Banker & Tradesman, May 22, 2017

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MAY 2017

SEE PAGE B1 FOR THIS YEAR’S COMMUNITY BANK HEROES! Est ab li s h e d 1 8 7 2

the

financial

www.bankerandtradesman.com

W E E K O F M O N D A Y , M AY 2 2 , 2 0 1 7

services

and

real

estate

weekly

for

massachusetts

A Publication of The Warren Group FAMILIAR FAILURE

HOT IN DOT

No Surprise In Lack Of Bids On Kneeland Street Recent Bid To Sell Parcels Is Third Failed Attempt BY SCOTT VAN VOORHIS BANKER & TRADESMAN COLUMNIST

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ou know the saying that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity? Well our state government’s long string of spectacular failures trying over and over again to cash in on potentially valuable Boston development sites also serves as a pretty good definition of sheer stupidity. Case in point is the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s efforts to find a buyer for a hardscrabble, highway-bound, 5-acre site near South Station just off Kneeland Street on the edge of Chinatown, currently home to a 1930s steam plant, a state office building and a neighborhood basketball court. While lots of developers looked at the request for proposals sent out by state transportation officials, not a single one submitted a bid for the site, which had been on the market for a minimum of $167 million. Apparently perplexed by the lack of interest, state officials have said they are

DEVELOPERS FOLLOW TRANSIT TO DORCHESTER

Continued on Page 3

REGULATORY REFORM

Time Is Ripe For GSE Reform Despite False Starts, MBA Is Optimistic

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BY JIM MORRISON BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF

ederal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) Director Melvin L. Watts told the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs that “Congress urgently needs to act on housing finance reform” and bring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of receivership after almost nine years. Conservatorship is temporary by its very nature. There is universal agreement that it can’t go on forever, but there is widespread disagreement about what the government-sponsored entities (GSEs) should look like after coming out of conservatorship – and how to get there. “Only a legislative solution can provide Continued on Page 11

Developers Focus On Allston Multifamily Potential

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BY STEVE ADAMS | BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF

hin up, Dorchester. Two deals to redevelop the Boston Globe property may have fallen through, but investors are still bullish about what the future holds in the land of the triple-deckers. Transit-oriented multifamily projects such as the Hub25 apartments at Columbia Point are luring renters down the Red Line with discounts from downtown rents, prompting more developers to search for similar sites. Last week it was the owners of the defunct Philips Old Colony House restaurant seeking partners to redevelop their Morrissey Boulevard landmark, on a 2-acre site that seems destined to become a large-scale residential project. In Savin Hill, developer and restaurateur Kenneth Osherow shudders at the memory of the vacant lot being transformed into the Flats on Savin complex. Osherow

is marketing 14 luxury apartments at rents from $1,850 to $3,400, with four units under agreement ahead of the projected Sept. 1 opening. Tours have been dominated by young professionals who work downtown or slightly north of the city, Osherow said. “People want to be in this neighborhood. It’s not like we have to sell the neighborhood at all,” he said. Part of the complex is built above Osherow’s Savin Bar and Kitchen, which he opened in 2011. The rest is replacing a crater left behind by the demolition of the former Dole’s grocery store that for years symbolized Savin Hill Village’s stagnation.

Housing Pipeline Surpasses South Boston With its I-93 access and Red Line stations, eastern sections of Dorchester are natural next stops in the city’s multifamily building boom. The Boston Planning and Continued on Page 8

CONTENTS

Commercial & Industrial ������������������������������������������ 8

SPECIAL SECTION

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

Banking & Lending ������������������������������������������������� 10

Community Bank Heroes ���������������������������������������� B1

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

Residential ������������������������������������������������������������� 11

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

Classified Sections ������������������������������������������������� 13

Records Section ������������������������������������������������������ C1


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