04.16.2025

Hatred in Wokeville for Ken Burns | Harvard Medical School warns of big cuts as Trump freezes billions in funds for Ivy League university | Pipedreams or real projects? | Quick hits |

News tips? Story ideas? Email us at sbvanvoorhis@hotmail.com

Grand illusions? Huge new proposals for multibillion-dollar development projects may be going nowhere fast right now, but don’t tell that to the Globe

Dead on arrival.

That about sums up the prospects of two major, would-be mega developments in Boston that have gotten prominent coverage in the Globe.

Last week, Procter & Gamble unveiled plans for a “new neighborhood” for its acreage on the Fort Point Channel near South Station as it prepares to shift manufacturing from the old Gillette factory site to the suburbs.

There was no mention in the paper’s coverage that there is no market or demand right now for the 3.5 million square feet of offices and labs that are by far the largest piece of the proposal.

P&G’s plans for a new neighborhood near South Station along Fort Point Channel (CBT)

Ditto for the Globe’s story back in January on Swedish construction giant Skanska’s decision to start the city approval process for 1 million square feet of offices, labs and residential space.

“Labs, housing could soon rise where Simmons dorms now stand,” the headline reads.

Pray tell, how is that going to happen when lab vacancy rates are at recession-like levels and with the Trump administration threatening billions in local research funding?

A quarter of all lab space in the Boston area is now empty, according to CBRE, higher than even the hard-hit office market, per Steve Adams at Banker & Tradesman.