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WEEK OF MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2016
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A SUPPLEMENT TO BANKER & TRADESMAN
`TORTURE’ OVER TRANSIT
SOARING EVER HIGHER
Boston Office Space Closes Out 2015 With Record Rents
Keeping Union Square On Track Developer Pushes On Amid Green Line Uncertainty BY JAY FITZGERALD SPECIAL TO BANKER & TRADESMAN
T
he city of Somerville and its handpicked private development team are pushing ahead with plans for a $1 billion redevelopment of Union Square despite concerns about the future of the Green Line extension, considered the lynchpin of the entire development push. Neighborhood groups are now putting the finishing touches on what they want from a future “community benefits agreement,” a list of priorities that city officials, residents and activists want to see emerge from the redevelopment of 15 acres of land in and around Union Square. After establishing their own priorities, those pushing various community benefits – such as affordable housing, open spaces, jobs and job training programs –
BY SCOTT VAN VOORHIS BANKER & TRADESMAN COLUMNIST
ASKING RENTS PER SQUARE FOOT 2006 �����������$37.77
2007 �����������$51.46
2008 �����������$56.65
2009 �����������$43.68
2010 �����������$46.04
B
Continued on Page B5
oston’s office tower rents appear to be stealing a page from the city’s condominium market. Some perches in Boston’s top high-rises are on track to fetch more than $90 a square foot as we move into 2016, with an outside chance that a lease or two could break into the triple digits. What we are seeing is a classic example of what happens with a meager supply of a certain commodity – luxury condos, or in this case, shiny new office towers – meets a surge in demand. Few new office projects are slated to come online over the SCOTT VAN VOORHIS next few years, even as the strong economy churns out jobs and spurs companies to expand and gobble up scarce corporate suites. A crop of aggressive new owners, after shelling out big bucks to buy office addresses large and small, is also putting more upward pressure on rents. “I think we will see some big jumps in premiere space pricing this year,” said Lisa Strope, New England research director for JLL. The dearth of new office towers taking shape on the Hub’s skyline is shaping up to be the biggest factor pushing up rents. Continued on Page B6
2011 �������������$45.17
2012 �������������$48.28
2013 �������������$55.54
2014 �������������$58.03
2015 �������������$60.26 Source: JLL New England
CONTENTS
By The Numbers ������������������������������������������������������� 6
Classified Sections ������������������������������������������������� 10
Banking & Lending �������������������������������������������������� 3
In Person ������������������������������������������������������������������ 7
CRE Insider ������������������������������������������������������������ B1
Points ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Residential �������������������������������������������������������������� 8
Records Section ������������������������������������������������������ C1
PALE, MALE AND GETTING KIND OF STALE
Appraisers Seek Help From Washington Increased Regulations And Stagnant Fees Contribute To Declining Interest BY JIM MORRISON BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
N
ationwide, appraisers are seeing their ranks shrink through attrition, increased regulation at the federal level and stagnant fees. One local group is trying to address these issues by bringing them to the attention of Congress. Steve Sousa, executive director of the Mass. Board of Real Estate Appraisers (MBREA) and Rick Lipof, owner of Lipof Real Estate Services in Newton, created a presentation called “The Approaching Appraiser Shortage” and met with Rep. Joe Kennedy III and Rep. Michael E. Capuano last year to alert them to the problems appraisers face, and to ask them for help. Sousa said the biggest challenge to the profession is for trainees to get the 2,500 hours of experience they need to become Continued on Page 8