Turn to page B1 for Banker & Tradesman’s monthly coverage of all things commercial real estate.
THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND REAL ESTATE WEEKLY FOR MASSACHUSETTS BY THE NUMBERS
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County close-up: Franklin Spotlight: Buckland
GOSSIP REPORT
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Take your pick of waterfront homes in this week’s Gossip Report: Hingham Harbor or Nantucket Sound? Both have private beach access, two tennis courts, the former is two decades newer.
WEEK OF MONDAY, JULY 29, 2024
COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE BY THE NUMBERS
An MBTA Red Line train leaves Harvard Square station. The agency is eying the line’s northern terminus at Alewife for new development.
FA S T T R A C K
2,000 The number of new apartments built next to the Alewife MBTA station in recent years. See Steve Adams’ story on this page. Source: City of Cambridge
MBTA Seeks to
610
Fix Fatal Flaw
Attleboro hopes to attract at least 610 apartments to a development site next to its MBTA train station. See Cameron Sperance’s story on page B1. Source: City of Attleboro
in Its Real Estate
8 acres The potential size of a development site the MBTA plans to offer up in Cambridge. See Steve Adams’ story on this page. Source: City of Cambridge
600,000 square feet
New TOD Model Could Reduce Market Risk BY STEVE ADAMS
34 acres The potential size of a development site the MBTA plans to offer up in Woburn. See Steve Adams’ story on this page. Source: City of Woburn
200 Developers have added over 200 units to downtown Attleboro in recent years. See Cameron Sperance’s story on page B1. Source: City of Attleboro
2,631 Woburn must zone for 2,631 apartments near its transit stops. See Steve Adams’ story on this page. Source: Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities
50 minutes The travel time on the MBTA commuter rail between Attleboro and Boston. See Cameron Sperance’s story on page B1. Source: MBTA
BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
T
he MBTA owns prime locations for real estate development but efforts to build housing, offices and labs on them have a history of lengthy delays and missed opportunities. The fatal flaw in the current set-up: selecting developers based upon highpriced offers that bet on a hot real estate category such as life science, which subsequently hits a market downturn. Developers are then unable to obtain financing, and projects can languish for years. “The big dollar value that wins the [request for proposals] is the reason it doesn’t get built,” said Mark Rosenshein, a consultant who advises developers on
projects including publicly-owned property dispositions. As it prepares to offer high-profile sites in Boston, Cambridge, Quincy and Woburn to private developers, MBTA officials are
A Woburn property would be a “tremendous opportunity” for multifamily development because of the site’s location. proposing a new model that would streamline the process to remove market risk. Alewife station in Cambridge, JFK/ UMass and Andrew stations in Boston, the Anderson Regional Transportation Center in Woburn and Quincy Center are the first station properties that will be offered for
ALL ABOARD?
Housing a ‘Desired Use’ at Alewife Station
“They are going to have to figure out in the future: ‘What is the inherent value of the development rights?’ without putting it out to bid,” said Rosenshein, a partner at Boston-based owner project managers and development consultants Trademark Partners. “It will require some collaboration with the Legislature, but they have vetted it enough that they believe it is feasible and will be compliant.” Continued on Page 10
COMMERCIAL INTERESTS
South Coast Expects Housing Market Boost from New Train
Madame Vice President, Look to Mass., Not California
By Jay Fitzgerald | Special to Banker & Tradesman
By Scott Van Voorhis | Banker & Tradesman Columnist
New Bedford, Fall River Agents Hope for Demand Increase Unless otherwise noted, all data is sourced from The Warren Group’s Mortgage Market Share Module, Loan Originator Module, Statistics Module and/or proprietary database. For more information please visit www.thewarrengroup.com/business/ datasolutions.
the MBTA’s new joint development model, according to a recent presentation to the agency’s board of directors. The new development model would require changes to state procurement laws to enable the MBTA and developer to share risk and develop designs and prices in stages rather than at the very beginning of a project.
iStock photo
The potential size of a development next to Attleboro’s MBTA train station. See Cameron Sperance’s story on page B1. Source: City of Attleboro
Residential Real Estate PAGE 3
Bay State Leaders Offer Dems a Pro-Growth Template
Commercial Real Estate PAGE 5