Good morning friends,

And welcome to the new Wednesday! (More on that shortly.)

If you’re looking for a good example of how thoughtful planning and targeted tax incentives can bring economic vitality, good-paying jobs, world-class employers and buckets of new tax revenue, you should have been in Needham yesterday.

That’s when Boston Children’s Hospital cut the ribbon on its new 220,000-square-foot ambulatory surgery and specialty care center, that five-story gray brick facility you’ve likely noticed rising along I-95.

But this story didn’t start yesterday. It began in 2012.

That’s when Needham Special Town Meeting approved a real estate tax break for Tripadvisor to relocate its world headquarters to what was once called the Needham Industrial Park — about 40 acres of parking lots and tired, underused, warehouse and manufacturing buildings.

Town leaders made a calculated bet: land one major employer and the rest would follow.

They were right.

Today, the area is home to NBCUniversal, SharkNinja, BigBelly, Advisor360, Gennari Aronson, the state’s largest WorkBar (our chamber’s home), several biotech firms, two hotels (Homewood Suites, Residence Inn) and two multifamily residential buildings (The Kendrick and Charles River Landing), among others.

And now Boston Children’s Hospital Needham is there too, sitting on one of the last remaining parcels in the park and preparing to begin welcoming patients on Jan. 21.

This isn’t a full inpatient hospital with an ER or overnight beds. It’s a state-of-the-art outpatient surgical and specialty care facility expected to absorb tens of thousands of visits each year.

That’s a huge win for kids and families, who will no longer need to stress over traffic and parking at Longwood Medical Area to access this level of care and expertise.

It’s a big economic win, too. The Needham facility is projected to generate $52 million in annual local economic activity.

That includes $28 million in direct spending — salaries, benefits, equipment, medical supplies and on-site operations — and $24 million in indirect and induced spending, driven by employees, patients and families at local restaurants, shops, housing and services.

An estimated 455 jobs are also tied to the facility’s ongoing operations, including on-site staff and jobs supported across the local economy.

And even though Children's is a nonprofit, it will make annual PILOT payments to the town equal to the amount that would otherwise be due in property taxes — all thanks to some wise decisions made by the town not quite 15 years earlier.

$100 for NOT riding the bus?

The MBTA is looking to better understand why people do not use its bus system—and is willing to dole out $100 gift cards to do so.

The Authority is hosting 75-minute virtual conversations with small groups of infrequent or non-bus riders to gather feedback and improve bus service. Participants must be an adult, live within a 10-minute walk of an MBTA bus stop and NOT regularly ride the bus.

Selected participants will receive a $100 gift card. If you’re interested, fill out this form.

Northland to reach new heights on Needham Street

The Northland project on Needham Street in Newton is about to start looking up.

The Newton-based company has already invested $100 million in site and infrastructure improvements and paid the city $4.4 million (the first installment on $8.35 million in community benefits) to fund road and sewer projects and support the new Countryside Elementary School, among other initiatives.

Now they’ve secured $220 million from JPMorgan Chase in financing, clearing the way for vertical construction to begin at the 23-acre site, reports Steve Adams at Banker & Tradesman.

The next phase will convert the historic Saco Pettee Mill building into 100 apartments and add two new apartment buildings totaling 215 units, along with the much-anticipated 1-acre village green.

Once done, the project will provide homes for 822 individuals and families, including 145 income-restricted units, and 96,000 SF of retail space.

And that’s a very good thing.

Friday grab bag

• Another very good thing: The Healey administration plans to spend $250 million to reduce the cost of health insurance for hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents facing skyrocketing premiums after federal Obamacare subsidies expired. (WBUR)
  
  
• We were pumped to hear that Rachel Heller will be the new executive director at the Massachusetts Housing Partnership.  Heller has been CEO at CHAPA, for 13 years. (She’s also speaking at our Jan. 27 Real Estate Forum.)
  
  
• Bravo Andreae Downs — a former Newton City Councilor (who is also a former journalist) — for asking why one of the council’s most respected veteran members was given a cold shoulder by leadership. (Newton Beacon)
  
  
• If federal immigration policy changes could affect your workforce, we encourage you to watch the Immigration for Business webinar we hosted late last year. Here are the presentation slides. Additional helpful information is here.
  
