Northland Investment Corp. will be submitting plans for a 410-apartment complex located on seven acres directly behind the Marshalls store on Needham Street in Newton.
The eight-story building will be proposed under the state’s 40B law and could enable the city to -- at long last -- be in compliance with the law’s 10 percent affordable housing mandate.
Most importantly, it would also make a substantial dent into our housing shortage while adding 103 affordable homes for workers and families.
The project would also include 10,000 square feet of retail and commercial space on the ground floor and underground parking, reports the Globe’s John Hilliard.
As a 40B, the project would be reviewed by the Newton’s Zoning Board of Appeals -- not the city council.
Northland’s other project, at the corner of Needham and Oak Streets, featuring 200,000 square feet of office space, 100,000 of retail and 800 apartments would be constructed first and open first.
For an update how the Needham Street project is proceeding watch this video presentation from our chamber event last month.
Creem calls for tougher builder stretch code
Newton state Sen. Cindy Creem is calling on the Baker administration to make “substantial revisions" to proposed building stretch codes designed to shift away from the use of fossil fuels.
Creem, who chairs the Senate Committee on Global Warming, co-authored a letter saying Bakers’ straw proposal "comes up short" in terms of meeting the state’s climate law net-zero emissions’ goal by the middle of the century, reports Colin A. Young at State House News.
The law requires the Commonwealth's net-zero code be in place by the end of 2022.
Baker’s proposal bars cities and towns from mandating all-electric new construction. But Brookline, Arlington, Lexington, Acton and Concord are all requesting to do just that. And Newton will considering a similar requestnext week (see next item).
“For municipalities in Massachusetts and other progressive states, all-electric construction is the favored strategy for decarbonizing new buildings. Barring communities from employing it would be a significant setback," the senators wrote.
More than one thing can be true at the same time
A Newton City Council committee is expected to move forward a proposed home rule petition on Wednesday (March 9) that would ban the use of fossil fuels in all new residential properties and small commercial buildings (with the exception – perhaps -- of allowing gas cooking).
Existing properties that are "substantially remodeled or rehabilitated" would also be banned from using high carbon emitting fuels like natural gas and oil.
These proposals designed to eliminate the use of fossil fuels are well grounded in climate science. And there is an urgent need to act.
Then again, worries about whether our electric grid can handle the transition are science-based too.
“We have not seen a plan showing that the regional or local grid is capable of handling these changes so rapidly, and we know there are resiliency risks, such as over-reliance on the electric grid, if this transition is not done carefully,” Tom Lucey, Harvard’s director of government and community relations said at a recent electrification discussion in Cambridge.
Meanwhile, wholesale electricity prices across New England in January reached its highest levels since February 2014
Other need to knows (Stepping up edition)
Strangers have been dropping boxes of medical gloves, gauze and other donations to Katya Malakhova’s Newton home to support to those suffering in Ukraine, reports WBZ-TV. Malakhova heads the non-profit Sunflower of Peace that’s been collecting supplies for people in her native country since 2015.
The Tripadvisor Foundation is raising funds to provide fresh meals to Ukrainian families in need by matching donations to the World Central Kitchen'sUkraine response up to $250,000. Donate here. Read this letter from CEO SteveKaufer.
Our friends at Moldova Restaurant in Nonantum are also helping collect donations too, according to this Facebook post “Moldovans from everywhere have been feeling the pain of our neighboring Ukrainian friends and brothers” they write.
Sadly, as so many are stepping up, some Russian restaurants and businesses in the U.S. are facing threats, harassment and vandalism in the days since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, reports Axios.
Celebrating Preston Settles
There will be a service this afternoon at 1 p.m. at Trinity Church in Copley Square celebrating the life of Preston Settles, the Newton teen we lost this week. A live stream is available here. Details about a memorial fund are here.
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Needham distributes $250,000 in small businesses grants
Needham has just awarded $250,000 in grants to 27 small businesses to assist in pandemic recovery.
“When I found out that we were going to receive the grant money from the Town of Needham, I immediately started crying,” said one recipient, Liz Hay, owner of barre 3.
“The past two years my business has been knocked to its knees. I have worked tirelessly to keep my doors open and to continue to provide a safe space for my community to come together and find joy in movement. This money will help alleviate some of the financial strain that I have been facing and continue to face as we work to rebuild.”
“This funding is going to be so helpful as we continue to recover from the difficult financial impact the pandemic has had on us," added Ivan Millan Pulecio, chef and co-owner of Hearth Pizzeria. "We look forward to serving the Needham community for many more years to come,”
The grants -- ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 each – were funded using American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
Needham's Select Board is considering providing a second round of grant funding to small businesses soon, according to the town.?
$25M for the New Applicant Grant Program,a program for small businesses that did not qualify for the prior round of MGCC grants due to a lack of documented revenue loss
$50M for the Inclusive Grant Program, a program for businesses that reach underserved markets and historically underrepresented groups, or are minority-, women-, or veteran-owned businesses, or are owned by individuals with disabilities, or who identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Even $1M starter homes are scarce
During the first week of February, there were eight homes for sale in Wellesley.
Eight.
That’s one fifth of the level two years earlier, writes Prashant Gopal at Bloomberg, noting that the cheapest home in town was $1.1 million.
“The starter mansions are almost gone,” Gopal adds, documenting just how ridiculous our housing market has become, as high-end inventory in the suburbs plunged almost 40% from a year earlier in the fourth quarter.
That’s today’s Need to Knows, unless you need to know what surprising thingLady Gaga, Pharrell Williams, Yo Yo Ma, Steven Tyler, Megan Trainor and Susan Tedeschi have in common.
