Housing Headlines

WILLIAMSTOWN --- Developers with Mitchell Properties say the long anticipated $61 million revitalization of Cable Mills into 61 apartments is progressing smoothly and the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

QUINCY --- Patriot Ledger reporter Chris Burrell takes an in-depth look at why so many working class families are struggling with housing costs and rents, which have risen 62 percent in the northeast since 2002.

FOXBORO --- In a letter to the town's zoning board of appeals, Rep. Jay Barrows, R-Mansfield, said The Hanover Company's plan to seek a 40B permit to build a 248 apartments is too big for the neighborhood and surrounding towns.

BOSTON --- The city's Public Facilities Commission has given the green light to two redevelopment projects along the new Fairmount MBTA commuter rail corridor. At 65 East Cottage St. in Uphams Corner, the city has chosen Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corp. to redevelop the old Maxwell Box Company site into a 92-unit mix of affordable rental units and condos. Further down the line along Cummins Highway in Mattapan, the city has chosen a trio of non-profit partners led by Carribean Integration Community Development Corp. to redevelop the former Cote Ford car dealership site into 70 units of housing for working families.

NANTUCKET --- A new study commissioned by the nonprofit Housing Nantucket found that homeownership is out of reach for 90 percent of the Island's year-round residents. The study, done by RKG Associates, suggested several approaches the Island could take to tackling its workforce housing problem, including developing rental housing on town-owned land, seeking special legislation to establish a housing bank and committing all Community Preservation Act funding to housing, except for statutory set-asides for open space and historic preservation.

PROVINCETOWN --- Neighbors and abutters are increasingly concerned about a developer's plan to use a Ch. 40B permit to turn the former Michael Shay's restaurant into 24 units of affordable housing. Three residents have hired an attorney and recently a drone with a camera was used to illustrate where the roofline of the proposed 45 foot building would be in relation to the rest of the buildings in the neighborhood.