 units proposed or under construction, and another 500 expected in the next few years.

TAUNTON --- City Councilors Tuesday have approved a special permit that will allow a renovation plan for the former Walker School on Berkley Street to become 40 one-bedroom affordable housing apartments for people 62 years or over. The board was voting on a plan proposed by Braintree-based Affordable Housing and Services Collaborative.

STOW --- The state's Supreme Judicial Court has upheld a ruling that blocks a proposed Ch. 40B affordable housing development in Stow over concerns that the design of the development's septic system - while legal - would cause unsafe nitrogen levels in neighboring wells.