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WEEK OF MONDAY, NOVEMEBER 23, 2015
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A Publication of The Warren Group BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE
FROM SEEDY TO SIZZLING
Ridesharing Biz Means New Opportunities For Insurers
NEIGHBORHOOD ON THE BRINK Bulfinch Triangle Steps Out Of The Shadows
BULFINCH TRIANGLE PENDING PROJECTS
BY STEVE ADAMS | BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
B
oston’s Bulfinch Triangle was a neighborhood frozen in time: a collection of century-old mid-rises containing dusty storefronts, second-tier office space and half-empty sports bars. Urban renewal schemes wiped the slate clean in the nearby Government Center and West End neighborhoods but left the Bulfinch Triangle untouched. Then the Big Dig opened it up to new development possibilities. “This was a dark, dank, seedy area,” recalls Abby Goldenfarb, a vice president at Boston-based developer Trinity Financial. “It was not an area you would go in unless you were coming out of a Bruins game.” Long gone are the elevated MBTA Green Line and Central Artery highway that bathed the neighborhood in shadows and noise. A two-lane bicycle track is being built down the middle of Causeway Street. Cutting-edge office space and luxury apartment towers are set to rise to the north and south. Minus the harbor views, but with better public transit, Bulfinch Triangle starts to look a lot like the Seaport District of a decade ago. Think Fort Point before the glassy office towers began rising on the waterfront. “There was always good (office) demand but right now, with the amount of residential that’s going in, it’s a really interesting and hot submarket that we really like,” said Robert Hawkins, director of asset management for KS Partners of Woburn, owner of a 60,000-square-foot office building at 225 Friend St. that is 100 percent occupied. Multibillion-dollar mixed-use projects being developed by Boston Properties and HYM Investments at North Station and Government Center will bring millions of square feet of class A office space to the area, but for now, availabilities are scarce. Asking rents for the neighborhood’s 2.6-millionsquare-feet office market average in the high $30s, according to research by Boston-based brokerage Avison Young, with some properties topping the $40 mark for the first time. “It has a funky, down-and-dirty type of feeling, which is what lots of the tech companies like,” said Karyn McFarContinued on Page 9
One Canal
320 luxury apartments Developer: Trinity Financial Completion date: March 2016
Boutique hotel
104 Canal St. 90 rooms, 47,355 square feet Developer: Somnath Hospitality of Woburn Status: BRA-approved
Workforce housing and hotel
Parcels 1B and 1C (Causeway at Beverly Street) 239 apartments, 220-room hotel Developer: Related Beal Status: BRA-approved
North Station Office Submarket
Inventory: 2.5 million square feet Vacancy rate: 2.6 percent Asking rents: $37.50-$40.25 per square foot Source: Avison Young
CONTENTS
In Person ������������������������������������������������������������������ 7
Commercial & Industrial ������������������������������������������ 9
Points ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Residential �������������������������������������������������������������� 8
Classified Sections ������������������������������������������������� 10
By The Numbers ������������������������������������������������������� 6
Insurance ���������������������������������������������������������������� 9
Records Section ������������������������������������������������������ B1
Regulation, Data Holding Up The Show BY LAURA ALIX BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
A
s Uber, Lyft and other trendilynamed transportation network companies (TNCs) duke it out for the right to peddle their wares, insurance has emerged as one repeated point of contention. That represents a new opportunity for the insurance industry, according to a recent paper out of a Boston-based research firm. “I think insurance companies should pay attention to ridesharing. It’s a rapidly growing market. It is a meaningful market,” said Gwenn Bezard, research director at Aite Group and the author of “Ridesharing: Opportunities for Insurers.” According to Aite Group, 55 percent of the U.S. population last year had access to Uber and that figure rose to 68 Continued on Page 9
COMMERCIAL INTERESTS
Two- And ThreeFamily Purchase Prices Skyrocket Competition Is Fierce In The Face Of Foreign Investors, Local Deep Pockets BY SCOTT VAN VOORHIS BANKER & TRADESMAN COLUMNIST
T
he cost of becoming a small-time landlord is going through the roof, with prices of two- and three-family homes surging in the Boston area and across the state. For starter landlords looking to snag a two- or three-family rental property, the effective entry fee is now topping out in the high six figures – and sometimes even in the seven figures – in some of the trendiest urban areas, according to data from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. The escalating prices come as would-be mom-and-pop landlords battle it out with international investors and property flippers for a limited supply of two- and three-family homes largely built a century or so ago. Continued on Page 3