Patients at Boston hospitals get free housing in Brighton Read more: Patients at Boston hospitals get free housing in Brighton

There are many families around the world who travel to Boston for extensive or specialized health care, but do not have the money for an extended stay at a hotel.That’s where Hospitality Homes comes in.
The Boston-based non-profit has volunteer host homes in several Boston suburbs as well as a permanent apartment in Reservoir Towers in Brighton owned by Gerald Schuster, a Boston-area philanthropist and president and CEO of Continental Wingate Company.
Schuster and staff members at Hospitality Homes estimate the Reservoir Towers apartment, located between Chestnut Hill Ave. and Commonwealth Ave., has hosted about 70 different families since 2003.
“It’s been a wonderful relationship over the years,” said Schuster. Today, a couple from Kentucky is settling in to the apartment as the wife prepares to undergo cancer treatment at Brigham & Women’s and Dana-Farber.

Photo Release -- Group Boston Real Estate Named Exclusive Agent for Clippership Wharf

Clippership Wharf is ideally located on the burgeoning East Boston waterfront with unsurpassed views of Boston Harbor and the Boston Skyline. The property has superior access to public transportation with the newly renovated Maverick Square MBTA subway station located adjacent to the entrance to the property, providing access to downtown Boston and Logan Airport. With the Boston apartment market strengthening rapidly, the project owner Winn Development, is looking to capitalize on the strong demand for multifamily development in Boston.

Michael Carucci, Managing Partner of Group Boston Real Estate, said, "We are pleased to have the opportunity to assist Winn with this exciting project. With the property's impressive views and superior access to transportation, coupled with the city of Boston's renewed support for the East Boston waterfront, Clippership Wharf is poised to become a signature development in the revitalization of East Boston."

Aaron Wolfe, Vice President of Group Boston Real Estate, said, "East Boston represents one of the final frontiers in the transformation of the Boston Waterfront. With the ground breaking of the Fan Pier and Pier Four scheduled in 2012, South Boston's water front is now largely established creating significant potential in East Boston."

Clippership Wharf is located just off Maverick Square and the Jeffries Point neighborhood. Upon completion, Clippership Wharf will be one of metropolitan Boston area's premier apartment communities, with spectacular views of Boston and the harbor. With the prospect of a major casino development at Suffolk Downs, the economic incentives to redevelop East Boston's aging infrastructure are higher than ever.

Home buyers race to beat credit deadline

With thousands of dollars at stake, homeowners and prospective buyers across Massachusetts are scrambling to close real estate deals in time to beat Wednesday’s deadline for a home buyers tax credit.

Lenders are adding extra staff and some local registries of deeds are postponing vacations, anticipating a rush of lawyers seeking to record home sales for their clients. The National Association of Realtors estimates that as many as 180,000 home buyers across the United States may miss the cut-off date.

Some, realizing they cannot finalize purchases in time, have already backed out of deals. Others are counting on lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to extend the deadline for the federal tax incentive, which was intended to jolt the dormant housing market by enticing prospective buyers with up to $8,000.

“It is crunch time,’’ said Kevin Sears, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and co-owner of Sears Real Estate in Springfield, which has two pending deals in jeopardy. While the majority of buyers will meet the deadline, Sears said, others are frantic.

Boston Properties says co-founder and Chairman Edward Linde died of pneumonia at 67

Boston Properties says CEO Linde died Sunday

BOSTON — Real estate investment trust Boston Properties Inc. said that co-founder and CEO Edward Linde died Sunday from complications of pneumonia.

Chairman Mortimer Zuckerman has taken over as CEO, the company said in a press release late Sunday.

Linde founded Boston Properties in 1970 with Zuckerman. Linde is a former president of Boston Properties, and his son Douglas is currently president of the Boston company. Linde was 67, according to the company’s Web site.

The company’s properties include Times Square Tower and Citigroup Inc.’s headquarters in New York. Boston Properties was part of a group of investors that bought the General Motors Building in New York City in 2008. It has a majority stake in the building and maintains the property.

Zuckerman is also publisher of the New York Daily News, and Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of U.S. News & World Report.

