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the
financial
www.bankerandtradesman.com
WEEK OF MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2016
services
and
real
estate
weekly
for
massachusetts
A Publication of The Warren Group THE SILVER TSUNAMI
Dearth Of Talent Drives Banks To M&A Aging Boomers, Regulatory Emphasis Drive Need For Succession Planning BY LAURA ALIX BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
A
s Baby Boomers approach retirement, that means boards must approach succession planning, but the dearth of next-generation talent is disrupting the natural order – and in some cases, it’s driving banks to consider merging as a means of survival. “We call it the silver tsunami,” said Chip Goode, managing partner of Kiradjieff & Goode, an executive search firm headquartered in Wellesley. “We are getting calls on a weekly or monthly basis by boards of directors and CEOs on this very topic from a variety of financial services firms.” Many of those C-suite executives who are eagerly anticipating retirement came up through the ranks of in-house training programs at regional giants like BankBoston and Fleet – programs from which their eventual successors did not benefit. Not only have those fabled in-house training programs gone the way of the dodo bird, but in many cases, the executive vice presidents who thought they Continued on Page 7
GOLDEN TICKET?
Big Development Parcel Stirs Interest 107-Acre ‘Gelly’ Site Hits Market In Woburn BY STEVE ADAMS BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
S
ome locals refer to it as “The Gelly” – a nod to its longtime role as manufacturer of gelatin and other food ingredients. Others associate it with complaints from neighbors about the unsavory odors that emerged from its smokestacks. Permanently idle since the New Year, the 107-acre Kraft Foods Group property in Woburn could represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity for real estate investors and the city’s economic prospects. Located along I-93 eight miles north of Boston, it’s attracting widespread interest from developers. Multiple teams of potential buyers have toured the site near the Montvale Avenue Continued on Page 9
COMMERCIAL INTEREST
LEVELING OFF Top-Tier Towns See Slide In Median Sale Prices BY SCOTT VAN VOORHIS | BANKER & TRADESMAN COLUMNIST
B
oston’s toniest suburbs have enjoyed a remarkable run-up in home prices over the last decade, defying even the Great Recession. The median price of a home has approached or even surpassed $1 million in a number of uber-affluent towns, thrusting them onto all those ubiquitous lists of the most expensive places to live in the country. But as we head into 2016, this record run-up is finally showing signs of topping out. After years of steep increases, home prices were SCOTT VAN VOORHIS flat or even slipped into negative territory in a number of the most expensive suburbs in 2015, including Wellesley, Weston and Lincoln. So if you were wondering, there actually are price points beyond which some buyers fear to tread, whatever their desire for the social status of a prestigious ZIP code and the perks of living life in a picture-perfect town with elite schools. “The price of entry had gone up so much in these top tier towns that people are forced to go elsewhere,” noted Norman Holbrook, a Coldwell Banker broker in Westwood.
Peaking Prices
A quick look around suburban Boston provides ample evidence of how prices in some of the priciest towns have simply gotten too rich for their own good. The western suburbs, where home prices are the highest in Massachusetts, saw the biggest momentum shift in 2015. Prices fell or were essentially flat in Lexington, Concord, Carlisle, Lincoln, Sherborn, Weston, Wellesley, Sudbury and Belmont in 2015 through the end of November, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. All had seen steep increases over the past
YEAR TO DATE MEDIAN SALE PRICE Town
2014
2015
Bedford
$558,000
$652,000
Percent Change 16.85%
Belmont
$882,500
$900,500
2.04%
Concord
$923,250
$879,500
-4.74%
Lexington
$950,000
$935,000
-1.58%
Lincoln
$1,024,000
$945,000
-7.71%
Newton
$933,000
$1012,500
8.52%
Sherborn
$745,000
$743,452
-0.21%
Sudbury
$686,750
$680,500
-0.91%
Wayland
$625,000
$700,000
12.00%
Weston
$1,350,000
$1,300,000
-3.7%
Winchester
$905,500
$910,000
.50%
Cohasset
$765,000
$743,500
-2.81%
Wellesley
$1,170,000
$1,200,000
2.56%
Southborough
$598,500
$540,000
-9.77%
Continued on Page 3
CONTENTS
Commercial & Industrial ������������������������������������������ 9
Points ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Banking & Lending �������������������������������������������������� 7
Classified Sections ������������������������������������������������� 10
By The Numbers ������������������������������������������������������� 6
Residential �������������������������������������������������������������� 8
Records Section ������������������������������������������������������ B1