Housing Headlines

NEWTON --- The developer who pursued a 'friendly' 40B and eventually got the permit from the city to build 36 condominiums now says he is seeking a partner because the seven-month permitting process took longer and was more costly than expected.

EASTON --- Hoping to gain greater control over affordable housing developments, selectmen voted 3-1 to support Avalon Bay's 290-unit Ch. 40B proposal over Dolben Company's 228-unit plan because it would put the town's supply of affordable housing over 10 percent.

WENHAM --- Beverly-based Harborlight Community Partners has proposed a 60-unit elderly affordable housing development on Maple Street in Wenham. To be called Maple Woods, the developers will be asking the town to grant it a Ch. 40B comprehensive permit.

MONTAGUE --- An update to the town's housing plan looks to a future in which almost a third of town residents are over 65, and it begins to identify areas in which affordable and accessible housing might be encouraged. The plan is the work of an advisory group including town planners and local social services.

WILLIAMSTOWN --- David Traggorth of Mitchell Properties told selectmen recently that construction at Cable Mills has resumed full tilt and he expects that it will be ready for residents by December 2015. Efforts to renovate the 140-year-old building were first initialized by Keen Development, but the project stalled with the death of President Robert Kuehn in 2006. Mitchell Properties of Boston purchased the 9-acre site in 2007, but the financial crisis made it difficult for the project to secure financing until recently.

AUBURN --- Town meeting members have voted 98-2 to appropriate $2.86 million and exercise its right of first refusal to purchase 50 acres of farmland that would otherwise be sold to a developer who plans to build 25 single-family homes and an apartment complex.