Housing Headlines

BOSTON --- Brighton Marine Health Center Inc. and WinnDevelopment recently announced plans to partner in order to create a 101-unit affordable rental complex for veterans and their families. The project would be built along Commonwealth Avenue with 80 percent of the units designated as affordable. Of the affordable units, 70 percent would be reserved for veterans and their families. The partner agencies will soon start the permitting process with the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA).

PITTSFIELD --- Construction recently wrapped on the conversion of formerly vacant building on Federal Street into 14 apartments and 10,000 square feet of retail space. Rents for the apartments range from $950 to $1,400/month for the one- and two-bedroom units. The project received $400,000 from the state Department of Housing and Community Development's (DHCD) Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) tax credit program.

HOPKINTON --- A Southborough-based developer has proposed a 40B development for 149 Hayden Rowe Street. The proposed project will be located on a nearly three-acre site and will consist of 20 Cape Cod-style condominium units. The Board of Appeals must review the project before it can move forward.

BOSTON --- Bank of America, the largest bank in Massachusetts, has pulled out of one of the state's leading first-time homebuyer programs, a move that will make it harder for low-income and minority borrowers to get home loans, according to housing advocates. A BofA spokesman said the move was made as part of an effort to "simplify" the company.

STONEHAM --- The town's legal counsel and an affordable housing specialist retained by the town hinted this week that it may resort to procedural challenges to delay Corcorcan & Company bid to use Ch. 40B to build a 264-unit apartment complex on the 26-acre Weiss Farm property. .

BOSTON --- With only 22 percent of the city's 6,600 rental units currently under construction in the city, Mayor Martin J. Walshis seeking to dramatically increase production of middle-income housing in Boston.