Banker & Tradesman, February 6, 2017

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2016 ANNUAL PROPERTY TRANSFERS DIRECTORY Call 617.896.5388 or email datasolutions@thewarrengroup.com Est ab li s h e d 1 8 7 2

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www.bankerandtradesman.com

WEEK OF MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2017

services

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massachusetts

A Publication of The Warren Group MAKING CONNECTIONS

‘Repeal And Replace’ May Not Affect HSA Marketplace

CLOCK IS TICKING

Product Poised To Grow Regardless Of President BY LAURA ALIX BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF

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he newly-minted president’s pledge to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has also sparked murmurings about the role that health savings accounts, or HSAs, could play in supplementing the ACA’s replacement. With consumer demand for HSAs expected to continue its upward trajectory, could that prompt more banks to think about getting into the HSA business? With or without the Trump administration, the health care landscape has already been moving towards greater health care consumerism. The Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis said in its 2016 annual report that one in five Massachusetts consumers were enrolled in a high-deductible health plan last year and that membership had increased by 14 percent to almost one million members. Continued on Page 10

MILLENNIUM MOVES FORWARD, BUT NEEDS COUNCIL SUPPORT

STATISTIC-DRIVEN SALES

Some Skeptical Of Changes To Shadow Laws BY STEVE ADAMS | BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF

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775-foot-tall office and luxury residential tower on Boston’s Winthrop Square garage site would offer the “optimum collection of benefits” to the city, developer Millennium Partners contends as it awaits guidance from regulators on the final designs. City councilor and mayoral candidate Tito Jackson is the latest high-profile opponent of a tower of that height, joining neighborhood and parks advocates who are crying foul about a proposed exemption to state laws limiting new shadow on Boston Common and the Public Garden. The Boston Planning and Development Agency sought designs for a 725-foot-tall tower on the 1-acre

site at 115 Federal St. in its request for proposals issued last year, as it proceeds with redevelopment of the condemned municipal garage property. The agency has indicated it wants to move quickly on the project while the market for commercial and residential space remains robust. Joseph Larkin, a principal at Millennium Partners, said the developers later decided to increase the proposed height to 750 and 775 feet, although he conceded that the figure is not etched in stone. “The final height is not finally determined exactly,” Larkin told Banker & Tradesman. “We’re just leaving ourselves the option to study the maximum impacts of Continued on Page 9

CONTENTS

Residential �������������������������������������������������������������� 8

Banking & Lending ������������������������������������������������ 10

Points ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 4

In Person ������������������������������������������������������������������ 7

Classified Sections ������������������������������������������������� 11

By The Numbers ������������������������������������������������������� 6

Commercial & Industrial ������������������������������������������ 9

Records Section ������������������������������������������������������ B1

More Than 200K Homeowners Statewide Haven’t Sold In 30 Years

They Won’t Solve The Inventory Crunch, But Are Good Equity Product Prospects BY JIM MORRISON BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF

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early 16 percent of the single-family homes in the commonwealth have not changed owners in 30 years or more, according to data from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. All told, about 200,000 single-family homes statewide had no change in ownership in at least 30 years. That figure excludes what The Warren Group calls “nominal sales” where – for example – an elderly homeowner sells their property to a relative for $1 or some other nominal amount to avoid going through Probate Court in the event of the homeowner’s death. Including nominal sales would have made the number significantly higher. Right in the middle of the pack is Braintree, which holds the distinction of having the median percentage of single-family Continued on Page 8


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