March 20, 2019 

Over 250 attendees gathered for the 2nd Annual South of Boston Summit hosted by the New England Real Estate Journal & the South Shore Chamber of Commerce to hear from key stakeholders about real estate development throughout the region. 

The program included a keynote address from Rich Beal of A.W. Perry, panel discussions on changing commercial real estate and how the South Shore is attracting various business in the region as well as a roundtable update on the Hanover Crossing project at the Hanover Mall. Attendees heard from Peter Abair of MassEcon, Patrick Brady of Cornerstone Realty Capital, Tim Cahill of Quincy Chamber of Commerce, David Ellis of Ellis Realty Advisors, Peter Forman of South Shore Chamber of Commerce / South Shore Economic Development Corporation, Ian Frenette of the Boston Cannons, David Gilmore of Pyramid Management Group (Kingston Collection), Josh Katzen of Forest Properties and Steven Kelly of Timberline Construction.

Thank you to our sponsors!
Platinum: A.W. Perry
Corporate: Ellis Realty Advisors, Timberline Construction, Inspired Technology and Communications LLC, Zaxia
Vendor: Cornerstone Realty Capital, PREP – Hanover Crossing, U.S. Pavement Services Inc., Bedford Cost Segregation, iCorps Technologies

More photos can be found in our gallery.

Key stakeholders gathered at the beginning of the month to recognize some critical leadership in the next phase of South Shore 2030’s Housing Initiative. The business voice is a critical component to moving the number on our housing goal of 44,000 new units by 2030. It isn’t only about increased housing production, but the right kind of housing in the right locations – some key housing developments and town initiatives were highlighted during the event and can be found on South Shore 2030’s housing page.  
 
Getting to that 44,000 number will take a lot of effort and leadership from community members, local officials from all 25 communities, small business, big business, all industry representatives. This is bigger than just increasing the number of homes on the South Shore – it is about building our communities and supporting the economic vitality of the region.  We have some great leadership here on the South Shore and Rockland Trust’s, Christopher Oddleifson, is leading the charge with a $35,000 contribution to support the project work.
 
Check out some of the media coverage of this announcement from the sources below.

For more information about the Housing Initiative and/or to get involved in the conversation, contact Courtney Bjorgaard at cbjorgaard@southshorechamber.org or 781.421.3915.

I attended a briefing for business groups with  Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack.  We tend to focus a lot our transportation attention on the MBTA and major highways.  My meeting was a good reminder of how much depends on local roads and bus services. 

More people are served by buses than rail lines.  As the Secretary noted we need to pay more attention to bus service but almost every improvement from changing a stop, creating bus lanes, or having necessary curb cuts for stops all require partnership with local communities.

Our own work for regional development is now moving more toward local transportation needs to travel within the region rather than just the commute into and out of Boston. 

​- Peter