ORDER TODAY AND SAVE
MONTHLY TRANSFER DIRECTORY REPORTS
Call 617.896.5388 or email datasolutions@thewarrengroup.com
THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND REAL ESTATE WEEKLY FOR MASSACHUSETTS BY THE NUMBERS
PAGE 6
County close-up: Dukes and Nantucket Spotlight: Gosnold
Two cooperative banks in Boston’s northern suburbs that prize their mutuality plan to stay close to their customers as they combine into a new, larger entity under CEO Juliann Thurlow.
IN PERSON
PAGE 8
WEEK OF MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2025
BANKING & LENDING BY THE NUMBERS
The Boston Planning Department is reviewing new, clearer guidelines for mitigation and community benefits payments required of developers in exchange for approvals.
QUI BONO?
$215,000 The potential per-unit state subsidy for Boston office-to-residential conversions. See Sam Minton’s story on page 3. Source: Gov. Maura Healey
$2.6 million The mortgage on the third home in this week’s Gossip Report, provided by Bank of America. See page 7. Source: The Warren Group
Only two office-to-residential conversions have so far been financed in Boston under the city’s incentive program. See Sam Minton’s story on page 3. Source: The Warren Group
1 Only one of the three most prolific loan originators on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket works for a local bank. See By the Numbers on page 6. Source: The Warren Group’s Loan Originator Module
14 Developers have so far submitted proposals for 14 office-to-residential conversions under Boston’s incentive program. See Sam Minton’s story on page 3. Source: Boston Planning Department
$22 billion Bay Staters sent $22 billion in peer-topeer transactions in 2022. See Week on the Web on page 2. Source: Division of Banks
156 The inheritor of a house tried to assume the property’s mortgage for 156 days. See Lew Sichelman’s column on page 4. Source: CFPB
172 million Bay Staters made 172 million peer-topeer payments in 2022. See Week on the Web on page 2. Source: Division of Banks
Unless otherwise noted, all data is sourced from The Warren Group’s Mortgage Market Share Module, Loan Originator Module, Statistics Module and/or proprietary database. For more information please visit www.thewarrengroup.com/business/ datasolutions.
and CHECKS
BALANCES
$750K Donation Spotlights Lack of Guardrails for Community Benefits BY STEVE ADAMS BANKER & TRADESMAN STAFF
C
ommunity benefits agreements are part of the price that real estate developers pay to do business in Boston. They routinely include multi-million-dollar packages tied to the approval of major projects, including cash donations and other perks given to public and private organizations. The current system is broken, according to public surveys and the consensus of a committee appointed by Mayor Michelle Wu in 2023. The process tends to be unpredictable and confusing, varying
widely from project to project in form and dollar value. The group recommended the biggest changes in nearly three decades to how community benefits are negotiated and determined.
Dollars for Community Development in Dorchester?
Recent uncertainty about the pending recipient of a developer’s $750,000 payment tied to a Dorchester project illustrates the current system’s open-ended nature. When the Boston Planning & Development Agency board approved a 1.6 million-square-foot project at 35-75 Morrissey Blvd. in late 2023, the nonprofit Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corp. was named as recipient of the payment as part of the community benefits package.
But within a month, a private neighborhood group, the Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association, announced it would receive the donation instead. Civic Association President Bill Walczak and Don Walsh, co-chair of the civic association’s community benefits committee, spoke in favor of the project’s approval at the December board meeting. Later in 2024, association leaders said they would appoint the Dorchester Bay EDC as fiscal agent for the donation and receive the developer’s payment from the nonprofit. In an interview, Walczak said the group had discussions with the original Morrissey Boulevard developer, Center Court Partners, about receiving the donation. Continued on Page 10
WAITING GAME
COMMERCIAL INTERESTS
Banks Say They’re Interested, But Questions Linger About Cost of Loans in 2025
Our Rejection of Nuclear Power Is Hurting Blue-Collar Job Growth
By Sam Minton | Banker & Tradesman Staff
By Scott Van Voorhis | Banker & Tradesman Columnist
iStock illustration
2
Only Two Boston Office Conversions Why It Matters that Mass. Is Missing Have Financing So Far. Why? Out on the Data Center Boom
Banking & Lending PAGE 3
Opinion PAGE 4