Feds give $20.5M grant to aid Dorchester plan

A $100 million redevelopment in Dorchester that includes housing, a food business startup incubator and other improvements will revitalize the Quincy Corridor neighborhood and be the model for future such projects across the city, local and federal officials said.

The Quincy Corridor Choice Neighborhood Transformation Plan, fueled by a $20.5 million grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, will completely transform a four-block stretch, according to Jeanne DuBois, executive director of the Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corp.

"Today marks the start of a new era for your neighborhood," Mayor Thomas M. Menino told the crowd of people yesterday gathered outside the former Pearl Meat factory, which will become an incubator for small food businesses that are expected to create new jobs in the area. "This grant is so important to this neighborhood, it's not just about a building," said Menino. "It's how you build people's opportunities."

The project includes redevelopment of the Woodledge/Morrant Bay HUD housing development into 129 affordable family homes, and a "maker space," to connect residents with high-tech skills.

"All of a sudden you're going to see all this activity," DuBois said. "It's going to feel like more of an urban village."

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said of the five cities nationwide awarded the Choice Neighborhood grant, Boston is the first to implement its plan.

"What we saw was a deep partnership that had been working in this neighborhood for years with a very clear vision of how to bring all the pieces together," Donovan said. "We want to replicate it all over the country."

That vision of a revitalized neighborhood without gentrification and exorbitant home prices, DuBois said, should be followed in other parts of Boston, as well. The plan initially called for more housing units, but it changed once community residents said job-creating facilities, such as the food incubator, were crucial.

"If you really listen to people in the neighborhood, it's about their quality of life," she said.

Menino said the key is to target development both for current and future residents.

"The most important thing is to continue to rebuild these neighborhoods so people can continue to live in them," he said. "It's time for all of us to make sure the results are there for the community. We have to invest in people."

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The Ticker

Bloomberg: Red Sox value ranks third

Bloomberg News, taking a page from Forbes' playbook, has estimated the 2012 valuations for all 30 MLB franchises. Tops are the New York Yankees with an estimated worth of $3.3 billion, and then come the Los Angeles Dodgers at $2.1 billion. The Red Sox rank third at $2.06 billion, just ahead of the New York Mets at $2.05 billion. In all, 10 teams are tabbed as having valuations of at least $1 billion, and the average across all 30 clubs is a tidy $1 billion.

Dunkin' Brands third-quarter profit soars

The operator of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins stores said yesterday that its net income jumped 36 percent, as revenue from established U.S. locations got a lift from strong beverage and breakfast sandwich growth.

But earnings fell short of expectations, and the company said it will probably hit the low end of its 2013 forecast due to write-downs on investments in Spain.

Dunkin' Brands Group Inc. said it earned $40.2 million, or 37 cents per share, in the three months that ended Sept. 30, up from $29.5 million, or 26 cents per share, in last year's quarter.

Microsoft reports record sales

Microsoft yesterday reported record sales of $18.5 billion for its fiscal first quarter, with net income jumping by a healthy 17 percent from a year ago to $5.2 billion.

It recorded a 10 percent increase in corporate software sales, a 47 percent jump in search-related ad sales, and increased sales of Microsoft's Surface tablet after a series of price cuts.

But revenue generated from Microsoft's flagship product, Windows, fell by 7 percent in the quarter compared with the same period a year ago. Compared with the great success of Windows 7, the company's Windows 8 operating system has proven a disappointment since its release last October.

Today

 United Parcel Service Inc. reports quarterly financial results before the market opens.

 DTZ, a global property services firm, announced the promotion of senior vice president Rory Murray, left, to executive vice president in the company's Boston office. A member of the DTZ family for more than 13 years, Murray works with senior DTZ staff to provide best-in-class strategic development as well as implementation of long-term real estate plans.

 Physicians Interactive Holdings Inc., a provider of online and mobile clinical resources and solutions for health care professionals, announced the addition of John de Souza, the CEO and founder of MedHelp to its board of directors.

