The 5-star fake review is annoying, esp. the claim about not knowing what section 8 means. https://www.masshousing.com/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS Go to that list, Avalon Oaks is on it along with 7 other Avalon properties. Section 8 is the The Housing Choice Voucher Program of HUD (US Dept of Hous. and Urb. Dev. http://www.nccp.org/profiles/MA_profile_34.html). Avalon Bay was permitted to build under Chapter 40B (see below about 40B) if they guaranteed 20% of the units would go to people needing section 8 (e.g. for 75% they must earn less than 30% of median income or 24,000$ for fam. of 4 to qual. their rent is 30% of the list price, gov't picks up the remaining tab, the rest earn up to 50% of median).

http://web.mit.edu/cre/research/hai/pdf/conference4-R.pdf
Slide 10 on Mixed-Income Developments: AvalonBay (Developer of Avalon Oaks) Wilmington, 20.1% affordable units on 9 acres completed in 1999. 2 photos of Avalon Oaks on next slide. Note the conclusion of the MIT study: housing values not impacted.

The fake 5-star review shouldn't deny knowledge of sec. 8 because it looks as if the management who posted the review is ashamed of it. The developers are proud to help meet Chapt 40B goals (see below), so why isn't the management' Whether the kids running around are from sec 8 families or not isn't determinable.

"Chapter 40B" refers to The Comprehensive Permit Law of 1969. Chapter 40B is a state statute, which enables local Zoning Boards of Appeals (ZBAs) to approve affordable housing developments under flexible rules if at least 20-25% of the units have long-term affordability restrictions. In Massachusetts, municipalities with an affordable housing stock of less than 10 percent of their total housing must require developers to dedicate some units for affordable housing (Sec. 8). This state law has allowed many projects to be built mixed-income condominiums, multi-family rental units and elderly housing that most likely would not have been built under the existing zoning for example in Wilmington.

On March 25, 1998, the Avalon Bay Company purchased a 22.5 acre tract of land in
Wilmington, Massachusetts for $1,500,000. Construction of a new 204 apartment
home community, Avalon Oaks, commenced in the second quarter of 1998.
http://sec.edgar-online.com/1998/05/15/15/0000950133-98-001977/Section7.asp

Between 1998 and 2002, 82% of all new production of affordable housing units in communities below the 10% threshold was the direct result of 40B. Over 48,000units in almost 900 developments have been created under 40B statewide since the early
1970s http://www.chapa.org/pdf/40BFactSheetOctober2007.pdf

Avalon Bay's chief exec. talked about this strategy in the Globe:
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/07/09/straying_from_the_blueprint/
When Bryce Blair, the chief executive of AvalonBay Communities Inc., tries to find a site for a new apartment complex, he looks for trouble. Lack of infrastructure, unfavorable zoning, and local opposition all are pluses to Blair and his company, the state's largest apartment builder...."So we pick markets where it is difficult to build and difficult to get approvals."....The company now has 8,000 apartments under construction in 22 communities across the country ....In addition, the company is winding up redevelopment of two closed state mental institutions....AvalonBay has built over 10,000 homes and says it is responsible for between 25 and 30 percent of all new apartments built within Interstate 495 in the past decade....AvalonBay has taken advantage of Chapter 40B, Massachusetts' affordable housing law, which overrides local zoning in some communities for projects that have 25 percent affordable units.

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates