Wu’s moves | Baker battles ideologues | Nieman Marcus Life Science Building? | Maura Hamlet
Look for us every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Wu’s quiet but potentially huge real estate moves
Boston’s new mayor has been a disappointment for all those anticipating a knock-down, drag-out fight over the future of the Boston Planning and Development Agency, which Wu has long wanted to ax.
But lack of drama doesn’t mean lack of meaningful action.
City Hall is on the hunt for consultants to assess the development and leasing potential of the agency’s vast real estate empire amassed over the past nearly 65 years, starting way back in the 1950s in the age of so-called ‘urban renewal.’
The BPDA has issued an RFP seeking three different consultants to assess the potential of the 13 million square feet the agency owns across Boston, with the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park in South Boston and the Charlestown Navy Yard centerpieces of its portfolio.
The agency also owns “many urban renewal properties concentrated in downtown, Charlestown, Roxbury, the South End, Dorchester and several other neighborhoods,” the BPDA notes.
The program is capped at $150,000 a year, to be divided between three consultants, with the agency having the discretion to extend the contracts up to three years.
The BPDA will hold a pre-bid submission conference tomorrow at noon, with submissions due no later than Jan. 21 at noon.
File under: deal of the century?
Baker spends big in fight with state GOP
The governor has shelled out a hundred grand in campaign cash in a legal spat with the Trump hardliners who control the state party.
Baker’s minions last month transferred a princely sum to a law firm that has gone to bat for Nicaela Chinnaswamy, an ally of the governor battling for a seat on the state GOP committee for nearly two years now, state campaign finance records show.
A Mission Hill resident, Chinnaswamy is a member of the Pocketbook Project, launched by Baker ally and former state GOP chair Jennifer Nassaur to help center-right women candidates get elected.
Baker, in turn, can use all the votes he can get on the Republican state committee. A group of dissidents is fighting to oust MassGOP Chairman Jim Lyons, the governor’s bête noire and a Trumpie who recently gloated over Baker’s decision not to run for a third term.
Still, it’s not clear when or if Baker will see any payback for the big chunk of change paid out to the Ashcroft Law Firm, founded and chaired by John Ashcroft, U.S. Attorney General under President George W. Bush.
The Mission Hill resident won the most votes back in March 2020 of three people competing for the seat, but Chinnaswamy fell below the 50-vote minimum needed to have her election certified.
Chinnaswamy has since won a recount that boosted her total above the threshold. However, Lyons and the state party apparatus have teamed up behind one of her rivals, while Secretary of State Bill Galvin has cited various technicalities.
From Nieman Marcus to labs?
It’s official. Boston real estate firm Bulfinch Cos. has closed on a $12.6 million deal to buy the Nieman Marcus store, the Natick Mall’s upscale anchor, the MetroWest Daily News reports.
Bulfinch has already hinted it may pursue plans to convert the two-story, 94,000-square-foot building into labs amid booming demand in the life sciences sector, a prospect not likely to go over well with residents of the adjacent Nouvelle condo tower.
Nieman is slated to close its store later this year.
Bulfinch, which teamed up with Harrison Street on the deal, wants to “reposition this irreplaceable property to meet current market requirements,” Eric Schlager, the firm’s CEO, said in a statement to the paper.
So, is this just an initial offer before a switch to a likely less contentious format, such as converting the uber luxury department store to condos?
Maybe, but probably not.
Harrison Street, the Chicago-based investment firm teaming up with Bulfinch, doesn’t appear to do luxury condos, though it has a very large portfolio of medical office space, life sciences facilities and senior housing. Harrison’s real estate arm has also gone big in student housing and storage units as well.
Hard-hit local restaurants wait on Congress
With eateries and dining spots in Boston and across the state hanging by a thread amid the Omicron surge, Democrats in Washington may finally be poised to take action on the issue.
However, with restaurants slammed now, the big question is whether it will be too late for any number of struggling establishments.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking on CBS’ Face the Nation on Sunday, said she sees an “opportunity” to layer in some Covid-relief money into an upcoming federal spending bill, the Globe reports.
But here’s the fly in the ointment – the deadline for taking action isn’t until mid-February.
OK, we know Congress moves to the beat of its own crazy drummer, but still …
As Healey mulls options, questions grow
The Globe’s Joan Vennochi is the latest to take a swing at Attorney General Maura Healey for taking her sweet time in deciding whether to jump into the governor’s race.
As noted here, Healey has been hauling in the dollars hand over fist, raking in more than $400,000 in December alone.
Healey’s “lack of clarity … is raising questions about her commitment to the race,” Vennochi writes. “The pandemic has changed priorities for many people. Maybe that’s true for Healey, too. Does she really want to be governor — or is it something others want for her? That’s the first question that needs answering.”
What is Contrarian Boston?
I have fielded emails over the past couple weeks asking what Contrarian Boston is about.
Here’s a link to our mission statement – you can find it in the “about” section.
For a more prosaic, nuts-and-bolts description, read on.
An online newsletter, Contrarian Boston publishes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In Contrarian Boston you’ll find analysis of the day’s news, and original reporting as well.
Our focus is:
· Politics and all levels of governance, good and bad, with an emphasis on state and local, with some national mixed in;
· Economic growth and business, especially real estate, housing and new development projects;
· The media and why it does what it does;
· Education, from school board spats to the doings of multibillion-dollar university endowments;
· And whatever else catches our fancy.
Contrarian Boston seeks contributors
Have a news tip? Is there an issue you would like to see explored? Interested in writing up a news item or short opinion piece? As Contrarian Boston gets on its feet, I would like to add more news and a wider range of commentary as well.
Intrigued? Drop me a line at sbvanvoorhis@hotmail.com.
Thanks for reading and see you Wednesday.