Banker & Tradesman November 2, 2015

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the

financial

www.bankerandtradesman.com

WEEK OF MONDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2015

services

and

real

estate

weekly

for

massachusetts

A Publication of The Warren Group FLIGHT TO QUALITY

New Construction Boosts Route 128 Office Rents

“ These towns, where Citi had the best market share and focused most of its attention, may represent the biggest opportunity for competitors to elbow in on its business.”

Repositioning Projects Revitalizes Core Submarket BY STEVE ADAMS BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF

V

acancies and sublease space are up along the Route 128/Mass Pike office market, yet rents are rising steadily. At first it seems like the law of supplyand-demand has been suspended, but the explanation lies in the booming development and repositioning climate. Tenants are trading up to newly built or renovated spaces and willing to pay a premium for state-of-the-art facilities in a suburban market where the average age of an office building is 35 years. “When somebody builds a new building and charges a higher rent, the second-tier buildings get dragged up in a rising market,” said Duncan Gratton, an executive managing director at Cushman & Wakefield. “There’s good demand out here and there’s not a lot of good quality space.” Asking rents in the Route 128/Mass Pike corridor, traditionally the Bay State’s strongest suburban office marContinued on Page 10 COMMERCIAL INTERESTS

Searching For Solutions Waltham Proposes Municipal Housing Assistance Program BY SCOTT VAN VOORHIS BANKER & TRADESMAN COLUMNIST

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ow bad is the Massachusetts housing mess? So bad that Waltham is about to do what would have been unthinkable a decade or two ago: creating its own, Section 8-style housing voucher program similar to what the feds run. A key City Council committee is slated to vote early this week on a proposal to spend $2 million over the next three years on rental vouchers for the Watch City’s working poor. Affordable housing activists believe they have the votes to win a favorable vote by the committee and approval in early November by the full council. Backers say the new program is necessary as rents skyrocket and the paychecks of the working poor stagnate, with the federal Section 8 housing program pretty much maxed out. And if it passes, Waltham’s new rental Continued on Page 3

2.71% 1.25%

3.86% 1.55%

2.21% 2.23% 2.11% 1.72%

12.48% 0.88%

1.1% 2.82%

2.61% 1.65%

1.05% 2.78%

A NEW APPROACH

CAN CITI KEEP MARKET SHARE WITHOUT LOCAL LENDERS?

CITI'S MARKETSHARE

LENDING BEHEMOTH’S LACK OF RETAIL OPERATIONS OPENS OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPETITORS

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CITI'S PORTFOLIO

BY LAURA ALIX | BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF

hen Citi admitted it was pulling its retail operations out of the Massachusetts market early next year, it was careful to say it wasn’t abandoning mortgage lending in the Bay State. But will having no personal touch with customers hurt the bank’s chances of fending off competing lenders? Citi will continue to service Massachusetts loans in its portfolio, it will continue to close on loans still in the pipeline, and it will still originate residential mortgage loans through its direct-to-consumer and digital channels, a spokesperson told Banker & Tradesman by email when the news first broke. Citi did not respond to requests for further information about this strategy or the reasoning behind the decision. Since 2010, Citibank and CitiMortgage made the highest number of its loans in Boston, Cambridge, Newton, Lexington, Wellesley, Brookline and Springfield. Those 554 loans represented 27.6 percent of Citi’s total mortgage origination portfolio in Massachusetts over the last five years, according to data compiled by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. Four of those municipalities also represented areas where Citi was strongest in the town-wide market: Wellesley, Lexington, Brookline, and Newton were in the top 25 best locations for Citi’s market share statewide. Citi made loans in 273 municipalities in Massachusetts overall; Cambridge ranked at No. 36 for Citi, Continued on Page 9

CONTENTS

In Person ������������������������������������������������������������������ 7

Commercial & Industrial ���������������������������������������� 10

Points ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 4

Residential �������������������������������������������������������������� 8

Classified Sections ������������������������������������������������� 12

By The Numbers ������������������������������������������������������� 6

Banking & Lending �������������������������������������������������� 9

Records Section ������������������������������������������������������ B1


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