Housing Headlines

ARLINGTON --- The Housing Corporation of Arlington is set to begin the renovation of three apartment buildings on Massachusetts Avenue. After renovation, the buildings will consist of six studio apartments, 17 one-bedroom apartments, and nine two-bedroom apartments for a total of 32 affordable rental units. The $9 million project is being funded through a mix of private and public funding with about 10 percent of funding coming from federal Community Development Block Grants (CDBG).

LEOMINSTER --- The executive director of the Leominster Housing Authority says that the market for rental housing is beginning to tighten up again.

DORCHESTER --- In the wake of a shooting that led police investigators to a rundown propetry with prior complaints, the City of Boston intends to begin directing owners of properties that have been responsible for eight or more police calls in the past year to take steps toward solving the problems by warning or evicting the troublemakers.

WALPOLE --- Two months after town meeting rejected a proposal to buy the Walpole Woodworkers commercial propety so as to have control over its development, a Texas-based company has an agreement to buy the 16-acre property and plans to use a comprehensive permit (40B) to build 250 apartments.

FALL RIVER --- Fall River's failure to approve a redevelopment plan for Watuppa Heights by the agreed-upon deadline could cause it to lose control of the site and put the future of the now-closed public housing property back in the hands of the state.

MEDWAY - Since town meeting voted in June to put $433,000 in CPA funds into a newly-formed affordable housing trust, Medway has been hard at work figuring out how to use the funds to spark the creation of more affordable housing. The town hopes to have a part-time housing specialist hired by September and is also discussing putting aside $100,000 to buy new land for construction, $125,000 to develop new homes and $175,000 to keep existing affordable homes.