Housing Headlines

FALL RIVER --- Faced with a Dec. 9 deadline that could put development decisions back in state hands, the local housing authority has voted to redevelop the Watuppa Heights public housing project into 11 single-family lots on four acres; 19 buildings of duplex and triplex buildings totaling 50 rental units on 3.6 acres; and open space on two acres. The city council must now approve the plan. The state agreed in 2002 to allow the housing authority to close Watuppa's 100 rental units and build 26 single-family homes but local officials said the project was not "financially feasible".

HARVARD --- Two large historic homes that together provide nine affordable rental apartments in Harvard, will be auctioned off in December, according to the lender, North Middlesex Savings Bank. The properties' owner, Harvard Trust Non-Profit Properties, stopped paying its mortgage last April, after years of sustaining the aging properties with no reserve fund and no ability to raise rents.

LAKEVILLE --- The town was recently awarded a technical assistance award of $10,000 to update its affordable housing plan and align with the South Coast Rail Economic Development and Land Use Corridor Plan.

LUNENBURG --- The initial phases of two apartment developments --- TriTown Land and Emerald Place --- have filled up quickly and managers for both projects predict that yet-to-be-built units will also go fast. TriTown has 66 rental units that are 100 percent occupied, with another 33 units set to be added in April. Emerald Place has 110 units and is said to be "at capacity", with another 24 units to be added by March.

SANDWICH --- Residents packed a zoning board of appeals hearing and gave a chilly reception to a development company's request to change its Ch. 40B comprehensive permit from a 52-lot subdivision to 120 rental units, 11 market rate homes and four affordable homes.

BROOKLINE --- Concerned that plans to add more units to Hancock Village would alter a look that dates back to the "Garden City" planning movement of the 1940s, special town meeting voted recently to designate the site as the town's first Neighborhood Conversation District. Developers countered that they would like use Ch. 40B to override local zoning and add more units to the property.