The Boston Globe - 31.07.2019

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019 The Boston Globe Business B9

25

THEBOSTONGLOBE

Indexof publicly traded companiesin Massachusetts

Mixed corporate earnings helped drag major stock indexes
slightly lower, pulling the market farther from its recent re-
cord highs for a second straight day. Reports from Under
Armour, Dish Network, Corning, HCA, Beyond Meat, and
others weighed on the market. Capital One slumped after
the bank said 100 million people had some personal data
stolen by a hacker. Apple climbed 3 percent in after-hours
trading after its latest results beat estimates. Builders also
bucked the decline as D.R. Horton posted strong results
and more new-home orders. This week’s pullback came as
investors looked ahead to an update from the Fed Wednes-
day. It’s expected to cut its benchmark interest rate, the first
time in a decade, to help inoculate the economy against a
downturn. ‘‘There’s just a lot of confusion on whether is
there really going to be a rate cut,’’ said Karyn Cavanaugh,
at Voya. Even with the market pullback this week, indexes
are still poised to end July with solid gains. The S&P 500 is
up 2.4 percent for the month, the Nasdaq 3.3 percent, and
the Dow 2.3 percent. Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-
year Treasury rose to 2.06 percent from 2.05 percent.

Markets

Stocks slip a second straight day

DOW JONES industrial average

NASDAQ Composite index

S&P 500 index

Globe 25 index

SOURCE:BloombergNews

United States.

“We remain excited to bring

an innovative approach to ur-

ban living in Boston and be-

yond,” said Andrew Flynn, chief

executive at Scape North Amer-

ica. “As we look to potential

projects in Somerville, we are

fully committed to a transpar-

ent process that engages all

stakeholders as we move for-

ward on specific plans over the

next few years.”

Should Scape propose some-

thing even half the size of its

Fenway project on the eight-

tenths-of-an-acre site on Elm

Street, it would be the largest

development in Davis Square in

recent years.

Rents in the neighborhood

have escalated, thanks in part

to an influx of graduate stu-

dents and young professionals.

But it has retained some of its

low-key vibe and longstanding

uSCAPE

Continued from Page B6

local businesses, even as other

student-centric areas such as

Harvard Square have changed

dramatically in recent years.

The businesses in the build-

ings Scape acquired remain

open, and a spokeswoman said

the company is “open to discus-

sions” with tenants about them

staying put. Owners of The Bur-

ren, a popular bar and music

club for more than 20 years, did

not immediately return a mes-

sage Tuesday.

It’s unclear how Somerville

might respond to the prospect

of student-only housing in Da-

vis Square. Neighbors of Scape’s

proposed Fenway site have

been loudly critical of the plan,

saying it violates zoning and

will bring more students to a

part of town already crowded

with them. Officials with the

Boston Planning & Develop-

ment Agency raised similar

concerns.

Meanwhile, Somerville has

stepped up affordable housing

requirements and tenant pro-

tection rules in recent years.

There are questions about how

those regulations might apply

to Scape’s nontraditional leas-

ingstructure,underwhichresi-

dents sign a 51-week lease — of-

ten for a shared dorm-like suite

— with full onsite services and

amenities aimed at older un-

dergraduate and graduate stu-

dents.

Scape executives have met

with city planning staff to “pres-

ent some preliminary ideas,”

said George Proakis, director of

Somerville’s Office of Strategic

Planning and Community De-

velopment, but he suggested

that many more conversations

are in the future.

“We have not received a for-

mal application, which would

come after an inclusive public

process with the Davis Square

neighborhood... that we also

look forward to participating

in,” Proakis said in a statement.

Scape has said that it plans

to invest $1 billion or more in

student housing in and around

Boston. Along with its proposed

project on Boylston Street, the

company paid $39 million in

April to buy the Trans National

Building along the Massachu-

setts Turnpike in the Fenway.

Real estate professionals with

knowledge of the matter say

Scape has a contract to acquire

a parking lot on Beacon Street

that’s now owned by Boston

Children’s Hospital. It’s also re-

portedly considering other sites

in Somerville and perhaps

Cambridge.

Scape’s $9.75 million lease

in Davis Square was first re-

ported by real estate trade pub-

lication Banker & Tradesman.

Tim Logan can be reached at

[email protected]. Follow

him on Twitter at

@bytimlogan.

Developer could remake Davis Square

The agency is also ramping

up efforts to get people to the

airport by public transit, name-

ly by increasing its subsidies for

the Logan Express buses be-

tween the Back Bay and the air-

port.

Before May, the trip cost

$7.50 each way. As of May 1,

the fare dropped to $3 from

Back Bay Station to the airport,

and is now free from the air-

port to Back Bay. As a result,

ridership on those shuttle bus-

es essentially doubled in June

from a year ago. (Massport is

eyeing new Logan Express lo-

cations, too, including a spot

near North Station.)

