Housing Headlines

WILLIAMSTOWN --- A push by selectmen to have restrictions removed from two properties so that they can be considered for affordable housing has stalled as the Conservation Commission declined to vote on the proposal and instead referred the measure to town counsel. Selectmen and other town groups have been pushing to increase the town's affordable housing supply ever since Tropical Storm Irene floodwaters damaged or destroyed more than 200 homes at the Spruces Mobile Home Park in 2011.

NEWBURYPORT - The drive to create a "smart residential growth district" on 11 acres near the MBTA train station has attracted two qualified bids. Proposals were $1.431 million from MINCO Development Corp. of North Andover and Newburyport, and $1.4 million from Stratford Capital Group in Peabody, according to the MBTA. A minimum bid of $1.38 million was required. The high bid calls for 67 apartments.

BOSTON --- The nonprofit Hyde Square Task Force said it expects to soon complete a deal to buy the vacant, 96-year-old Blessed Sacrament church in Jamaica Plain so it can use the building for community space, while blocking an alternative, controversial proposal to convert the church into pricey condos.

WORCESTER - A Shrewsbury man has been presenting himself as the landlord of two large Worcester apartment buildings for nearly a year - collecting thousands of dollars a month in rental income - despite having never made a single payment on the mortgage, property taxes or water and sewer bills, according to court records.

BOSTON --- Corcoran Jennison's proposal to build 184 units on Columbia Point aimed at young professionals has received the go-ahead from the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city's planning and development agency. The "University Place Residences" project, at the corner where Day Boulevard and Mt. Vernon Street meet, will reach six stories, the same level as the office building next to it, and include a mix of housing: 67 studio apartments, 73 one-bedroom apartments, and 44 two-bedroom apartments. There will be 24 affordable housing units.

BOSTON --- A $1.4 billion housing bond bill was temporarily derailed on Thursday, July 25 by Sen. Bob Hedlund of Weymouth, who objected to a specific amendment designed to stop an affordable housing project in Norwood. Hedlund argued the amendment would set a precedent by stopping a project for one community. "You cannot just stop one project," he said.