Commercial Real Estate News
A Complex Recipe for Housing Financing
Unlike in Boston’s red-hot real estate market, the market-rate units in Gateway Cities cannot cross-subsidize affordable units due to relatively low rents.
Plan JP/Rox Looks Like a Noble Failure
A plan intended to let one of Boston’s last affordable neighborhoods along the southern end of Washington Street and the Orange Line grow without displacing current residents instead created an incentive structure where developers can’t build the volume of affordable units needed to keep rents in check.
Affordability Goals Slow to Influence JP/Rox Development
Two years after the Boston Planning and Development Agency approved the JP/Rox Plan guidelines, the program has neither sparked a massive building boom nor drastic changes in how private and nonprofit developers are designing and financing projects.
Regulatory Taking Claims Are Risky Endeavors
A recent Falmouth case shows property owners face big odds if they try to bring a lawsuit over a “regulatory taking.”
The View from the Other Side of the Table
After eight years on the landlord side of commercial brokerage at EQ Office, Matthew George is advising companies on leasing decisions in a new leadership role in tenant representation. George, who had earlier stints at Lincoln Property Co. and Cushman & Wakefield, joined Cresa this month as a principal in its Boston office.
Hot Property: Worcester’s Mercantile Center
More than 90,000 square feet of office space has been leased within the past year at 100 and 120 Front St. in Worcester’s Mercantile Center.
Mapping Tool Illustrates Region’s Housing Cost Burdens
The cities, towns and neighborhoods that together make up greater Boston have changed significantly in the last few decades. But those changes have not been uniform across the region.
A Housing Monument to Roxbury Activist
When Urban Edge began planning our latest affordable housing in Egleston Square, we knew exactly who we wanted to name the new buildings after – Delphine Walker.
The Retail Apocalypse Has Come to Boston
While the urban core in Boston and its environs appears poised for continued growth amid an explosion of luxury condominium and apartment towers, it’s a different picture in the suburbs, where the loss of major anchor stores is hitting the hardest.
Five Easy Pieces to Fix the Housing Crisis
The Baker Administration recently introduced legislation to help address the commonwealth’s housing crisis. Although it appropriately identifies zoning reform as a priority, a key element is missing: specific focus on families with lowest incomes. Here are five additional pieces that could help.
Widett Circle Food Vendors Eyeing Move to Revere Necco Site
The wholesale food cooperative based at Boston’s Widett Circle is focusing on Revere’s former Necco factory for a new home, potentially clearing the way for redevelopment of their coveted 19-acre site along the Southeast Expressway.
With New Name, Brokerage Seeks Growth In Boston
Commercial brokerage Savills Studley Inc. is rebranding itself as Savills Inc. and promoting its new image in commercials during the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and an upcoming online marketing campaign.
Falmouth B&B Sells for $3.25M
An oceanfront inn on Cape Cod has sold for several million dollars.
Community Good Works
Members of the banking and real estate communities gave back in a bunch of ways this week.
Cambridge Mall Owners Pitching 625K SF Mixed-Use Addition
The owners of the CambridgeSide mall are proposing to replace the complex’s anchor stores with 625,000 square feet of new development in buildings between 85 and 185 feet high.
Lynnfield Investor Pays $128M for Stoneham Apartments
A 298-unit market-rate Stoneham apartment complex completed in 2018 has sold to a Lynnfield investor for $128.45 milion.
Boston City Councilor: Suffolk Downs Not Affordable Enough
Boston District 1 City Councilor Lydia Edwards, who represents East Boston, Charlestown and the North End, is calling for organized community opposition to HYM Investments’ 166-acre Suffolk Downs development.
Paid Leave Exemption Application Period to Start in April
Employers that already offer paid leave benefits to their workers will be able to apply beginning next month for an exemption from having to collect, remit and pay the new tax intended to fund a state paid family and medical leave program.
Mega-Brokerage Trend Continues With HFF Acquisition
In the latest major consolidation within the commercial brokerage industry, JLL has agreed to acquire HFF for $2 billion in a transaction that will strengthen its capital markets teams in Boston and nationwide.
590-Unit Mixed-Use Project OK’d in Chelsea
A long-stalled development in Chelsea could finally be moving ahead.
This Week’s Newspaper
