Commercial Interests
A Banker & Tradesman Blog
In Greater Boston Office Market, a Tale of Two Beltways
Home prices in suburban Boston have surged during the pandemic, with disenchanted urbanites and others looking for more space to spread out. But it’s had only a limited impact, if that, on the commercial real estate market in Greater Boston’s sprawling suburbs.
Hate Tenant Right of First Refusal? Consider Who’s to Blame
Think single-family prices have gotten out of hand in Greater Boston? Well, wait till you see what’s happened with the backbone of the local apartment market, small rental properties. Now, an inevitable backlash is building.
Hope in Sight for Cape Crisis?
As they grapple with one of the worst housing shortages in the country, one of Cape Cod’s top housing advocates is looking for help from a seemingly unusual source.
Arlington Has a Funny Way of Caring About Affordable Housing
While officials in the deep-blue town in the shadow of Cambridge are adept at spouting platitudes about the need for affordable housing, their actions show otherwise as their battle against a Chapter 40B proposal approaches its seventh year.
Exurbs Gained Value, Tony Urban Neighborhoods Stagnated This Year
A closer look at the latest numbers reveals an interesting and likely pandemic-driven shift taking place just beneath the surface.
COVID’s Real Estate Winners and Losers Have Come into Focus
We are two years into a once-in-a-century pandemic that has altered how we work, live, travel, socialize, do business – even what we ultimately value in life.
Run Marty, Run?
The Massachusetts housing market, distorted by a chronic shortage of homes, condominiums and apartments and plagued by ever-more-obscene prices and rents, needs a new champion. Marty Walsh could be the one.
Can Boston’s Office Market Sustain Itself?
If judged only by the headlines in the industry press, you would think the Boston office market is positively cooking. But how hot can the office market truly be when the actual offices remain devoid of actual flesh-and-blood human beings?
These Real Estate Turkeys Should Be Toast
State and local officials have been kind to us this year, producing a bumper crop of overcooked ideas, from sitting on billions of federal relief dollars to pushing for a return of rent control.
Is Beacon Hill Going to Let Our Hotels Fail?
As hotel owners and operators across Massachusetts struggle to stay afloat, it’s a fair question to ask whether the top legislative brass on Beacon Hill care all that much about the industry and the vital tourism sector it supports.
Maine Vote Raises Questions About CRE Emissions Rules
A referendum in Maine spells big trouble for both office building owners and developers in Boston as they scramble to meet the city’s tough, new carbon emissions rules.
Boston’s New Mayor Faces Crucial Choice
Wu has pledged to rezone the entire city, with new rules of the road for developers, set by people who live in the Boston’s many neighborhoods. But there are two very different versions of how that could turn out.
Has Mass. Lost Its Casino Bet?
The two large resort-style casinos won approval from state regulators in no small part due to their perceived potential to be engines of economic development. A new study throws doubt on that hope.
Could a Home Ownership Push Fight Boston’s Affordability Problems?
When it comes to combatting ever more expensive housing prices and rents, Boston mayors have pretty much drawn from the same playbook over the past quarter-century. Whether that strategy is actually working is a matter of much debate.
Western Mass. Needs Champions in the Globe, State House
The gap between Greater Boston and the rest of the state is a microcosm of what has happened across the United States over the past 40 years with Boston sucking in the talent and investment.
Tax Breaks for E-Commerce Giants Make No Sense
Amazon should be shelling out the big dollars in order to win approval for its distribution centers, not the other way around.
Something’s Rotten in the Luxury Condo Market
The urban condo market may be making a comeback, but only at the lower end of the spectrum. Something else is happening at the top end as supply of luxury units builds up.
Can Michelle Wu Have It Both Ways on Development?
The front-runner in the Boston mayoral race has big plans for transforming Boston. But big plans require big money – the kind only created by rising tax receipts from new development.
Devens Industrial Park Could Deliver a New World
When it comes to Devens, the former Army base turned industrial park, world-shaking events don’t necessarily come to mind. But that all changed Wednesday with a groundbreaking advance in the drive to build the first nuclear fusion power plant.
Whoever Wins, Boston’s Building Boom Won’t Stay
Whoever happens to win the mayoral race this fall, there’s really no place to go from here but down, at least when it comes to the sheer volume of construction.
This Week’s Newspaper