ICA Boston Appoints Helen Molesworth Chief Curator

BOSTON—The Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) has named Helen Molesworth as its new chief curator. She arrives at the ICA after serving as the head of the department of modern and contemporary art at the Harvard Art Museum. Some of her exhibitions at Harvard have included “Long Life Cool White: Photographs by Moyra Davey” and “ACT UP New York: Activism, Art, and the AIDS Crisis, 1987-1993.” She also recently organized Hauser & Wirth’s reinterpretation of Allan Kaprow’s seminal Yard happening with William Pope.L, Josiah McElheny, and Sharon Hayes. Prior to joining Harvard, Molesworth was chief curator of exhibitions at the Wexner Center for Arts in Columbus, Ohio. She holds a Ph.D. in the history of art from Cornell University.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand—The New Zealand Museum has named Michael Houlihan as its new chief executive officer. He replaces Dr. Seddon Bennington, who died in July of last year. Houlihan’s past museum experience includes positions at the Imperial War Museum, the Horniman Museum in London, and the National Museums and Galleries of Northern Ireland, where he served as the network’s first chief executive.

Greater Boston Sees Office Rents Leveling Off in 2010, Says 24th Annual Global Market Report

BOSTON – While the Massachusetts economy is still in a downturn, the rate of deterioration has slowed considerably. The state’s education, health services, professional services, as well as information sectors have remained relatively stable despite strong recessionary pressures from the financial services sector.

Asking rates for office space continued to fall in 2009, but are leveling off. With vacancy rates climbing to 9.5% in the Central Business District and 16.5% in the suburbs, there is no shortage of supply, allowing tenants with solid financials to take advantage of tenant-favorable conditions. Significant transactions include Verizon’s 200,000 SF lease at 185

It's a renter's market in office real estate

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. office vacancy rate hit a 15-year high in the fourth quarter and landlords slashed rent last year by the largest amount since at least 1980, real estate research firm Reis Inc said on Friday.

Housing Market

"This period marks the eighth consecutive quarter since the beginning of 2008 that office properties registered deterioration in occupied space," Victor Calanog, Reis director of research, said in a statement. "We should not understate the amount of pressure that office properties endured since the recession began."

During the fourth quarter the national office vacancy rate climbed 0.40 percentage point from the third quarter to 17 percent, the highest level since 1994.

Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the U.S. economy has shed 7.2 million jobs, drastically reducing demand for office space and flooding the market with sublease space. To lure or retain tenants, landlords have offered months of free rent and have kicked in for the cost of converting a raw space onto offices.

Greater Boston Real Estate Market Remains Strong at Year-End 2009

NORWELL, MA, ISSUED JANUARY 5, 2010 . . . Data released today by HouseSavvy (www.housesavvy.com), an online full service real estate organization, documents that the Greater Boston Real Estate Market continues to be one of the healthiest markets in the country. One of the strongest indications is the increase in the average sale price of homes sold – from $393,359 in December, 2008 to $461,042 in December, 2009. At approximately the same time, the average sale price nationally has dropped about 3% year-to-year - from $233,000 in 2008 to $216,400 in 2009. (The “Greater Boston Market” consists of the 167 towns and cities within the six counties surrounding Boston: Bristol, Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk).



Other positive indications include year-to-year sales activity (up almost 4%) and unsold home inventory (down 18.7%) to a present 6 month supply. According to Walter Hall, founder and Chairman of HouseSavvy, unsold home inventory is the single, best indicator of the overall health of a given real estate market. This figure is derived by dividing the number of unsold listings at the end of the month by the number of sales taking place in that month. Real estate experts have long contended that 5-6 month supplies of unsold homes equate to a “Balanced Market” with sellers and buyers about equal and home values holding steady.

Authority Seeks Bids for Partner on Tower

The central tower at ground zero, designed to rise to 105 stories, has been characterized by some as a symbol of New York’s resilience, and reviled by others as a white elephant. Now it will pick up a new label: for sale.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey wants to sell the skyscraper, the former Freedom Tower, known now by its original name, 1 World Trade Center.

In recent days, the Port Authority has asked a select group of commercial real estate developers and owners to bid for a partnership interest in the $3.2 billion tower, according to a developer who was contacted by the authority.