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Hub home inventory way down this fall

A year ago housing inventory levels statewide were down 17 percent from the previous year. Well, here we are a year later and things are pretty much the same — which isn't necessarily a bad thing. That is, unless you're a buyer looking to find a home in the city of Boston.

The fall market is typically the second busiest time of the year for real estate transactions after the spring market. Yet where is the inventory? According to Otis & Ahearn Real Estate, the downtown Boston market currently has 328 units versus 531 units at the same time last year, which is a decline of 62 percent. At the same time, the average price of sold units year to date is $727,457, up from $660,864 last year. That's a 9 percent gain. The downtown market includes these neighborhoods: Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Bay Village, East Cambridge, Charlestown Navy Yard, Chinatown, Fenway, Financial District, Leather District, Midtown, North End, South Boston, South End, Seaport, West End and Waterfront.

So where is the inventory? Private sellers seem to be more hesitant to put their homes on the market, as they have no place to go. And with an abundant supply of new development inventory just a few years ago, developers who put the brakes on projects then for various reasons, including lack of financing, are now trying to play catch up. But that will take time.

With the last new building selling out at a record pace (Millennium Place in Downtown Crossing), there's not much left on the horizon for new inventory. The bulk of inventory currently being built is to be leased and not sold, although that could change as developers see the continued need for new supply. In any case, the time frame for these projects to be built is anywhere from 30 to 48 months from breaking ground to obtaining their certificates of occupancy, so any new inventory should come in about three years.

"In the downtown market there is only 1.5 months of supply inventory," said Kevin Ahearn, president of Otis and Ahearn. "Since 2004, the city has lost 1,100 units of sales priced at under $500,000." To this end, says Ahearn, "the city and the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) are working to promote both higher density and height construction to help with this lack of lower priced inventory."

Two of the three strongest city markets (Back Bay and South End) have just 138 units between them, according to information gathered from the Multiple Listing Service Property Information Network.

Surprisingly, other than the latest bit of sluggishness in the market due to the government shutdown, which sparked a bit of fear with consumers, the market has held steady here in Boston.

According to Ahearn, "The city of Boston should have a record year in terms of overall number of transactions (with the exception of 2004 and 2005) since 1998."

Charlie Abrahams is a licensed real estate agent in Boston who works with buyers and sellers and can be reached at: Bostonrealestate@charlieabrahams.com.

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With Red Sox in World Series, TV ratings rebound

BOSTON — With the Boston Red Sox back in the World Series, television ratings jumped for the opener.

Boston's 8-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals drew an 8.6 national rating, a 14 share and 14.4 million viewers, Nielsen Media Research said Thursday.

The rating was up 13 percent from the 7.6/12 for San Francisco's 8-3 victory over Detroit last year, which was a record low for a World Series opener. Wednesday night's game was seen by 14.4 million viewers, an 18 percent increase from 12.2 million last year and the most-watched Series opener since the Giants' 11-7 win over Texas in 2010 was seen by 15 million.

Wednesday's game peaked with 16.9 million viewers during the second inning, when the Red Sox scored twice and took a 5-0 lead.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned to a program, and the share is the percentage tuned to a broadcast among the TV households with sets on at the time.

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Bank of America cutting thousands of mortgage jobs

Bank of America is cutting thousands jobs as it responds to changes in the housing market, echoing moves by other banks.

The country's second-largest bank laid off 1,200 employees this week, primarily from a unit that handles mortgage origination, company spokesman Terry Francisco said. He said the move is a response to a "significant" drop in refinancing applications that has been happening since the middle of this year.

During the fourth quarter, Bank of America plans to cut 3,000 jobs. The bulk of those will be in its unit that handles troubled mortgages, such as foreclosures or loan modifications, as the economic recovery has eased the number of borrowers in distress. Francisco said many of the cuts affect contractors who were hired during peak demand. The bank declined to specify where in the country the job cuts would take place.

