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A Publication of The Warren Group COMMERCIAL INTERESTS
Nonprofit Institutions Could Be In Jeopardy Under New Tax Plan
NEW FACE OF AIRBNB
Rising demand for short-term rentals is filling former apartments in neighborhoods such as Boston’s Chinatown, where investors have acquired multifamily properties to cater to visiting businesspeople and tourists.
City Could Take A Serious Hit BY SCOTT VAN VOORHIS BANKER & TRADESMAN COLUMNIST
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reater Boston today has one of the hottest development markets in the country, with practically a new skyscraper or research lab around every corner. For a city that four decades ago was on the verge of joining the Rust Belt and becoming a glorified Lowell by the sea, it’s quite a comeback story. But the Republican tax bill now winding its way through Congress would throw a wet blanket over a key driver of the Boston’s area success, affecting a bevy of powerful and elite nonprofit institutions. It’s popular to praise the tech and biotech industries for leading Boston to the economic Promised Land, and they have certainly played a key role. Yet the secret sauce behind the Hub’s success, including all those new towers and lab complexes Continued on Page 3 TRANSPORTATION PROVOCATION
MBTA’s New Fare Collection System Relies Less On Cash Rider Advocates Worry Cash-Only Customers Will Be Left Behind BY BRAM BERKOWITZ BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
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he MBTA’s plan to overhaul its fare collection system with a more – but not entirely – cashless system is intended to provide riders with a more efficient, accessible transit system that speeds up bus and train commutes. But as the MBTA prepares for the conversion, officials are faced with a vexing question: How to ensure that riders using only cash, who may not have a bank account, a credit card or a smartphone, do not get left behind? The MBTA on Nov. 20 awarded a $753 million contract to a joint venture led by Continued on Page 8
‘Mini-Hotels’ Quietly Transform Neighborhoods Investors Expand Reach Of Short-Term Rental Market BY STEVE ADAMS | BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
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oncerns about displacement, rising housing costs and an influx of transient residents are not out of the ordinary for Boston’s Chinatown, given the recent construction of luxury high-rises and boutique hotels. One of downtown’s last pockets of relative affordability, Chinatown is now feeling the effects of the largely unregulated short-term rental market. Airbnb and similar platforms are evolving, as investors acquire and rent out multiple units in apartment and condominium buildings at the higher rates that short-term rentals typically fetch. Karen Chen, executive director of the Boston-based Chinese Progressive Association, said more than 100 apartments in the neighborhood are typically listed on Airbnb and related
sites. The agency has provided relocation assistance to more than 25 families who were displaced after their buildings were sold, she said. “In a small neighborhood like Chinatown, when you turn a whole building into a short-term rentals, it’s really pushing out people who need the services in Chinatown for survival,” Chen said. Chen rattled off a list of rowhouses and apartment buildings in the neighborhood that have been acquired by investors in the past two years, then converted into short-term rentals typically quoting prices over $100 per night. That’s a discount for travelers compared to downtown Boston’s pricey hotels, but a sticking point for housing and neighborhood activists who say it’s time for the city and state
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Commercial & Industrial ������������������������������������������ 9
Points ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
In Person ������������������������������������������������������������������ 7
Classified Sections ������������������������������������������������� 11
By The Numbers ������������������������������������������������������� 6
Banking & Lending ��������������������������������������������������� 8
Records Section ������������������������������������������������������ B1