2009: another year at Real Estate Now

Today, my year as a blogger, here with you at Boston.com Real Estate Now.
This July, Boston.com Real Estate Now posted its 1000 entry. I, personally, have written about 500. In 2009, I introduced Sam Schneiderman to bring another buyer agent’s voice to the blog. Later in the year, he was joined by Attorney Richard Vetstein. I have also tapped James Morrison, a home inspector, for tips and stories.

This year, I covered the big stories that affect buyers: foreclosure, short sales, changes in appraisals, changes in lending, changing rules for condos, the $8000 tax credit. The “Living Well” series came and went, describing ways of living here without spending megabucks in the toney suburbs. We discussed living in condos, renting, snow shoveling, home and yard maintenance, and other topics that relate to where we choose to live. I told the stories of two modular houses. I also brought up topics about brokers; what we should do, how we get paid, what problems come up when agents don’t do their jobs. And more…

If I had to name the year, I’d call it “The Year of the Cautious Buyer.”

I believe that buyers are thinking harder and longer, deliberating more, and learning more before they buy. It’s a good thing. I have tried to aid and abet that by providing stories of what is going on in the world of real estate.

Foreclosure notices rise in Mass

BOSTON – Foreclosure petitions and auctions in Bristol County, Mass., rose in November in year-over-year comparisons, according to real estate tracking firm The Warren Group.

The group said that petitions – the first step in the foreclosure process – rose by 25.3 percent last month compared with 2008, from 142 to 178. Auction notices, the second step, jumped 86 percent (from 114 to 212), while foreclosure deeds – the last step in the process – fell by 7.8 percent (from 90 to 83).

For the year through Nov. 30, the number of petitions and auction notices issued in Bristol County has risen 33 percent and 50 percent, respectively, compared with last year. Foreclosure deeds have fallen by 25 percent.

Statewide, The Warren Group said the number of petitions in Massachusetts rose 45 percent in November year over year, from 1,335 to 1,937. Auction notices increased 78 percent, from 1,134 to 2,015. Foreclosure deeds slipped from 888 to 701, a 21 percent decline.

“While the November data provide some positive news, foreclosures continue to be a problem in the real estate market,” said Warren Group CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr. “Due to unemployment and other economic factors, homeowners continue to have high rates of delinquency on their mortgages, which eventually leads to the initiation of foreclosure proceedings.”

Boston REIT poised to buy 180 N. LaSalle

(Crain’s) — A Boston real estate investment trust that is an active investor in Chicago has a tentative agreement to buy 180 N. LaSalle St. at a steep discount from a $116.4-million deal that collapsed amid last year’s financial crisis.

The buyer was identified as Winthrop Realty Trust in a letter sent earlier this month by current owner Prime Group Realty Trust to tenants in the 38-story North Loop tower, according to sources who received the letter.

Michael Ashner, chairman and CEO of Winthrop, declined to comment. The deal is expected to close next month.

Winthrop would pay less than $90 million, or $116 per square foot, for the 770,191-square-foot building, sources familiar with the transaction say.

That would be nearly 23% less than California investor Zaya Younan finally agreed to pay in December 2008 — after several negotiations — before his deal fell apart in February because he couldn’t obtain financing.

Greater Boston office vacancy hits 15.5 percent

Additionally, during the closing quarter of 2009, Greater Boston’s office market experienced 421,000 square feet of negative absorption. While Class A asking lease rates dipped it is notable that the rate of decrease has deteriorated significantly. This quarter’s decrease of 0.7% in asking lease rates compares to a 3.4% average decrease during the preceding four quarters. In certain bellwether areas – the Financial District, East Cambridge and Waltham – lease rate declines have materially slowed or halted.

This quarter’s “Market Interesting” section delivers a significant finding. During the current economic slowdown, negative news has dominated the commercial real estate market, with a major focus on decreasing real estate values and lease rates. However, many tenants with 3-7 year leases expiring now may find themselves looking at rents that are higher than when they signed their current agreement.

“Although the findings don’t show a turnaround in the commercial real estate market, it’s good to see the slowdown in the rate of decline in the asking lease rates,” said Brendan Carroll, vice president of research, Richards Barry Joyce & Partners. “This is positive news that gives us some level of optimism as we head into 2010.”

