Housing Headlines

TEWKSBURY--The Select Board okayed $500,000 to veterans housing nonprofit Soldier On to build 21 units of affordable housing for veterans at 1660 Main St. This is in addition to an original $350,000 request. The allocation amounts to about 10 percent of the total affordable housing trust fund balance.

WORCESTER --- The Worcester Housing Authority expects to begin construction in September on a housing development as part of a program to address homelessness. The building at 38 Lewis Street will offer 24 fully furnished studio units. The program, dubbed 'A Place to Live,' is designed to provide safe housing with a range of educational and supportive services to homeless individuals.

NEWBURYPORT --- City Council has voted to transfer $230,000 in Community Preservation Act funding to the Affordable Housing Trust, a noteworthy move because Newburyport is obligated to spend 10 percent of its CPA funding on affordable housing. While $30,000 would be used to update the city's housing production plan, $200,000 would be put in reserve for future development.

JAMAICA PLAIN --- The nonprofit, Hyde Square Task Force, current owner of Blessed Sacrament Church, has a tentative deal with developer Pennrose to convert the church into mixed-income housing and a community space. Supporters anticipate the project chipping away at Boston's housing crisis and lifting up the neighborhood’s burgeoning Afro-Latino arts scene. Blessed Sacrament has stood empty for years.

FALMOUTH--During a strategic planning workshop, Falmouth Select Board Vice-Chair Onjalé Scott Price said the town must undergo radical changes because of the "dire" need for affordable housing. She suggests a possible Air B&B moratorium and tax benefits to property-owners who rent long-term.

BOSTON--September 1, the day when 60 to 80 percent of city leases turn over, is a logistical nightmare for residents and making things more complicated is the historic shutdown of the Orange Line and a section of the Green Line, along with surging rent and tight inventory.