The company has been cutting jobs since CEO Brian Moynihan took over in early 2010 as part of a broader strategy to make the bank easier to manage and to reduce exposure to riskier businesses.

Its total full-time employee base has shrunk to 247,943 full-time employees as of the end of its most recent quarter, down 9 percent from 272,594 at the same time last year. This includes a number of recent reductions in the same distressed borrower unit that faces cuts just ahead.

The banking job cuts go well beyond Banks of America.

The economic recovery has lessened the number of troubled mortgages nationwide. Meanwhile, the improved economy and lower interest rates boosted demand for this spring and summer's home buying season. But that activity, along with refinancing, is slowing as interest rates rise.

A number of lenders have slashed jobs in response to the changing market.

Wells Fargo said last month that it would cut 1,800 mortgage related positions after cutting about 2,300 jobs from the same unit in August. Citigroup said in September that it is slashing about 1,000 jobs in Nevada and Texas, citing decreased demand for home loans and mortgage refinancing. And SunTrust Banks Inc. said last week it will cut 800 positions in its mortgage business based on current market conditions

Shares of Bank of America Corp., based in Charlotte, N.C., slipped 4 cents to close at $14.17 amid a broader market uptick.

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FDA wants limits on most prescribed painkillers

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is recommending new restrictions on prescription medicines containing hydrocodone, the highly addictive painkiller that has grown into the most widely prescribed drug in the U.S.

In a major policy shift, the agency said in an online notice Thursday that hydrocodone-containing drugs should be subject to the same restrictions as other narcotic drugs like oxycodone and morphine.

The move comes more than a decade after the Drug Enforcement Administration first asked the FDA to reclassify hydrocodone so that it would be subject to the same restrictions as other addictive painkilling drugs. The FDA did not issue a formal announcement about its decision, which has long been sought by many patient advocates, doctors and state and federal lawmakers.

For decades, hydrocodone has been easier to prescribe, in part because it is only sold in combination pills and formulas with other non-addictive ingredients like aspirin and acetaminophen.

That ease of access has made it many health care professionals' top choice for treating chronic pain, everything from back pain to arthritis to toothaches.

In 2011, U.S. doctors wrote more than 131 million prescriptions for hydrocodone, making it the most prescribed drug in the country, according to government figures. The ingredient is found in blockbusters drugs like Vicodin as well as dozens of other generic formulations.

It also consistently ranks as the first or second most-abused medicine in the U.S. each year, according to the DEA, alongside oxycodone. Both belong to a family of drugs known as opioids, which also includes heroin, codeine and methadone.

Earlier this year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that prescription painkiller overdose deaths among women increased about fivefold between 1999 and 2010. Among men, such deaths rose about 3.5-fold. The rise in both death rates is closely tied to a boom in the overall use of prescribed painkillers.

The FDA has long supported the more lax prescribing classification for hydrocodone, which is also backed by professional societies like the American Medical Association.

But the agency's top drug regulator, Dr. Janet Woodcock, said in a statement Thursday: "The FDA has become increasingly concerned about the abuse and misuse of opioid products, which have sadly reached epidemic proportions in certain parts of the United States."

The FDA says it will formally request in early December that hydrocodone be rescheduled as a Schedule II drug, limiting which kinds of medical professionals can write a prescription and how many times it can be refilled.

The Controlled Substances Act, passed in 1970, put hydrocodone drugs in the Schedule III class, which is subject to fewer controls. Under that classification, a prescription for Vicodin can be refilled five times before the patient has to see a physician again. If the drug is reclassified to Schedule II, patients will only be able to receive one 90-day prescription, similar to drugs like OxyContin. The drug could also not be prescribed by nurses and physician assistants.

The FDA's request for reclassification must be approved by officials in other agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services.

News of the FDA decision was applauded by lawmakers from states that have been plagued by prescription drug abuse, many who have been prodding the agency to take action for months.

