Spotlights

Market trends - Boston’s real estate world The view of six highlights for 2019 - by Webster Collins

This article continues the central theme of insights caused by my being part of CBRE and published in the NEREJ in January every year since the end of the Great Recession. I will repeat: Boston’s real estate fundamentals are strong. There will be no ‘mild recession’ as predicted by naysayers year in and year out. A stabilized market will continue well beyond 2020. There is one red flag; the out-of-control increase in construction costs.

Tiny violins for very large men - by Paul Dion

2019 is here, and it’s almost time to file your first tax return under the new law. But you probably sat around watching sports all weekend instead of talking taxes, didn’t you. (Did Santa bring a new TV?) So, as we ring in the New Year, let’s take a look at how the new tax bill affects some of those athletes you’ve been watching.  Washington sold the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as “tax simplification.” And really, who can’t raise a toast to that? Lower rates! Higher standard deductions! A 1040 you can fill out on a postcard! But many taxpayers,

Rules for identifying replacement property in a 1031 tax-deferred exchange - by Brendan Greene

Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 1031 allows a property owner, who holds property for “the productive use in a trade or business or for investment”, to defer paying any capital gains taxes if the property owner sells such property, identifies “like kind” property within 45 days of the sale, and acquires other “like kind” property within 180 days of the sale. There are three primary rules for identifying Replacement Property within the 45-day time period:

What was your most notable project, deal or transaction in 2018? - by Sarah Tricot

Closing on a $14 million refinance transaction which took a lot of blood, sweat and tears to get done. The property that was being refinanced for construction purposes, involved a ground lease with the municipality and was cross-collateralized with land in another town wherein the borrower was the landlord in a similar ground lease situation. It involved complex title research,

What was your most notable project, deal or transaction in 2018? - by Dennis Serpone

Through our subsidiary, The Hotel Exchange, our largest deal was the $3.3 million sale of Raffael’s function facility in Walpole to the Saphire Group.

What was your most notable project, deal or transaction in 2018? - by Keb Brackenbury

For me, this comes right back to the diversity of the past year – our team ran the gamut of projects and transactions that covered different property types.  There were modest credit and large credit transactions; new office construction and rehabilitation projects. We worked on deals that had historical tax credits, state tax credits, and Rebuild Rhode Island

What was your most notable project, deal or transaction in 2018? - by Robert Marcus

We worked on several projects throughout the year and all have come in on-time and on-budget. We are thankful for the skill levels of all of our vendors and their responsiveness to our client’s needs.

What are your predictions for commercial real estate in 2019? - by Janet Morra

MPA’s clients are increasingly viewing the workplace as an important physical asset for attracting and retaining top talent, and we expect that trend to continue in 2019. Younger employees are looking for flexible, dynamic workplaces, not the old office models of the past. There is a clear business imperative for creating a work environment that inspires, motivates, and connects employees,

What are your predictions for commercial real estate in 2019? - by David Ellis

We see several trends for 2019. Even with a rising interest environment, there is strong demand and pricing of core industrial and flex properties inside 495. We believe there will be significant trading of these assets in 2019 as more owners look to lock in appreciation and buyers look to lock in rates before anticipated increases.

What was your greatest professional accomplishment in 2018? - by Dennis Serpone

We’ve merged with the New England Restaurant Group to form the largest hospitality brokerage and consultancy in the country approaching a half billion in sales and fees.