SUBSCRIBE TODAY! VISIT WWW.TRYRERS.COM Est ab li s h e d 1 8 7 2
the
www.bankerandtradesman.com
WEEK OF MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2017
financial
services
and
real
estate
weekly
for
massachusetts
A Publication of The Warren Group COMMERCIAL INTERESTS
Revisiting A Bad Idea
GOLDEN DOME DISTRICT
North-South Rail Link Wins 2017 Turkey Prize BY SCOTT VAN VOORHIS BANKER & TRADESMAN COLUMNIST
I
t’s time again for the annual Turkey Awards, where we give a proper roasting to half-baked projects and development schemes. And do I have a doozy this year! You would have thought that after the fiasco of the Big Dig we were all done with multibillion-dollar schemes that involve tunneling underneath downtown Boston. Apparently not, as the Baker Administration’s plans to spend $1.5 million to study the proposed North-South Rail Link raise the prospect of Big Dig II.
BEACON HILL CONVERSIONS PAY OFF N
BY STEVE ADAMS BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
Former Unitarian Properties Reborn As Pricey Condos
“Chevron Partners saw the century-old, 26,494-square-foot brick structure at 41 Mount Vernon St. property as a prime condominium conversion candidate because of its 50-foot-wide floor plates suitable for full-floor units spanning nearly 3,000 square feet.”
ot all luxury condominiums in Boston need to offer high-rise views or celebrity chef-run eateries to garner prices approaching $2,000 per square foot. On Beacon Hill, developer Chevron Partners is targeting a more discreet and, some would say, traditional Bostonian clientele as it wraps up conversion of the former Beacon Press offices into multimillion-dollar residences. While the city’s growing ranks of glitzy condo towers and even high-end apartment buildings increasingly tout personal assistant-style “concierges” and Continued on Page B7
REG RELIEF
Senate Bill Isn’t Perfect, But It Might Be Good Enough Banks And Credit Unions Stand To Benefit From Bipartisan Proposal BY BRAM BERKOWITZ BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
If you can’t get commuters on the train in the first place, a multibillion-dollar tunnel connecting North and South stations is beside the point. Now I have to say boosters of the 1.5 mile tunnel that would connect North and South stations have already notched a remarkable accomplishment: They’ve managed to dramatically shrink the cost of the project from $8 billion all the way down to $2 billion! It’s like the reverse of the Big Dig, with super supporters like Rep. Seth Moulton citing the wonderful leaps in tunneling technology that will make boring a new rail tunnel under downtown Boston as easy as slicing cake. Kind of amazing – until you realize the shrinking costs are not the result of any serious planning but rather estimates cranked out in hopes of selling this massive boondoggle in the making. That anyone would take seriously the $2 billion estimate – courtesy of Moulton – is disturbing in and of itself, with major projects in Boston notorious for their overruns and with construction costs in general rising at a torrid pace. Not mentioned the mess in Seattle, where a tunnel boring machine broke down and caused a two-year delay that required digging a separate tunnel to get to the giant machine and repair it.
enough on reform. However, don’t expect to see too much political maneuvering or dramatic change to the legislation before the bill reaches the floor. “I think based on what I’ve heard from the folks on the ground in [Washington] D.C., this is kind of it; this is the deal,” Jon Skarin, a senior vice president who deals with regulatory issues at the Massachusetts Bankers Association, told Banker & Tradesman. “I don’t think
we are going to see any changes on it. If they start going back to try and get more things in or get things taken out, I don’t think it’s going to end well for anyone.” Since Dodd-Frank was passed following the financial crisis, it has received pushback from the banking industry, with community bankers and other smaller financial institutions arguing the bill overreaches and punishes them for acts they largely did not commit. Continued on Page 8
Residential �������������������������������������������������������������� 3
In Person ������������������������������������������������������������������ 7
Classified Sections ������������������������������������������������� 11
Points ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Commercial & Industrial ������������������������������������������ 9
CRE Insider ����������������������������������������������������������� B1
Beyond the prospect of another Big Dig style overrun, the money for the NorthSouth Rail Link isn’t going to fall out of the sky and it certainly isn’t going to come from Washington, as it did during the days when Democrats controlled Congress. None of that will deter North-South Rail Link supporters who, led by former Gov. Mi-
By The Numbers ������������������������������������������������������� 6
Banking & Lending ��������������������������������������������������� 8
Records Section ������������������������������������������������������ C1
Continued on Page 9
T
he U.S. Senate Banking Committee earlier this month unveiled a bipartisan bill that would scale back portions of the Dodd-Frank Act, providing greatly desired relief for small and regional financial institutions. The bill gave community bankers a lot to cheer about, but also contained some less favorable provisions and, in some cases, drew criticism for not going far
CONTENTS
Money From The Sky