Housing Headlines

BOSTON --- The Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council (JPNC) voted unanimously to endorse a petition that calls for 50 percent of housing developed as part of the Forest Hills Improvement Initiative to be affordable.

CHATHAM --- Residents are up-in-arms about the results of a housing lottery. While 70 percent of the units are required to be reserved for applicants with strong ties to Chatham, some are saying that the lottery process was unfair and secretive.

DORCHESTER --- A developers' decision to use a non-labor contractor to complete a major project in Lower Mills has drawn loud protest from the Carpenters Union Local 67 and inspired City Council President Maureen Feeney to consider legislation that would hold developers more accountable for promises they make to community groups when seeking city approval.

LEOMINSTER --- The Massachusetts Fair Housing Center of Holyoke has opened a satellite office at Leominster City Hall. Center director Erica Johnson said her organization's new office will focus on working with homeowners who believe they are the victims of predatory lending.

ARLINGTON --- Town officials met and heard a presentation from officials of JPI, a nationwide developer of housing. The Texas-based company has recently partnered with EA Fish to develop housing on the former Symmes Hospital site. Plans call for the site to have rental housing, with the project being converted to condos down the road.

CAMBRIDGE --- The Boston, Cambridge, and Brookline Housing Authorities have called off a lawsuit against the state, lauding the new administration's willingness to pay them the operating subsidy that had been withheld from them between 2002 to 2005. The DHCD has requested an additional $15 million to support the continuing efforts of the state's housing authorities to improve their existing units.