Banker & Tradesman - Septmber 9, 2017

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Everett Looks For Another Wynn

COMMERCIAL INTERESTS

Retail, Entertainment Cos. Transform Industrial Zone BY STEVE ADAMS BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF

M In A Rough Hurricane Season, Walsh Urges Action To Protect Boston Unable To Address Systemic Problems, Legislature Unlikely To Step Up

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BY SCOTT VAN VOORHIS | BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF

’m no climatologist, but it’s hardly a stretch to predict that someday Boston will get hit with a major hurricane. And given steadily rising sea levels and increasingly fierce, climate-changedriven storms, it’s not too hard to imagine it will be a Sandy or Harvey-sized monster. But here’s a prediction you can take to the bank: When the dreaded superstorm finally hits the Hub, maybe three years from now, maybe 30, there will be no significant harbor wall or barrier to stop a surging Atlantic Ocean from flooding in, putting downtown under water and turning Beacon Hill into an island in a sea of wreckage.

And why is that? Because the political culture here in Massachusetts, which once spawned a revolution and later the abolition movement, is today one of narrow-minded, parochial and self-satisfied back slapping, where patronage and petty political gain rule. In the wake of Harvey, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh bluntly summed up the danger. “If we got hit with a storm like this, if Harvey hit Boston Harbor, we’re wiped out as a city,” Walsh told Boston Herald Radio. He then threw out an idea – now being studied by a group of engineers – for a $10 billion dam that Continued on Page 3

PUBLIC POLICY

Federal Tax Reform Could Include Mortgage Interest Deduction Reduction

usicians, foodies and fitness fanatics have been finding their way to an overlooked corner of Everett. Their destinations: a trampoline park, micro-distillery, craft brewers and recording studio that have replaced scrapyards and machine shops in an industrial area near the banks of the Malden River. With the Wynn Boston Harbor casino rising nearby, Everett officials say there’s no better time to capture additional development. Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr. sees more than 50 acres north of Santilli Highway as ripe for a hotel cluster handling spillover demand from casino visitors, or the long-desired urban site for a New England Revolution stadium. Its proximity to the Malden River has spawned goals of new water transportation connections to Boston and public recreation areas on a riverfront that has long been cut off by factory fences. And a proposed urban renewal district in the early stages of discussion would enable the city to acquire and package large parcels to developers. “Steve Wynn is going to generate hundreds of thousands of customers and he only has 671 hotel rooms,” DeMaria said. “I believe there’s a possibility for hotels on the Everett waterfront, connecting to the water taxi Wynn has planned.” A former General Electric factory site on Air Force Road is central to the city’s economic development strategy. Wynn Resorts acquired the 35-acre site in 2016 and obtained approvals to relocate the Boston Freightliner trucking company, which was displaced by the casino project. Beyond the trucking site, city officials say the property has more than 10 acres Continued on Page 9

Realtor Groups Want To Keep It Intact; Economists Say It Could Be More Equitable BY JIM MORRISON BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF

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here’s a lot of talk in Washington about tax reform, but one of the most controversial components facing significant change is the mortgage interest deduction. The MID allows homeowners to deduct the interest on mortgage balances less than $1 million on their first and second homes from their taxable income on their federal returns. Some say this deduction is critical to the housing market; others are outright

skeptical of its economic value. Wealthier taxpayers tend to buy larger homes with correspondingly bigger mortgages. Often those who can afford to pay cash for a home purchase will take out a million-dollar loan just for the tax deduction, while using the money that frees up for other investments. Those in lower tax brackets often can’t take advantage of that loophole, giving the greatest benefit to the economic bracket that least needs it.

“Close to half of homeowners with mortgages – most of them middle- and lower-income families – receive no benefit from the mortgage interest deduction,” concluded a 2013 study from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. About half of all homeowners have no mortgage and therefore can’t benefit from the MID at all, said Paul Millen, senior economist and policy advisor at the Federal Reserve in Boston. And for many homeowners Continued on Page 8

CONTENTS Points .....................................................................4 By The Numbers......................................................6 Residential .............................................................8 In Person.................................................................5 Commercial & Industrial ........................................9 Banking & Lending ...............................................10 Classified Sections................................................12 Records Section.................................................... B1


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