And beginning in October,

Massport will require all Uber

and Lyft pickups and most of

the dropoffs to take place in

central garage locations in-

stead of at the terminals. The

hope is to curb the number of

uLOGAN

Continued from Page B6

“deadhead” trips — ride-hailing

cars with no passengers —

along the airport’s roadways.

(About 5 million of the 12 mil-

lion ride-hailing vehicle trips

last year at Logan had no pas-

sengers.)

Massport officials anticipate

up to 47.6 million passengers a

year at Logan by 2024, a 17

percent increase from 2018.

Houssam Sleiman, director of

capital programs and environ-

mental affairs, said the airport

was built in its current configu-

ration for a considerably small-

er number.

Sleiman said these projects

represent the most construc-

tion work happening at Logan

at one time in the two-plus de-

cades he has been with Mass-

port: “At the end of the day,

when we finish the work in

about three years, this airport

will be in very good shape for

serving passengers.”

Of the “Logan Forward”

projects, the roadway rear-

rangement between terminals

B and C has the potential to be

the most disruptive to drivers.

The goal is to separate the vehi-

cle traffic that flows to the two

terminals, to fix the backups as

drivers leaving Terminal B

overlap those heading to Ter-

minal C.

Work on this $200 million

project began earlier this year,

but drivers probably won’t see

much disruption until this fall.

It could take up to three years

to complete.

The Terminal E expansion is

the most expensive of these

projects, totaling $680 million.

Massport will add seven gates

to the terminal’s 12 existing

gates over the next four years,

and put a flashy, more modern-

looking roof on the terminal.

Traffic at the international ter-

minal has soared as more over-

seas operators choose to land at

Logan, sometimes requiring

some planes to board or disem-

bark on the tarmac during busy

times. The additional gates

should significantly reduce the

number of outlying jets.

Massport also expects to

build a 2,000-car parking ga-

rage on a surface lot next to

Terminal E, with work starting

next spring on the $120 million

project and continuing for

about two years.

Also on the horizon: an ex-

tension to connect terminals B

and C to allow passengers to

walk from one to the other

without going back through

the security checkpoints.

That project should be done

by the end of 2021. Separately,

Massport is reconfiguring the

Terminal C curbside canopy

and upper deck to improve

traffic flow there.

Jon Chesto can be reached at

[email protected]. Follow

him on Twitter @jonchesto.

Logan projects expected to impact traffic

lanes and other transit-related

infrastructure; and $50 million

to help reduce bottlenecks on

secondary roads.

There’s even $350 million to

improve the approaches to the

Bourne and Sagamore bridges

over the Cape Cold Canal.

The governor’s bill also goes

on the offense by promoting

nontraditional modes of trans-

portation, including by propos-

ing $100 million for bicycle and

pedestrian networks and $25

million for water ferry terminal

construction.

And if you’re wondering

whether the infusion will cut in

half the 13-year backlog of

maintenance repairs at the MB-

TA, well, no. But it will almost

certainly speed up some re-

pairs: The bond bill contains

measures to streamline the

procurement process and bet-

ter integrate design work with

construction.

On the policy front, Baker

has doubled down on transit

uLEUNG

Continued from Page B6

while protecting the environ-

ment by commiting up to half

of the revenue generated from

programs such as the Transpor-

tation and Climate Initiative to

pay for transit capital improve-

ments that reduce greenhouse

gas emissions. The initiative,

being developed with other

Northeastern states, aims to set

strict emissions levels and

charge a new fee on fuels to

curb pollution from vehicles.

In essence, Baker’s full-

throated support for the

initiative is his answer to where

to find significant new revenue

for the MBTA. And if any part

of the bond bill has a shot at

being transformational, it’s this

section.

Far from transformational is

the telecommuting tax credit.

Baker’s bill would give employ-

ers a tax break to encourage

more employees to telecom-

mute. Many — myself included

— are skeptical that this would

ease congestion. A lot of em-

ployers already allow at-home

work, at least part time. This

could end up being less of a be-

havior-changing incentive and

more of a tax giveaway to com-

panies that have offered tele-

commuting for years.

Let’s also hope the Baker

administration doesn’t tout the

telecommuting program as a

reasonnotto explore

congestion pricing, a system

that charges higher tolls during

rush hour (thus encouraging

people to commute at off-peak

times).

The bottom line is that

Baker’s bill isn’t going to turn

your grueling commute into a

breezy excursion, but the

proposal is a solid starting

point. For sure, it will make us

think more seriously about

what a modern transportation

system should look like — and

how we’re going to afford it.

Shirley Leung is a Globe

columnist. She can be reached

at [email protected].

Follow her on Twitter @leung.

$18b transit

bill will solve

many but not

all problems

JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF/FILE 2019

Bumper-to-bumper traffic on Interstate 93 is a common sight.

RENDERING/MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY

Massport said it will add 7 gates to Terminal E’s 12 existing gates and install a flashy, more modern-looking roof.