Department of Environmental Protection officials did the right thing last week, bowing to a flurry of concerned letters by allowing significantly more time for stakeholders to review their sweeping update of stormwater, flooding and wetlands regulations.
Five years after initially floating the idea as a city councilor, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is closing in on key legal changes to eliminate the Boston Planning & Development Agency. And it’s leaving some in the real estate community scratching their heads at best about what it all means.
For years, a pernicious notion has floated around certain corners of Beacon Hill that the MBTA is a black hole that tries to suck in any and all taxpayer dollars. Now the idea is threatening to rear its head again.
Gov. Maura Healey’s signature piece of housing legislation got its first hearing on Beacon Hill last week, a marathon affair that suggested that many of the main battle lines are being drawn over policy, not the bill’s fiscal impacts.
Wu is essentially asking developers to trust her over the next year as she tries to achieve things previously considered pie-in-the-sky dreams. But it’s hard for some parts of the real estate community to do that.
Anyone hoping for a big drop in commercial lending rates this year should find Nika Cataldo’s story in this week’s issue sobering. There’s only so far any one bank can lower its loan interest rates before eating too far into its already-shrinking profit margin.
Massachusetts faces a huge question mark about how to fund the future of transportation in the commonwealth. Gov. Maura Healey gets first crack at laying out an answer next month.
Top Federal Reserve officials’ predictions that they would have to cut interest rates three times next year sent a bolt of energy through markets last week. But no one, especially policymakers in town halls or on Beacon Hill, should think we’re about to get some kind of relief from current market conditions.
Bravo to Mayor Michelle Wu and her team for thinking boldly about ways the city can get housing development unstuck. But her preferred solution – significant tax breaks – raises questions about the viability of high affordable housing mandates.
The coming year is shaping up to be one of big bills to pay in our commonwealth, and there are worrying signs not everyone is prepared.
The Massachusetts legislature failed the most vulnerable members of our society last week when they let the clock run out on the normal legislative session without passing a budget bill that included $250 million needed to keep the state’s homeless shelters open.
A look back at 100 years of land-use history in Greater Boston raises questions about how much progress the state can make if Beacon Hill continues its extreme deference to local control over certain housing issues.
Regardless of how the judge rules following last week’s verdict in the “bombshell” commission lawsuits, it’s clear that brokers and agents who are already moving to adapt will likely be the winners.
Should X, formerly Twitter, manage to go through with its owner’s recently stated goal of turning it into America’s first app for “someone’s entire financial life,” banking regulators will have a thorny problem on their hands.
Gov. Maura Healey’s new housing bill is full of promise. But even if she’s able to get it through the legislature largely intact, Massachusetts can’t afford for this bill to be the only major housing legislation of her first term.
Transfer tax supporters’ ideas have merit, and may be getting traction, but Beacon Hill shouldn’t approve these bills without making sure the extra money will actually be spent on new housing.
It’s immediately obvious to anyone watching the T’s new leadership up close that this vital piece of public infrastructure is in good hands. But that’s not a perspective the average person is afforded, and MBTA General Manager Phil Eng can’t afford to take their goodwill for granted.
A parable of sorts for the state’s housing struggles could be emerging in the state’s life science sector.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu delivered a trainload of good news to the real estate industry at Back Bay’s Plaza Hotel last week in the form of policies that look like true win-wins for industry and everyday Bostonians, alike.
The MBTA has finally released the results of an external investigation into its employees’ failure to properly inspect subway tracks. But full accountability for the fiasco is still lacking.
