03.28.2025

Not so high times as Mass. pot agency loses track of licensing fees | Boston planning chief says “market-driven” development no longer welcome | Trump tariff uncertainty forces developers to scuttle project groundbreakings | Wu double standard when it comes to soccer stadiums | Quick hits |

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Back to the drawing boards: Boston area housing developers hoping to break ground in 2025 put plans on hold amid Trump tariff uncertainty

The last three years have been tough for the Greater Boston construction industry and the workers and contractors who depend upon it.

The combo of high material costs, high interest rates and growing local regulatory requirements led to a steep drop-off in new apartment and condo building starts.

As 2025 dawned, developers were finally eyeing potential groundbreakings, with financial projections starting to pencil out amid lower rates, hungry subs, and a softer labor market.

But the Trump administration’s trade and tariff negotiations have forced developers to take a step back and run the numbers again on housing projects they had hoped to start work on, James Kirby, former president and CEO of Commercial Construction Consulting in Boston, tells Contrarian Boston.

James Kirby

In a worst case scenario, where there is no deal and tariffs and retaliatory tariffs go into effect, developers could be looking at 2 to 3 additional percentage points in costs, a significant amount when talking about projects with price tags in the hundreds of millions of dollars, according to Kirby.

Canada, which is one of the countries targeted by the Trump administration’s tariff push, is a major source of lumber and some concrete as well.

“It is certainly delaying things,” said Kirby, who sold CCC nearly three years ago and now does cost work on select projects for the new owner, Rimkus Consulting. “Really the tariffs have put the brakes on.”

Photo by Alexandre Jaquetoni on Unsplash

That said, if there is a resolution and a deal on tariffs, the impact could be negligible, he said.

For his part, Kirby also doesn’t think the worst case scenario will happen.

“I just can’t see at the end of the day that the severity of those tariffs is going to happen – it’s too much of a shock,” Kirby said. “Trump doesn’t mind a little upsetting of the apple cart, but there is a limit to it.”

Here’s hoping Kirby is right.

Double standard? Boston mayor’s concerns about the impact of game-day stadium traffic and concerts don’t extend to her beloved $200 million soccer palace

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has raised a stink over all the traffic that a new waterfront soccer stadium in neighboring Everett will generate for her city.

At a recent event, Wu cited the potential for 24,000 people flocking to the Kraft family’s proposed New England Revolution stadium not just for games, but also “potentially for concerts,” calling it a “big deal,” per the Everett Independent.

But when it comes to similar concerns raised about Wu’s pet project - the $200 million plan to demolish the city’s decrepit White Stadium and build a pro soccer palace in the middle of Boston’s historic Franklin Park - the mayor has gone radio silent.