The Globe reports the Boston Housing Authority is looking to find a private developer willing to replace some of the buildings at the Mildred Hailey Apartments in exchange for being allowed to build market-rate housing on vacant parts of the complex.
The BHA has increasingly used this model to renovate its projects in the face of declining federal funds for the work, most notably at Bunker Hill in Charlestown.
Architect's rendering of possible new Whittier Street project.
City and federal housing officials gathered at the Whittier Street development today to announce a $30-million grant to help replace the aging buildings - and spur development of the surrounding neighborhood while keeping it from becoming another yuppie enclave. Read more.
The Charlestown Bridge reports on a recent BPDA meeting about plans to let a private developer replace the 1,100-unit Bunker Hill development with a 3,200 mixed-income complex.
Project residents worried if they'd be able to get back into the 1,100 new low-income units; residents in the rest of Charlestown balked at adding 2,100 new units to the neighborhood.
The Bay State Banner reports on the proposal, by the BHA, Preservation of Affordable Housing and Madison Park Development Corp. to raze the current 200-unit project off Tremont Street in Roxbury and replace it with 210 low-income apartments, 136 affordable units and 81 to be rented at market rates.
Architect's rendering.
Trinity Financial this week filed its formal plans with the BRA to replace the 1950s-era, 331-unit Orient Heights housing project with 373 new public-housing units and 42-market rate apartments. Read more.
Trinity Orient Heights Limited Partnership has filed a letter of intent with the BRA to replace the 331-unit Orient Heights project on Vallar Road with 331 new low-income units and 42 market-rate apartments. Read more.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled today a police report was good enough evidence with which to terminate a Section 8 voucher even if the materials found in an apartment had yet to be tested in a state drug lab for confirmation they were drugs. Read more.
L Street scene. Photo by Mary Cappuccio.
The Boston Fire Department reports "careless disposal of smoking material" at 120 L St. in the Monsignor Powers project led to a fire around 5:10 p.m.that sent two residents and one firefighter to the hospital. Read more.
The Boston Housing Authority said today it's chosen Corcoran Jennison of Dorchester to completely rebuild and expand the Bunker Hill development into a mixed-income community. Read more.
Councilor Charles Yancey (Dorchester) today proposed installing WiFi systems in BHA senior and family housing buildings to provide free Internet access to residents.
Yancey said Internet access is vital in today's world, but that residents of housing projects often cannot afford to connect.
Several years ago, then Councilor John Tobin proposed a citywide WiFi network. Mayor Menino Wified the idea, which ultimately went nowhere.
Councilor Tito Jackson praised Yancey's idea as "a no brainer."
Architect's rendering of proposed Whittier building.
Developers have filed plans with the BRA to completely tear down the 62-year-old Whittier Street project and replace it over five years with new buildings with more apartments.
Separately, the Boston Housing Authority this week formally asked developers for plans to turn the Bunker Hill project into a mixed-income development. Read more.
The Globe reports the Boston Housing Authority is looking to renovate its Bunker Hill project in Charlestown by hiring a developer to add "hundreds of market-rate units to the 1,100 low-income units that are there now."
The Massachusetts Court of Appeals today threw out the criminal-trespassing conviction of a man who'd invited into a Boston Housing Authority building by a tenant.
Gregory Nelson, who'd been barred from the Old Colony project in South Boston following an arrest for possession of a dangerous weapon, was arrested again on April 25, 2007, when two housing cops spotted him in a hallway - right next to a large "No Trespassing" sign.
Testimony showed he was there at the invitation of a friend who lived in the building after a night out. And the court noted that the BHA's own leases and police rules state that while a barred person cannot just enter a BHA building and wander around, "a resident does have the right to invite any individual not barred by a restraining order as a guest."
Complete ruling:
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