  
• Boxfish in Watertown is on the Globe’s Devra First’s list of places to eat in 2026.  It was opened by chef Manita Bunnagitkarn of the wonderful Cha Yen Thai Cookery on the other side of Mt. Auburn Street.
  
  
• A Superior Court judge issued a ruling against a group of Weston residents and officials who’ve been trying to thwart the construction of a 40B project that will provide 180 apartments. (Banker & Tradesman)
  
  
•  In a new blog post, Marjorie Arons-Barron talks with David Solet who is challenging his former boss Marian Ryan for Middlesex D.A.
  
  
• TBaar has closed after ten years in Brookline. The shop featured bubble tea, smoothies and juices. (Boston Restaurant Talk)
  
  
• Barstool Spots recently paid a visit to Gianni's Deli and Pizza in Needham… and liked it.
  
  
• “Some genius decided” to take his e-bike for a spin on our favorite river Tuesday. Police were later seen, presumably telling him why that wasn’t smart.  (h/t U-Hub)
  
  
• Mass Restaurants United’s “Round the Regions” comes to Hojoko in Boston on Jan. 26 (5–7:30 p.m.), bringing together hospitality leaders for food, drinks, and conversation on mental health, healthcare access and industry sustainability. RSVP
  
  
• Mount Auburn Cemetery's Artist-in-Residence program is accepting applications for the 2026–2027 cycle through Feb. 1. The program invites artists of all disciplines to create work inspired by the cemetery’s landscape and history.
  
  
• TV reality host Andy Cohen recently got his own (Needham-originated) BigBelly trash bin.
  
  
• The Laredo administration is moving closer to establishing a Newton Arts and Culture Department inside City Hall and appointing former Newton Community Pride (now Spark Newton) leader Meryl Kessler as its director.  We supported the new department in a letter to the city council, which could vote on the matter next week.
  
  
• Speaking of arts and culture, thanks to the Needham Observer for covering our efforts to nurture the creative economy across our communities.

It’s time to stop using school crowding as a NIMBY talking point

The next time someone says they oppose creating more multifamily housing because they fear overcrowding schools, invite them to review the latest  enrollment trends  in Newton.

Newton Public School enrollment fell by 159 students this year. That marks the eighth consecutive year of decline, following nearly three decades of stability or growth.

The most pronounced drop was at the elementary level. Kindergarten class totals of 687 students are the smallest in decades—the sixth consecutive year below 800.

At a recent School Committee discussion, Superintendent Anna Nolin said her “gut feeling” is that the decline is driven by housing costs, noting that “the pricing of Newton means folks are purchasing houses later, when their children are already in secondary school.”

To better understand the cause, the district plans to host a realtor outreach event ahead of the April 1 enrollment deadline, but I suspect they’ll conclude Nolin’s gut feeling is correct.

Wellesley’s public school enrollment has also trended downward since roughly 2010, underscoring a sustained decline in school-aged households, according to the town’s Strategic Housing Plan.

The same thing is happening across much of Greater Boston.

Declining enrollment in a community matters for many reasons, including the fact that state school funding is tied directly to per-pupil counts.

It also suggests that, unless the trend is reversed, it's reasonable to evaluate consolidation or closures, especially before calling for tax overrides.

I value your perspective.

Welcome to the new Wednesday

Finally, Larry David says it’s too late to say you know what.

And JLL tells us today is the new Wednesday.

After analyzing five years of office attendance data in major U.S. cities, the commercial real estate firm found that Friday in-person attendance now looks a lot like Wednesday did in 2022.

That’s notable because Wednesday has been the king of in-person days since workers began drifting back after the pandemic shutdown.

“The attendance rate on Mondays is now as high as it was on Wednesdays in 2023” and “offices are now almost as full on Fridays as they were on Wednesdays in 2022,” writes Callum Borchers at the Wall Street Journal (gift link)

Another study shows that overall attendance rates continue to tick up. Now, more than 50% attendance is the norm, which wasn’t the case last year.

Are you in the office today?  If you’re a hybrid worker, be interested if your workplace habits have changed.

That’s what you need to know for today— National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day— unless you need to know what you can do to possibly keep that holiday gift you’re returning from ending up in a landfill.

P.S. Still thinking about attending our Winter Celebration on Wednesday? Save $10 by registering before Monday.

Go Pats!

Greg Reibman (he, him)

President & CEO

Charles River Regional Chamber

617.244.1688

Max Woolf contributed to today’s newsletter.