The city of Boston has quietly asked for bid proposals for a pair of surplus North End buildings, including the gateway old police station at 150 North Street.
The Herald reports a number of developers are eying the properties for either condos/apartments or possibly a new location for a neighborhood trade school. Both are good ideas. But we have suggestion: How about a new museum? Wasn’t there a proposal out there for some sort of Boston history museum, tied to the city’s innovative industrial history, near the Haymarket station? Maybe the old BPD building is too small. But it sure looks like an old museum. It’s just an idea.
The other property put out to bid is a nearby warehouse that used to be the city’s printing facility.
Cresset Development has purchased a warehouse at 411 D Street and hopes to built 197 new residential units at the site — 26 of which will be smaller “Innovation housing” for the new high-tech area that the mayor envisions.
This proposal kind of slipped under the immediate pre-New Year radar screen. But we’ll count it as a 2012 idea – and a welcome one. The city needs more housing, and we sure seem to be getting more housing these days.
Click on the chart above to view how often the term “Boston real estate” is searched on Google from 2004 through 2011.
If one were to base 2012 Boston real estate sales predictions on Google anayltics, it would appear it’s going to be a tough year for Boston real estate agents and Boston condo sellers.
Under apparent pressure from City Hall, Trinity Financial is once again talking about putting a new Stop & Shop in the Bulfinch Triangle area, near the North End, the BBJ is reporting in its print edition (subscription required for online stories).
Trinity had recently announced that Stop & Shop no longer wanted to open a new supermarket at One Canal Street, despite previous plans and calls to do so. The no-go decision apparently didn’t please City Hall and North End residents — and so Trinity and the huge supermarket chain are in discussions again about how to open a new store at One Canal, according to the BBJ.
We can only imagine what type of pressure was brought to bear on the two parties. After all, it’s not exactly smart to anger Mayor Menino in this town.
Boston’s 1.1% drop in home prices since last year was one of the lowest among metro areas tracked by S&P/Case-Shiller index. Boston’s low unemployment rate of only 6.2% is much lower than the national average of 8.6%. Translation: There’s reason to be cautiously optimistic for the 2012 Boston condo sales market. Your thoughts?
Downtown Crossing’s former Filene’s site, the giant hole where a 39-floor building was supposed to go up, is for sale with a roughly $200 million price tag. Any takers?
As New Year’s approaches, I’m often asked what are my Boston housing predictions for the coming year.
This year, I refuse to do a Boston Real Estate Blog post on predictions. Instead, here are my baker dozen “What if” scenarios for Boston and the national housing market for 2012.
What if: The National Association of Realtors started putting out credible housing sales numbers so the public has a true understanding on how “stabilized” the housing market really is. By Jes, I think that may be classified as a miracle.
Could someone keep the Vatican’s phone number handy, just in case?
What if: Congress allows the capital gains cuts to expire and starts looking at reducing or cutting mortgage interest deductions. That would be a death blow to the Boston condo market.
Forget the Vatican, can someone find the phone number to the suicide hotline?
What If: The Fed started raising interest rates, perhaps thinking that the economy is improving. That won’t help me sell any Boston condos.
Okay, enough with these depressing what ifs, and let’s think positive.
What if: The price of oil started reflecting the actual consumer supply and demand instead of tactics of Wall Street? We’d save money, perhaps Boston apartment rents would stabilize or be reduced, thus helping more renters to become Boston condo owners. That would be nice.
What if: The economies abroad keep commodity prices down, which would limit inflation here and keep mortgage rates low. That in return would increase consumer confidence and improve the Boston condo market.
What if: The Massachuestts unemployment rate continues to drop, thus increasing consumer confidence and help fence sitters start their Boston condo search with Ford Realty (aka Boston Real Estate Blog).
Listen, I know I may have disappointed some readers by not coming out with actual predictions. But if you want to know what’s gong to happen in 2012, see the fortune teller in Downtown Crossing and tell her you’d like to know if the Boston condo market will go up or down.
She looks like she can use a good laugh, and she’ll gladly take your money.
The staff at Ford Realty and the Boston Real Estate Blog want to wish you and your family a happy and safe New Year’s Eve.
Please don’t drink and drive.
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Warning: Several disturbing images in this video. Damn. Perfect sound-trac for this commercial.
