Housing Headlines

MARBLEHEAD --- Residents shot down new zoning rules that would make it easier to build multifamily housing and comply with the state’s MBTA Communities law. Applause erupted as Town Meeting rejected Article 36 on a 377-410 vote. In doing so, Marblehead pushed back against the state’s Dec. 31 deadline to adopt zoning changes under the MBTA Communities Act. Finance Director Aleesha Benjamin spoke at length about state grants Marblehead could lose by voting no.

STOCKBRIDGE --- The town’s Affordable Housing Trust Committee voted to accept a $1 million donation of 34 acres of open land off Glendale Middle Road. The intention of the gift, from Hans Morris, board chair and co-owner of The Berkshire Eagle, and his wife Kate, is to create affordable and workforce housing units on the site adjoining a municipal solar farm and a Verizon cell tower. But whether that land ultimately gets developed into affordable housing, and to what extent, remains in question.

SALEM --- Workforce housing is taking shape as the first major development in town begins to fill with occupants on Main Street with 74 units added.

BOSTON --- Beacon Communities has completed the renovation of Lenox Apartments, a 285-unit affordable housing community in the South End/Lower Roxbury neighborhood of Boston. Lenox Apartments comprises 13 buildings and offers one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. The renovation was funded through a mix of state and federal housing and historic tax credits, as well as public and private loans.

WORCESTER --- Worcester should soon be able to offer 90 more affordable housing units in what used to be a hotel, thanks to almost $2 million in federal aid. Worcester Community Housing Resources announced it has received $1.6 million in federal funds to convert a former Quality Inn & Hotel Suites at 50 Oriol Drive in Worcester into permanent supportive housing for homeless people.

BOURNE --- A new housing complex proposed for the site of the historic Keene House in Bourne Village will request Community Preservation Act funding at next month’s Annual Town Meeting to get the 32-unit project underway. The development, proposed for the site of the historic home at 9 Sandwich Road, will seek $80,000 in CPA funds.