40B Development on Beal Street Could be Sold by Spring

The eight-unit development at 80 Beal St. that includes two affordable housing units should be complete by next spring, Tim White, chair of Hingham Affordable Housing Trust, told the Board of Selectmen last week.

Craftsmen Developers informed White recently that they anticipate the eight cottage-style units will be completed and sold by spring 2014, according to a broadcast of the Dec. 5 meeting by HCAM-TV.

"That is exciting for us and we look forward to seeing that completed in the spring," White said.

The trust purchased the three-acre site for $400,000 in 2009, according to the Boston Globe. It then designed and permitted the development and brought on Craftsmen.

White said the trust worked well with the neighbors on the project and that it will be "consistent with the character of the town."

Hingham has been working for years toward the goal of 10 percent affordable housing. Communities under that benchmark open the door for affordable housing projects that can avoid many local zoning regulations.

"We are recognizing the need for affordable housing in Hingham and we are working hard to create and preserve it as well," White said.

The trust is also in the process of developing another 10-acre site on Beal Street. 
A Town Meeting warrant article authorized the developed of 20 to 40 units, targeting those earning 50 percent, 80 percent, 100 percent and 120 percent of the area's median income level. 

White said he anticipated the trust will have a draft of the request for proposals for that project by this week and that it could go out by January.