James Sanna
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jamessanna.bsky.social
James Sanna
@jamessanna.bsky.social
270 followers 970 following 85 posts
Now with 90 percent less Lindeman Center 😬 frog.

Managing editor at @BankerAndTradesman.bsky.social. Massachusetts real estate, banking and some transit news. Chelsea booster. Lurker, not a fighter.

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jamessanna.bsky.social
Appreciate you giving Steve the credit, Catherine and @bytimlogan.bsky.social!

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/10/b...
Screenshot of a Boston Globe news story that reads: "Russell DeMartino, the executive vice president for Skanska USA Commercial Development in Boston, said the company is readying itself to break ground, but doesn’t have any firm plans to get started. "'We are confident about the future of office in Boston and are encouraged by recent trends that reinforce the city as our region’s economic engine,' DeMartino in a statement. 'In an evolving market, we are positioning ourselves to be ready to start at the appropriate time so that we can deliver a dynamic building to the Back Bay at 380 Stuart Street. At this time, we have not set a specific start date.' "News of the permit was first reported by Banker & Tradesman."
January 10, 2025 at 2:08 PM
jamessanna.bsky.social
Predictably, the elimination of slow zones is being called a "Christmas miracle" (by Ryan Coholan, MBTA COO/Santa Claus).

Re: this morning's Red Line mess, Eng said the 🔴 and 🟠 signals that caused it will be replaced before the World Cup comes in 2026.
MBTA GM Phil Eng and Santa Claus speak at a podium set up in the North Station subway station concourse on Dec. 23, 2024.
December 23, 2024 at 2:16 PM
jamessanna.bsky.social
It's ironic reading this as I'm headed to a rah-rah presser with the governor and GM about slow zone elimination.
Screenshot of a tweet from the MBTA. Reads: "Red Line Braintree Branch Update: Delays of about 20 minutes due to an ongoing signal issue near JFK/UMass. "Passengers at JFK/UMass should board Alewife trains on the Ashmont Platform. "Riders can use the commuter rail at Quincy Center and Braintree for alternate service."
December 23, 2024 at 12:55 PM
jamessanna.bsky.social
I'm deathly curious about why @massport.bsky.social sees fit to park its buses in the Silver Line berths at Airport Station.

Seems like every other time I'm on the SL3, there's a crowd of these things idling empty, @mbta.bsky.social, and my fellow riders have to get on/off the bus in the street.
A photo of a Massport Logan airport shuttle bus sitting empty in a bus berth at the MBTA Airport station. The photo is taken from the inside of an SL3 bus that's stopped next to it.
December 21, 2024 at 5:11 PM
jamessanna.bsky.social
In case anyone is curious why so many single-family rentals are being built these days (and funded by the big private equity folks, to the consternation of some).

This topline stat in today's John Burns newsletter shows just how compelling the business case is for SFR developers.
Screenshot of an email newsletter that reads: Headline: Starter homes cost $1,091 more per month to purchase than rent By Danielle Nguyen On average, purchasing a home now costs $1,091 more per month than renting the same property. Although this gap has narrowed from the $1,349 peak in October 2023, it remains significantly higher than the historical national average of $233. Across the top 20 single-family rental (SFR) markets, the spread between purchasing and renting a starter home ranges from $4 in Cincinnati to $1,900 in Austin. Rising unaffordability has made it harder for people to buy homes, leading to more demand for SFR homes. This means tenants are staying longer, and landlords are seeing steady rent growth with renewals.
December 13, 2024 at 10:47 PM
jamessanna.bsky.social
My profile here (as opposed to on The Other Place) promises *less* Lindemann Center frog. Not *zero* Lindemann Center frog.
The underside of a stairwell at the Lindeman Center in downtown Boston. The Brutalist concrete building's stairwells stick out from the facade in a way that looks like a frog making a 😬 face.
November 21, 2024 at 7:58 PM
jamessanna.bsky.social
Dragons love tacos...and bikes!
Members of the Chelsea Bike-Pedestrian Committee posing for a photo with a dragon holding a taco and wearing a bicycle helmet.
November 2, 2024 at 3:19 PM
jamessanna.bsky.social
When your parents clean out some boxes from the basement, they sometimes find old photos of you at your first birthday party.
An old family photo of a child in a high chair planting their face into their birthday cake.
August 19, 2023 at 8:07 PM
jamessanna.bsky.social
An absolutely *wild* Nantucket housing market/labor economy anecdote in this @BostonGlobe story about efforts to lengthen the Barnstable airport runway.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/08/11/business/cape-cod-airport-expansion/
"Ron Foster, general manager of Marine Home Center, said the home improvement store on Nantucket couldn’t operate without the Hyannis airport. Every workday, the store flies about 30 workers over to Nantucket, with four flights in the morning and four in the afternoon. It’s the only way to cope with the surging cost and slim availability of housing on the island, he said."
August 15, 2023 at 10:30 AM