Northland project is back in business!
Northland project is back in business!
Good morning, friends,
Slashing federal research grants will have dire financial consequences for our region’s businesses and workers.
But losing opportunities to achieve breakthroughs in medicine, climate, agriculture, AI and other sectors is a loss for everyone everywhere.
That’s why we were pleased to be invited by our colleagues at the Boston Chamber to join a national coalition of business organizations that aims to advocate for maintaining robust federal research funding levels.
So far, more than 50 chambers and business organizations in 29 states have signed onto the Business for Federal Research Funding Coalition, with more joining daily.
It’s hard for businesses in blue states to be heard on this issue. We hope our concerns will transcend the partisan divide by being part of this nationwide coalition.
Nonprofits worry for their future and for those they serve
Nearly every nonprofit organization surveyed in a new MassINC poll believes Trump administration policies will be bad for Massachusetts, bad for nonprofits, and bad for the populations they serve.
Seventy-seven percent of respondents say the state will be “much worse off” under the new administration, with just 2% saying the state will be better off.
The same number (77%) also believe the populations they serve will be “much worse off.”
Overall, 64% expect demand for their nonprofit’s service to increase; 29% are unsure, while 65% believe the federal administration will make it “much harder” to do their work.
A majority (58%) of respondents anticipate funding cuts under the new administration; 8% have already lost funding.
Even nonprofits that do not receive federal funding worry about downstream effects as philanthropic resources shift and become more competitive.
The poll was conducted in collaboration with the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network and the Boston Foundation.
Northland project is back in business!
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Northland Development’s request to scale back its project along Needham Street due to the collapse of the office market was finally approved by the Newton City Council last night, 19-4.
To hear the dissenting councilors (Block, Oliver, Malakie and Wright), one might think the Newton-based company had somehow hoodwinked the city (including voters who supported the project by a wide margin in a 2020 referendum) into supporting some
of nefarious arrangement, or that office demand would magically spring back “in six months.”
Truth is, this project remains a great deal for Newton.
Northland is contributing $1 million toward the construction of a public splash park; $1.85 million toward a sewer infrastructure program; $5 million for off-site traffic and transportation improvements; and $1.5 million toward the construction of the new Countryside School.
Plus, there will be free-to-everyone weekday shuttle buses and 96,000 SF of thoughtfully curated restaurants, shops and other retail, along with all the commensurate property and meals taxes.
Most importantly — I repeat, most importantly — it provides 822 very nice places for people to live, including 145 permanently affordable apartments.
And that’s worth celebrating.
Needham debates road diet while Newton’s moves ahead
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While a proposal to place Great Plain Ave. in Needham’s downtown on a road diet has generated considerable angst, Newton is moving forward with a similar project along Washington Street this spring.
The Washington Street road diet isn’t as grandiose as the mind-blowing vision urban planner Jeff Speck proposed for the corridor back in 2017.
However, the Washington Street Pilot still reduces the number of travel lanes from two to one lane in each direction, includes a shared-use path, safer pedestrian crossings and plantings.
The work will be phased in between now and the fall, aiming to “bring safety, accessibility, and beautification improvements” from Chestnut Street in West Newton to Lowell Avenue in Newtonville.
Tuesday grab bag
- Last night, Needham Town Meeting approved the minimally compliant “Base Zoning Plan,” enabling the town to meet the MBTA Communities law requirements.
- The James Beard Foundation has named Doug Williams, creator of MIDA Newton and other restaurants, to its 20 chefs to watch list. (BBJ)
- NFIB hosts a webinar “How Small Businesses Should Prepare for Stricter Immigration Enforcement,” tomorrow (Weds.) at noon. Register.
- The Office for Refugees and Immigrants also hosts a virtual webinar, Thurs. (May 8) at 3 p.m. to inform employers about their rights and responsibilities when hiring and retaining work-authorized immigrant and refugee employees.
- Toll Brothers has sold the 390-unit apartment complex, the Kendrick in Needham, for $182 million, which comes to about $467,000 per unit. (BBJ)
- Through this Sunday (May 11), Wellesley in Bloom features floral displays, decorated bikes and in-store events across Wellesley, Linden, and Church Squares.
- After five years of construction at the Natick Center train station, the MBTA says the $40 million in accessibility updates will finally be complete this year. (Natick Report)
- Tomorrow is the last day to purchase an ad for our May 14 Spring Business Breakfast program book.
- Here are gift links to two Wall Street Journal articles: “Where home prices are rising the most nationwide” (care to guess?) and how Boston’s soft office market is raising residential tax rates.
- Congratulations to the Boston Globe for earning three 2025 Pulitzer Prize finalist recognitions.
- In a Newton Beacon op-ed, City Councilor Andreae Downs takes a stand on the Newton school budget stalemate and the need to “allow for more housing.”
- The Beacon also takes a step back in time to tell the story of the Newton city employee who took on Nazi Germany's Boston consul over a parking violation back in 1940. Oh, turns out, the scofflaw was a spy.
Newton considers inclusionary zoning changes
The Newton City Council is considering updates to its rules that require developers to set aside a certain number of units in market-rate developments as income-restricted affordable housing, known as inclusionary zoning (IZ)
All four of our chamber communities and at least half of the cities and towns in Greater Boston have some form of inclusionary zoning on the books. The polices have helped create thousands of income-restricted apartments statewide, reports the Globe’s Andrew Brinker.
But at a time when housing is so expensive to build, interest rates are high and access to capital is scarce, IZ requirements in Cambridge, Boston and other communities “may be backfiring, making otherwise profitable projects too costly to build and stopping them before shovels hit the ground,” Brinker writes.
“Put another way, a policy aimed at generating affordable housing may actually be preventing it,” he adds.
In Newton, at least one suggestion under consideration gives us pause: Lowering the city’s IZ threshold from seven to four units. If approved, even developers building modest four-unit projects will be required to include income-restricted units. (Video discussion here)
It sounds good. But the change could discourage small developers from building in Newton. It could lead to smaller projects with bigger units. It could even lead developers to reduce projects further to just two units, because building code requirements expand and raise costs at three units.
We appreciate that the city is looking for ways to create the affordable homes we so desperately need. But we caution city councilors to be careful of changes that could have unintended consequences.
If you develop small multifamily projects, we’d welcome your perspective.
Watertown and Wellesley recognized for climate efforts
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Finally, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll was in Watertown last week to recognize Watertown, Wellesley and 17 other municipalities as Climate Leader Communities.
The program encourages municipalities to lower municipal emissions, maximize the efficiency of buildings and transportation and slash energy costs.
Certified communities can apply for grants of up to $1.15 million for projects that reduce municipal emissions.
Appropriately, the event was held on the site of the new Watertown High School, which will be the nation’s first Net Zero LEED 4.0 Platinum Certified high school.
Watertown News and the Swellesley Report have more.
And that’s what you need to know for today — National Nurses Day — unless you need to know when the world’s tallest dog met the world’s tiniest.
Starting this week, we’re launching a new “Wednesday grab bag” newsletter. The full “Need to Knows” newsletter returns Friday.
RIP Skype
President & CEO
Charles River Regional Chamber
617.244.1688
Max Woolf contributed to today’s newsletter.
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