Housing Headlines

STATE --- While critics of the state's controversial affordable housing law (Ch. 40B) warn that it has let loose a flood of projects, the Patriot Ledger reported last month that the the actual number of 40B projects has slowed down in the past few years.

SPRINGFIELD --- Investigators are looking into the cause of six overnight fires that damaged five properties in a quarter-mile radius in the Liberty Heights neighborhood. Most of the properties were abandoned and investigators are checking on the ownership status of each property.

ROSLINDALE --- The Boston Housing Authority (BHA) recently announced that the first phase the Washington-Beech redevelopment project will be completed at the end of the month. When both phases are complete, the new site will feature 342 mixed-income affordable housing units, including 206 affordable rentals and 136 off-site rental and loan-to-purchase units. The second phase of construction is set to begin in September and conclude in early 2012.

LOWELL --- The City Council recently voted to sell a former fire station to JTL Realty for the creation of three or four affordable housing units. The former Fourth Street Fire Station will be renovated to maintain the historic character of the building but upgrading will to take place to make the building Energy star certified. The units will be affordable to households earning at or below 50 percent of the area median income (AMI).

MELROSE --- Construction is set to begin on the redevelopment of the former Boston Rubber Shoe mill site on Washington Street this summer. The Stone Place development will consist of the redevelopment of two existing factory buildings and the new construction of four buildings. When completed, the complex will consist of 300 rental units, 27 of which will be designated as affordable.

CHELMSFORD --- Neighbors are voicing concern over the size of a proposed affordable housing development for veterans of the armed services, even though the housing authority director is insisting that plans have not been finalized and the community will be involved in determining what type of building will go on what was formerly a single-family lot.