PROVINCETOWN — Housing Specialist Michelle Jarusiewicz, Town Manager Alex Morse, and Town Planner Thaddeus Soule unsealed the bids from three development companies proposing to build affordable housing at the VFW […]
Housing
SHORT-TERM RENTALS
New Tax Yields Windfall, but Not for Housing
Provincetown’s $2 million goes to tourism, stabilization, general funds
PROVINCETOWN — The tax on short-term rentals has generated a financial windfall for the four Outer Cape towns, newly released figures from the state show. The added revenue for the […]
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Outer Cape Projects Attract Mostly Off-Cape Developers
Provincetown’s CHR will not be bidding, but the CDP joins a proposal
Two large affordable housing projects proposed in Wellfleet and Provincetown have attracted the interest of several off-Cape developers. The Provincetown-based developer Community Housing Resource will not submit proposals for either […]
DUE DILIGENCE
Blasches List Their Endangered House for $5.5 Million
The building that led to house-size limits in Wellfleet’s National Seashore
WELLFLEET — The controversial Blasch house at 1440 Chequessett Neck Road is on the market. Mark and Barbara Blasch, who built it in 2010, are asking $5.5 million for the […]
THE CRISIS
Leaders Issue Call to Action on Housing
Cyr wants ‘a fundamental reimagining of what we are willing to do’
PROVINCETOWN — State Sen. Julian Cyr and Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce CEO Wendy Northcross convened a panel of housing experts last week that focused on what individual towns can […]
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Lawsuits Stall Habitat Houses in Wellfleet and Truro
Appeals usually fail, but delaying tactic can still kill a project
Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod, whose efforts are generally welcomed by communities, has been embroiled in court battles for the last several years over plans to build four affordable […]
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
After 20 Years, 8 Units May Be Built in Wellfleet
The town and abutters settle suit on Paine Hollow project
WELLFLEET — A court fight that has derailed the building of eight affordable rental units on Paine Hollow Road appears to be on the verge of resolution. Lawyers for the […]
HOUSING
‘Barracks’ Dormitory Proposal Could Get a Vote Thursday
Patrick’s project aims for 112 seasonal beds, 16 year-round rentals
PROVINCETOWN — The planning board will again consider Patrick Patrick’s seasonal worker dormitory proposal at its meeting on Thursday, June 10 and could offer a final clearance that would allow […]
THE HOUSING CHALLENGE, PART 2
The Complex Funding Behind Affordable Units
All agree that no one is getting rich building them
One of the reasons so few developers are interested in building affordable housing on the Outer Cape is the extreme complexity of funding such projects. Another reason: the profits are […]
FRAUD ALERT
Online Rental Scam Targets the Desperate
Craigslist users are victimized, with no recourse
WELLFLEET — Gordon Kahn had spent an entire day searching online for an apartment for his daughter when he found a cute cottage on Craigslist. The 14 interior and exterior […]
THE HOUSING CHALLENGE, PART 2
Towns Pay Little to Develop Affordable Apartments
Large projects are a bargain, but finding land is the problem
PROVINCETOWN — For Outer Cape communities that have been relentlessly squeezed by the housing crisis, producing new housing has been a primary policy response. In particular, affordable housing developments — […]
HOUSING CRUNCH
A Neighbor-to-Neighbor Rental Market Falls Short
Six months in Facebook’s outermost housing rental group
PROVINCETOWN — Someone in the Facebook group “Provincetown: Housing for Rent” called finding housing here “an impossible dream.” The page is a trove of tales of housing plans that have […]
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Great White Realty and Zehnder Take Zoning Board to Court
They seek to reverse decisions blocking controversial property use
WELLFLEET — The Great White Realty Group has filed suit in Mass. Land Court to overturn recent decisions by the zoning board of appeals that stopped the development of 1.3 […]
THE HOUSING CHALLENGE, PART 1
Who Builds Affordable Housing Here?
The list of interested developers on the Outer Cape is short
The list of developers expressing interest in a handful of affordable housing initiatives now in the works on Outer Cape Cod will likely be short. Taking on such a project […]
ECONOMY
The Housing Crisis, Up Close and Personal
Staff members at one small business share a work ethic and worries
PROVINCETOWN — When Relish owner Frank Vasello opened his West End deli and bakery in 2001, attracting customers was his main concern. Now, it’s finding staff. The trouble, Vasello says, […]
