State Street Journal
Boston Financial Journal
Department

Real Estate

The buildings, the land, and the capital that shapes the physical landscape of the American economy.

The MBTA Communities Act: How Massachusetts Is Ending Exclusionary Suburban Zoning

The MBTA Communities Act requires 177 Massachusetts municipalities to zone for multi-family housing by right near transit stations — the most significant zoning reform in the state since 1969.

Elizabeth Marlowe · BOSTON

The Inner-Ring Renaissance: How Everett and Somerville Rewrote the Multifamily Yield Equation

How Everett and Somerville became Greater Boston's most compelling multifamily investment targets through transit, zoning reform, and institutional anchors.

Elizabeth Marlowe · BOSTON

The Conversion Fallacy: Why Office-to-Residential Rarely Works and When It Does

Floor plate geometry, mechanical systems, and acquisition basis make most office-to-residential conversions unviable. The narrow building profile that works.

Elizabeth Marlowe · BOSTON

The Micro-Fulfillment Paradox: How E-Commerce Saved the Physical Retail Store

How physical retail stores became last-mile fulfillment nodes worth more than ever — the micro-fulfillment economics reshaping commercial real estate.

Elizabeth Marlowe · BOSTON

The Last-Mile Premium: How Amazon-Era Logistics Repriced Every Warehouse Within Thirty Miles of a City

Same-day delivery economics repriced urban warehouses from commodity assets to the most supply-constrained property type in commercial real estate.

Elizabeth Marlowe · BOSTON

The Boutique Hotel Revival: How Short-Term Rental Regulation Restored an Industry

Municipal crackdowns on Airbnb redirected traveler demand to boutique hotels, producing the strongest hospitality investment returns in a decade.

Elizabeth Marlowe · BOSTON

The Fifteen-Minute Hedge: Why Mixed-Use Development Is the Only Durable Bet in Commercial Real Estate

Mixed-use development emerged as the dominant risk-mitigation strategy in commercial real estate as single-use assets proved structurally vulnerable.

Elizabeth Marlowe · BOSTON

Pricing the Tide: Climate Resilience and the Seaport Real Estate Premium

The Seaport is Boston's most expensive district — and sits six feet above the tide line. This guide explains how developers price sea level rise, sacrificial first floors, flood insurance, and the climate-adjusted return calculation.

Elizabeth Marlowe · BOSTON

Historic Preservation Meets BERDO: The Brownstone Retrofit Crisis in Back Bay

Boston's BERDO emissions ordinance forces Back Bay brownstone owners to retrofit 19th-century buildings for net-zero by 2050 — while historic preservation commissions restrict the very alterations compliance requires.

Elizabeth Marlowe · BOSTON

The Lab Space Glut: Navigating Kendall Square's Life Science Correction

Kendall Square lab vacancy rose from 1.8% to 12% as 10 million square feet of new space arrived during a biotech funding winter. This guide explains the sublease market, tenant concessions, and the recovery thesis.

Elizabeth Marlowe · BOSTON

The Boston Real Estate Market: A Complete Guide to Buying, Renting, and Investing

The Boston real estate market is among America's most expensive and supply-constrained. This guide covers neighborhoods, pricing, rental markets, investment thesis, and regulations for buyers, renters, and investors.

Elizabeth Marlowe · BOSTON