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THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND REAL ESTATE WEEKLY FOR MASSACHUSETTS BY THE NUMBERS
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County close-up: Franklin Spotlight: Greenfield
IN PERSON
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Just a few years ago, Sherri Pitcher had never considered working at a bank. While managing economic development for the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, Pitcher got to know Fidelity Bank Chairman and CEO Edward Manzi Jr. and bank president Christopher McCarthy.
WEEK OF MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2019
BANKING & LENDING BY THE NUMBERS
F O R S A L E , G E N T LY U S E D
59 percent 59 percent of credit union executives see credit and debit card fraud as their top fraud threat. Source: Aite Group
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1st HarborOne Bank has opened its first branch in Boston. See Week on the Web on page 2. Source: HarborOne Bank
2 years Fidelity Bank’s Chief LifeDesign Officer has only two years’ experience in the banking industry. See In Person on page 8. Source: Sherri Pitcher
18.42 percent The share of the Franklin County single-family mortgage market held by Greenfield Savings Bank. Source: The Warren Group’s Marketshare Module
$5,000 North Brookfield Savings Bank trains staff to be suspicious of checks just below $5,000. Source: Patty Ostrout
2 The top two loan originators by volume of loans in Franklin County work for Greenfield Savings Bank. Source: The Warren Group’s Loan Originator Module.
22 percent 22 percent of credit unions in a recent survey said their losses to fraud were rising unsustainably. Source: Aite Group
OPEN FOR BUSINESS, BUSINESS AS USUAL? OR
The Charles F. Hurley office building in Boston’s West End is the latest prime-located property being offered up by the state under Gov. Charlie Baker’s four-year-old “Open for Business” surplus property initiative to spur economic development.
No Homeruns for State’s Asset Sale Strategy BY STEVE ADAMS BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
L
ike a hoarder whose possessions no longer spark joy, Gov. Charlie Baker wanted to put Massachusetts on a real estate diet. With state agencies owning more than 20,000 parcels spanning 575,000 acres, Baker fretted about lost opportunities to create jobs and housing. His “Open for Business”
program set an ambitious goal of selling vacant and underutilized properties from Boston to Belchertown and beyond. “People call a lot of land we own ‘assets,’ but they’re not a source of income,” Baker told a commercial real estate gathering in 2016. “A lot of it is located in pretty interesting places. This has the potential to unlock hundreds of millions over time in economic activity.” But sometimes, nobody wants your second-hand treasures. The first centerpiece of Baker’s “Open for Business” initiative offered up nearly 5 acres on the edge of Boston’s Chinatown, but potential developers balked at the minimum
$167 million price tag and requirement to relocate a steam plant located on the Kneeland Street property. Not a single firm submitted a proposal when the Massachusetts Department of Transportation offered it for sale in 2017. More recently, a decade-long attempt to build an $800 million condo tower above the Massachusetts Turnpike in Back Bay collapsed amid a financial stalemate between MassDOT’s chosen developer, Boston-based Weiner Ventures, and construction giant Suffolk. MassDOT canceled the parcel 15 air rights development in October. Continued on Page 7
Photo by Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Fidelity Bank’s “LifeDesign” mission has three pillars. See In Person on page 8. Source: Sherri Pitcher
COMMERCIAL INTERESTS
O L D - FA S H I O N E D F R A U D
sourced from The Warren Group’s
Across Greater Boston, Anti-Development Groups Force Projects to Shrink
Despite Threat of Data Breaches, Phishing, Criminals Still Favor Old Methods
Mortgage Market Share Module, Loan
By Scott Van Voorhis | Banker & Tradesman Columnist
By Diane McLaughlin | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Unless otherwise noted, all data is
Housing Haters Slowly Kill Best Check Fraud Still Hits Hopes to Tame Home Prices Community Banks, Credit Unions
Originator Module, Statistics Module and/or proprietary database. For more information please visit www.thewarrengroup.com/business/ datasolutions.
Commercial Real Estate PAGE 3
Banking & Lending PAGE 9