In an emergency Zoom meeting this morning, the City Council agreed to hold a public hearing before voting on a proposal to potentially increase taxes on commercial properties over a three-year period to help cushion the blow on residential property owners from expected large decreases in the value of downtown office buildings because many have higher vacancy rates as a higher percentage of workers continue to stay home in the aftermath of Covid-19. Read more.
The City Council yesterday approved holding a hearing at which to consider ways to combat what some said was drug use and related violence that are so bad they are making some residents think of moving away and of threatening Boston's tourism industry. Read more.
CommonWealth Beacon reports that under a compromise with city business organizations, the city will seek state approval to raise the tax levy from commercial properties higher than otherwise allowed for three years to help shield residential property owners from some of the shock of upcoming property re-assessments, expected to show a significant drop in commercial tax revenue due to continuing effects of fewer people returning to work downtown. Read more.
The State House News Service reports Mayor Wu is continuing to push for the state Senate to approve a measure that would let city assessors temporarily increase the total amount they can level in taxes on commercial property as a way to help reduce impending increases on residential property. Read more.
Cabral tends to the grill while other residents chat.
Residents of the Boston Trailer Park in West Roxbury - the city's only trailer park - gathered in front of Donna Cabral's trailer yesterday for some hot dogs, beer and conversation. Read more.
Mia noticed a listing for a colonial on Grouse Street in West Roxbury that starts: Read more.
Aileen Montour and Gretchen Van Ness, who helped shepherd the project for LGBTQ Senior Housing.
City and state officials joined with the LGBTQ community in Hyde Park today to formally open the new Pryde apartment building, with 74 "LGBTQ-affirming" apartments, the first such affordable building in New England, on the anniversary of the Stonewall riot and 20 years after Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage. Read more.
A group of residents at Stony Brook Gardens, between Lamartine Street and Chestnut Avenue in Jamaica Plain, yesterday sued the development's ruling board over the way they say the complex is being mismanaged and run like a little fiefdom rather than as a co-operative venture. Read more.
Rendering by Anthony Pisani, showing new wings coming off existing house in center.
The Zoning Board of Appeal today approved plans to expand a 3-family house at 16 High St. in Dorchester to nine units, following a hearing that turned into a mini-debate about the future of Meetinghouse Hill and Dorchester's other residential hills - Jones, Popes and Savin. Read more.
A group of Rockport residents yesterday filed a federal lawsuit against the way their town is planning on moving forward with rezoning to comply with a state mandate to increase allowable housing density near MBTA stations (federal courts let people file suits even on Sundays). Read more.
Mayor Wu said today she will seek state legislation that would let the city tax owners of commercial and industrial property at a higher rate for four years, should official assessments being conducted this year show a precipitous drop in the assessed value of downtown office space in particular due to work shifts caused by the pandemic. Read more.
The BPDA today sued the owners of the building that's now home to the Savin Bar + Kitchen and 14 apartments on Savin Hill Avenue in Dorchester, saying that while they agreed in 2018 to rent one of the apartments as "affordable" for at least the next 30 years, they have consistently rented the unit for more than allowed. Read more.
Weber explains his proposal.
The Boston City Council yesterday agreed to look at setting up a pilot program to help tenants facing eviction by giving them access to a housing attorney. Read more.
The state Attorney General's office last week sued the BHA over its treatment of a family with two girls with asthma and developmental issues, charging the authority ignored repeated complaints for three years about the unsanitary conditions in their Franklin Field apartment that were so bad the girls had to seek emergency care at a local hospital two to three times a month. Read more.
Update, 12:45 p.m.: Outage numbers now around 6,112 in Boston, with numerous outages in Hyde Park and Mattapan.
As of 9:30 a.m., Eversource reported more than 3,400 businesses and homes in Boston have lost power - including 1,600 or so in Roxbury, where falling tree limbs knocked out power at 6:32 a.m. and 1,400 in Jamaica Plain, where the power went off at 8:09 a.m.
The condo association at One Dalton - the Back Bay tower that also includes a Four Seasons Hotel - today sued the owner of a 35th-floor unit they say has disregarded repeated entreaties and even fines to stop screaming, playing loud music and partying at all hours of the night. Read more.
The Dorchester Reporter sums up a recent Metropolitan Area Planning Council report that found that 21% of the home sales in the Boston area between 2004 and 2018 were to investors - but that that figure rose to 31% in parts of Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan.
The complete report and a map: Homes for Profit: Speculation and Investment in Greater Boston.
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