Recent content by Banker & Tradesman

The Planning Department told Town Meeting that they believe the districts will still comply, although some speakers on Monday raised the possibility the state could knock back Lexington's 15% for 14+ units affordable housing mandate, and force some form of lower percentage. The theoretical unit...

Faced with a voter freak-out over the number of developments pitched in the last year, former pro-housing poster child Lexington has dramatically scaled back its MBTA Communities districts. Of note, not only did the vote remove a number of large parcels from its MBTA zoning districts, it also...

That is correct. https://bankerandtradesman.com/harvard-confirms-turnpike-air-rights-talks-boston-oversight/ From our 2022 story:

https://bankerandtradesman.com/wu-pledges-office-conversion-expansion/ Other than a $150 million initiative to help folks pay for heat pumps and the like, the biggest development news from the mayor's big annual speech last night was a pledge to open the office-to-residential conversion program...

We missed that, then. The lighting might make it hard to tell in our photo, but this isn't board-form stuff, as it appears in the render you shared. It's pressed or molded into the concrete panels, with the kind of relief you'd expect from heavily-weathered timbers.

We also stopped by this morning: One neat detail which we're not sure anyone's mentioned: There's a subtle wood-grain texture thing going on with the panels that line the edges of the arches.

https://bankerandtradesman.com/woburn-transit-hub-offered-for-development-with-housing-limits/ The MBTA is offering its 26-acre park-and-ride property (including 17 acres of surface parking) next to the Woburn Anderson commuter rail up for development. The catch is, the site's heavily...

This chart from JLL uses national-level data, but those bid and materials price increases should give you a general idea of how much multifamily construction costs have jumped since the pandemic started. (WPC = "wood, plastics and composites") Developers and designers tell us it's put an...

A commission appointed by Gov. Maura Healey is out today with a hefty list of ideas for increasing housing production across Massachusetts. Our overview: https://bankerandtradesman.com/healey-housing-panel-backs-two-family-zoning-statewide/ The Globe's overview...

We got the filings and wrote up a quick brief on the project this morning: https://bankerandtradesman.com/120-units-eyed-for-chelsea-fast-food-parcel/ City zoning says 221 spaces would otherwise be required. Building is being reviewed this month and next by the city Planning Board and ZBA.

An update and a new rendering for you: https://bankerandtradesman.com/samuels-joins-team-to-redevelop-somerville-star-market-property/

Some rather big news: https://bankerandtradesman.com/one-lincoln-office-tower-headed-to-auction/ Lenders are calling time on this tower, with an auction planned for March 20. A source tells us the senior loan debt of $765 million, with $145 million in floating-rate mezzanine financing...

They may not care, but wetlands etc. carry additional levels of environmental permitting -- a salient issue in this home-rule state.

FWIW, that wasn't really the attitude that GM Eng and Mike Muller (executive director of commuter rail) projected at yesterday's Greater Boston Chamber event about the future of commuter rail, even if prior administrations might not have approached the issue with any great urgency. We didn't...

This morning we found a MEPA filing from Boston-based developer Cathartes proposing the next, big phase of its development at the now-shuttered Plymouth commuter rail station. No visuals, but some statistics: three 5-story buildings totaling 481,490 square feet at 56 Loring Boulevard, located...