I have a building for sale in the South End. Approximately 6,000 gross sq ft. This is a vacant building that needs a total rehab. Asking price $1,850,000. For more information and to obtain floor plans, please call Linda Mitrano at 617-720-5454 or on her cell at 617-512-4557. Principals only.

The highly ambitious Columbus Center development over the Mass Pike is now officially dead.
They may be cheering in the immediate neighborhoods surrounding the proposed $800 million project. Columbus Center would have been a big pain for them.
But the Columbus Center — with its planned five buildings of condos, hotel rooms and stores — would have [...]

Circle, the South End restaurant that took over the former Bob’s Southern Bistro (ne, Bob the Chef’s) space, has closed. It opened in October.
The property has been listed for sale, for $795,000.
– Source: The Boston Globe

Things are looking up for the down-in-the-dumps Tremont Street stretch between my house and Sister Sorel’s.
Taped to the door of the old Thai Village restaurant:

(No update on the rumor that a Dunkin’ Donuts will be opening on the site of the Bostonian Market. The owner says “absolutely not” but we’ll see.)

Know your history!
The next United South End Settlements (USES) walk will be on Monday, September 8th. The topic is piano factories; the walk is free. The meeting place is the Harriet Tubman house (USES headquarters) at the corner of Columbus and Mass Aves. at 6:30 pm.
Contact Al Whitaker at awhitaker@uses.org as participation is [...]

A column written by me appears in this week’s South End News.
Defeated Columbus Center is an orphan with a thousand fathers
John Keith
South End News
An opportunity to stitch back together a deep tear in the urban fabric was lost with the failed Columbus Center project, the proposed $800 million, mixed-use complex to be built on decks [...]

From the South End News:
A 25-year-old local man was robbed of his $25,000 gold Rolex as he walked home on Columbus Avenue at around 1 a.m. on Aug. 10. The victim told police that after he left Clery’s Bar at Columbus Avenue and Dartmouth, walking toward Massachusetts Avenue, he saw a young man riding a [...]

Confirming rumors, the owner of Stephanie’s on Newbury has announced plans to open a second restaurant on the site of the now-defunct Garden of Eden, at 671 Tremont Street, in Boston’s South End neighborhood.
A Boston Licensing Board hearing on the transfer of the beer & wine liquor license is being held at 10:00 AM on [...]

Conversations you might be hearing around the neighborhood
Well, summer is here – the time for cookouts and rooftop cocktail parties. And, no one loves a barbecue as much as I. Where else do you get a chance to mingle with old friends as well as new acquaintances, to talk with each other about [...]

Comparison of 2008 to earlier years. Period is from 01/01 – 07/15 for each year.
2008

Total Properties Sold: 337
Avg Days on Market: 98
Average Sales Price: $685,826
Average Final List Price: $705,037
Average Original List Price $716,169
Lowest Price: $237,000
Median Price: $590,000
Highest Price: $2,350,000
Average Price: $685,826
Total Market Volume: $231,123,500
2007
Total Properties Sold: 333
Avg. Days on Market: 106
Average Sales Price: $678,090
Average Final List [...]