The year commercial properties took a dive

It was a year when auctions grabbed the headlines, rents plummeted, vacancies soared and massive commercial real estate projects stalled.

“This crisis is international,” said Roy MacDowell, president of Boulder Capital, whose $500 million mixed-use project on more than 700 acres in Hopkinton is on hold. “And Boston is not immune.”

In 2009, the John Hancock Tower sold at auction for $660 million, about half what it fetched two years ago; a German bank foreclosed on the 119-acre Polaroid campus when the development team failed to refinance its debt for a $500 million plan to transform the empty space into a 6 million square-foot office and retail complex on Route 128; and Corcoran Jennison Cos.’ Bayside Associates LP lost the Bayside Expo Center at a foreclosure auction.

Boston Properties declares quarterly dividend

BOSTON — Boston Properties Inc. said its board has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of 50 cents for the October-through-December period.

The real estate investment trust, which owns a portfolio of office properties, said the dividend is payable on Jan. 29 to shareholders of record at Dec. 31.

Housing boom goes bust in finance crisis

The decade began sweetly as sales of single-family homes and condominium set records. But it ended on sour note.

“We experienced a dramatic housing boom from 1999 through 2005,” said Harold Petersen, an economics professor at Boston College. “But the housing debacle has driven sales down to their lowest levels in years.”

While 2009 is expected to close with sales of nearly 59,000 single-family homes and condos, that number is 34 percent below the peak of 1999 when housing purchases topped 90,000, according to the Warren Group, the real estate market tracker.

Boston homeowners to see property tax hike

The tax bill for the average Hub homeowner will rise by $173 next year as the city tries to fill the gap left by a 5 percent drop in the assessed value of single-family homes in Boston due to the weakened housing market, according to the city.

The residential tax rate for fiscal 2010 is expected to be $11.88 per $1,000 of valuation, compared to the 2009 rate of $10.63. The rate for business properties will rise from $27.11 in 2009 to $29.38 per $1,000 of assessed value.

“If we didn’t increase the tax rate, it would lead to a significant reduction in the city’s property-tax revenue at a time when local aid and other revenue are in decline. That would be bad,” said Ron Rakow, Boston’s commissioner of assessing.

The market may still be down, but your taxes are going up

That’s the frustrating dilemma many homeowners across the Bay State now find themselves in.

Cash-strapped towns and cities are scrambling are boosting residential tax rates as they scramble to find any extra revenue they can.

Boston is expected to announced, as soon as this week, a roughly 10 percent increase to its residential tax rate.

Homeowners in suburban towns are also feeling the pain, officials raising the residential tax rate in Lexington, Braintree and Walpole as well, among others.

The increases, in some cases, are sometimes offset by falling real estate values. But even in a tough market, the decline in a home’s assessed value may not be enough, with the tax rate rising even more.

Now’s the time to rent in Boston

It’s the perfect storm for landlords. There’s a down economy. Companies are forgoing relocations to save money, and in the past few years several new rental buildings have popped up creating a market flush with vacant apartments.

Leasing an apartment in Boston is still expensive compared to many other cities in the U.S., but perspective renters are in luck because many of the newer buildings are offering incentives. These include free rent for a month, thousands back on leasing deals and monthly specials.

Boston’s Incredible Shrinking Skyscraper

For most of its 34-year life, the Hancock Tower, which looms above its brick neighbors in Boston's Back Bay, has been the sort of place where money comes to be managed and protected. Its tenants include Ernst & Young and the investment firm Highfields Capital. The I. M. Pei–designed sliver of glass doesn't seem like a place where several hundred million dollars can vanish in a few months.

But that's exactly what happened at the 62-story building, now under its fourth owner in six years. In January, an aggressive young wheeler-dealer defaulted on a portion of the building's $1.3 billion mortgage just 24 months after buying it. In March, two firms that had purchased chunks of the tower's second mortgage for pennies on the dollar assumed control, essentially rendering up to $400 million of debt worthless. The Hancock's market value is now about $700 million—half what it appraised for less than two years ago.