BOSTON-The Saunders Hotel Group completes its $10-million restoration of The Lenox Hotel, a 214-room facility located in the Back Bay. The project involved upgraded rooms, a new business center, three new restaurants and an exterior renovation that emphasized replicating the original structure.

BELLINGHAM, MA-The zoning board of appeals here grants a special permit to the Bevilacqua Paving Co. to build an asphalt plant on its five acre parcel on Maple Street, but denies the company a zoning variance for the project's air-filtration tower.

WALPOLE, MA-Big Y plans to enter the eastern Massachusetts grocery market, which is already crowded with stores, with a 63,500-sf supermarket on Route 1A. This will be the Springfield, MA-based chain's 50th store and its 27th in the state.

BOSTON-Genetix USA establishes its first significant US presence by leasing 5,500 sf at 56 Roland St., just over the border from Cambridge. The move represents the company's "increased investment" in its US business and is a testament to the area's reputation as a biotech center.

BOSTON-The state's environmental secretary Robert Durand signs an environmental justice policy that local real estate and business trade groups actually like. The new policy is being lauded for its reforms that can expedite the permitting process for the development of brownfields.

WILMINGTON, MA-205 Lowell Street LLC gets $14.5 million in financing for 205 and 207 Lowell St., two buildings that total 202,820 sf and are being redeveloped into office space. The $14.5 million construction loan was financed from Webster Bank.

BOSTON-Governor Jane Swift proposes a number of regulatory changes to the state's affordable-housing law. The move comes after the governor vetoed the legislature's housing bill this past summer, which included amendments to the law.

CANTON, MA-The town planner proposes developing 150 to 160 units on a 124-acre parcel located off Route 138. The development would enable the town to bring its affordable-housing stock over the 10% mark, making it invulnerable to Chapter 40B proposals.