Commercial Interests
A Banker & Tradesman Blog
Pot Pols Raise Question: Do They Have an Inside Track?
Has the launch of the cannabis industry in the state degenerated into the same old, very Massachusetts game of political insiders and companies with the best-connected lobbyists grabbing the choicest opportunities for themselves?
Relief from Downtown Devastation Next Year?
If you thought bosses would give up on getting workers back into the office without a fight, you were sorely mistaken. Big employers are gearing up for a big push next year, and the future of downtown Boston may hang in the balance
New Housing Languishes While Frank Baker Sulks
Are petty City Council politics stalling plans for Mayor Michelle Wu’s ambitious overhaul of the one board that holds sway over most development projects in Boston?
Carve Up These Turkeys
Better bring your appetite, because columnist Scott Van Voorhis is serving up his annual Turkey Awards: a roundup of 2022’s biggest screw-ups, worst ideas and most mockable memories.
The High Price of High-Cost Housing
High housing costs helped force tens of thousands more Bay Staters to move away last year than immigrants who picked us as their new home for the first time in many years, experts say, ringing alarm bells about the state’s ability to sustain itself.
Baker Finally Puts His Foot Down – But in the Right Place?
In response to some local officials’ blatantly NIMBY reactions to the MBTA Communities zoning reform, the state is cutting the budgets of their communities’ public housing authorities.
Affordable Units Sit Empty
Literally hundreds of subsidized apartments are sitting vacant in the suburbs, even as waiting lists stretch for miles. And no one in state government is keeping track.
Question 1’s Real Impact on Homeowners Is Years Away
For those who are skeptical that regular old home sellers might get dinged by the Millionaires Tax, I have one question: Have you taken a look at Greater Boston home prices lately?
BPDA Takes Important Step to Fill Open Posts
How tough is Boston’s housing market? Tough enough that Arthur Jemison, the city’s planning and development chief, is taking a scalpel to make some badly needed changes to a decades-old hiring policy.
California’s Kicking Our Backsides
Yes, the Massachusetts housing market is a hot mess. But, no joke, California might just have the solution with two key reforms to knock back the abuse of local zoning control.
Apartment Inspection Blitz Raises City-Landlord Tensions
Boston’s ramp-up in apartment inspections to clear out a pandemic-era backlog is not sitting well with the always-vocal Small Property Owners Association.
Why Did Michelle Wu Blow Up the ZBA?
It’s not clear what prompted Boston Mayor Michelle Wu to decide now is the time lower the boom on the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals.
Healey’s Housing Plan Is Long on Carrots, Short on Sticks
Can a public relations campaign talking up the need for new housing, coupled with some modest incentives, convince NIMBY suburbs to change their ways? Count me as skeptical.
The Daily Office Commute Is Dead. Now What?
We are about to see whether Boston Mayor Michelle Wu can make some headway on bringing new life to storefronts emptied out by the pandemic.
Boston: A Contingent History
Welcome to Boston, the city that reinvents itself every century or so. A new history of the city by a leading real estate attorney is a good reminder that its current success is by no means cast in stone.
Did Baker Do Enough on Housing?
There is no denying that Gov. Charlie Baker made progress on untying the gordian knot of our housing problems. But it’s looking like he didn’t go far enough.
Bring in the Bulldogs at the MBTA
Anybody who thinks a new governor will solve the T’s problems alone is engaging in magical thinking. As corny as it may sound, it will take a team effort– and a lot more and tougher oversight.
Natural Gas Bans Go from Pilot to Behemoth
With Boston now trying to get in on the action, the state’s experiment in green construction is veering dangerously toward forcing a sudden shift in the industry without enough data to back things up.
Could Boston Turn on Biotech?
Don’t be so happy that Boston’s biotech boom is leading to lots of big-ticket home sales. That same upward pressure on home prices could sour the region on the industry.
Is Wu’s Rent Control Panel Actually Listening?
The panel crafting Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s promised “rent stabilization” proposal is telling members of the public to not argue about the merits of rent control, only how to implement it.
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