The proposed site of the Meditech office park development. Photo by J. Cappuccio. Peace summits are preceded by battles. And as far as Beacon Hill turf battles go, the one that necessitated the November sit-down inside Secretary of State William Galvin’s offices was a doozy. The spat featured months of political gamesmanship and strident […]
Paul McMorrow
Paul McMorrow comes to CommonWealth from Banker & Tradesman, where he covered commercial real estate and development. He previously worked as a contributing editor to Boston magazine, where he covered local politics in print and online. He got his start at the Weekly Dig, where he worked as a staff writer, and later news and features editor. Paul writes a frequent column about real estate for the Boston Globe’s Op-Ed page, and is a regular contributor to BeerAdvocate magazine. His work has been recognized by the City and Regional Magazine Association, the New England Press Association, and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. He is a Boston University graduate and a lifelong New Englander.
Posted inEconomy, The Back Story
Smart growth funds running out
The account that funds the state’s smart growth law is running out of cash, raising the prospect that the state’s first major effort at using incentives to promote housing construction could grind to a halt before it really gets rolling. Less than $1.4 million remains in the state’s Smart Growth Housing Trust Fund, which pays […]
Posted inPolitics
New Bedford developer sues over gambling law
Hours after Gov. Deval Patrick signed legislation legalizing casino gambling in Massachusetts, the would-be developer of a New Bedford casino is asking a federal judge to block the law’s implementation. KG Urban Enterprises, a development firm that wants to build a casino at the site of an abandoned power plant on New Bedford’s waterfront, sued […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Somerville: End the liquor license cap
Thanks to the recently-passed casino gambling bill, the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission will soon be launching a two-year comprehensive review of Massachusetts’s liquor laws. Somerville officials have one suggestion for where that review should start: the Prohibition-era law capping the number of liquor licenses cities and towns can legally issue. Somerville’s Board of Aldermen recently […]
Posted inEconomy
Out of reach
Jeffrey Goldstein lived the American Dream growing up. His father joined the postwar exodus from the city, and got his own piece of land out in the suburbs. Like many families in the postwar real estate boom, Goldstein’s father was the first in his family to own a piece of the rock. For Goldstein’s father’s […]
Posted inPolitics
Court rejects Parente pension claim
A state appeals court has rejected a bid by a former lawmaker who sought to increase the value of her pension by counting her monthly walking-around stipend and per diem payments. The appeals court said Thursday that expense payments don’t count as part of state employees’ regular compensation – even when those expense payments aren’t […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Winn pleads guilty to 2 misdemeanors
The prominent Boston developer Arthur Winn is pleading guilty to a pair of misdemeanor campaign finance violations, and a development company formerly headed by Winn agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine, in a case that should mark the end of the Dianne Wilkerson saga on Beacon Hill. US Attorney Carmen Ortiz today announced campaign […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story
Playing offense on redistricting
The last time lawmakers sat down to redraw the state’s legislative districts, they protected three white incumbents by sequestering black votes in Boston, an action that put them on the losing end of a federal lawsuit, and eventually ended the House speaker’s political career. It was the third consecutive redistricting effort to fall to a […]
Posted inEconomy, The Back Story
Greenway lowers its BID price
The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy has entered the final stretch of its effort to launch a Business Improvement District to help fund its operations. The conservancy has made concessions to the Greenway district’s biggest landlords, and lowered the BID’s overall fundraising target. The fate of the proposed BID remains uncertain, though, thanks to the top-heavy […]
Posted inEconomy, Transportation
North Station garage deal on shaky ground?
Members of the MassDOT board of directors are raising questions about the pending sale of the MBTA’s North Station garage, raising the possibility that the struggling transit agency could face an unexpected budget gap this year. The MBTA’s real estate arm put the 1,280-space Boston garage up for bid in April, inviting investors to submit […]