"Today was a tremendous step forward in fighting the prescription drug abuse epidemic that has ravaged West Virginia and our country," said Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, in a statement. "Rescheduling hydrocodone from a Schedule III to a Schedule II drug will help prevent these highly addictive drugs from getting into the wrong hands and devastating families and communities

Sen. Charles Schumer of New York noted that the FDA's own expert panel recommended the reclassification more than nine months ago.

"Each day that passes means rising abuse, and even death, at the hands of hydrocodone-based drugs," Schumer said in a statement.

Still, Thursday's action immediately sparked criticism from some professional groups that said that the tighter restrictions could have unintended consequences, such as burdening health care workers and patients.

"The FDA's reported decision will likely pose significant hardships for many patients and delay relief for vulnerable patients with legitimate chronic pain, especially those in nursing home and long-term care," said Kevin Schweers, a spokesman for the National Community Pharmacists Association.

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Somerville 3D printer co. raises Form-idable $19M

Somerville startup Formlabs has raised 
$19 million in institutional capital — a rare feat, even for a company responsible for the top-grossing tech project on Kickstarter.

The makers of the Form 1 3D printer already are expanding into an 11,000-square-foot facility in Somerville and will use the money to expand product research and development, grow customer support teams and drive international growth, said co-founder Maxim Lobovsky.

"There is still a wide open space in front of us to continue innovating and bringing incredible new products to the market," Lobovsky said. "With these new resources, we'll be able to continue to push the envelope, making extraordinary tools available around the world."

DFJ Growth led the financing round, together with Pitango Venture Capital, Innovation Endeavors and several returning angel investors.

"They have an opportunity to become a huge company in the desktop 3D printing space," said Barry Schuler, managing director of DFJ Growth in Menlo Park, Calif.

"We think that's the beginning of a big revolution in the way products are designed and manufactured."

The financing follows Formlabs' breakout Kickstarter campaign last year, when the company raised $2.95 million from thousands of backers in 35 countries for its high-performance 3D printer.

Backers on the crowdfunding site can expect greater service worldwide, new software features and continued innovation in affordable, high-performance digital fabrication tools, Lobovsky said.

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Climate’s changed at National Grid

Delivering clean, reliable, affordable energy well into the future is one of the greatest global challenges, National Grid CEO Steve Holliday told executives in Boston yesterday.

"Based on trends over the last few years, 2012 was supposed to be the year when investment in renewables globally surpassed fossil fuel generation for the first time," Holliday said during a speech before the Boston College Chief Executives' Club of Boston. "That didn't happen. Investment in fossil fuel generation started to increase again at the same time global renewable investment dollars tailed off, partly as a result of a drop in wind and solar generation costs."

The utility is "fundamentally changing how we operate" to address four areas of the global energy challenge: aging infrastructure, a revolution in energy supplies, extreme weather conditions, and an aging workforce and skills gap, according to Holliday.

The revolution in energy sources is being driven by aging power stations and wires, a growing realization of the impacts of climate and the need to reduce carbon emissions, and shale gas, according to Holliday.

The impacts of increasing extreme weather on National Grid were evident in 2011, when it "learned some hard lessons" responding to Hurricane Irene and an October nor'easter. "Our ... restoration efforts were, frankly, disappointing," Holliday said. "Our planning didn't account for the magnitude of the logistical challenges hitting our electricity and gas networks simultaneously, across three states and numerous regions. We now look at future scenarios, which include events we haven't seen before, to make sure we are better prepared."

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John Henry takes reins at Boston Globe

Red Sox owner John Henry officially took over The Boston Globe yesterday, right after a Worcester judge lifted a temporary restraining order that had blocked the $70 million cash deal since last Friday.

"The sale has been finalized," said Globe spokeswoman Ellen Clegg.

The deal had been on hold after a ruling by Worcester Superior Court Judge Shannon Frison in a class-action lawsuit brought by newspaper carriers at the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

The four named carriers in the suit had argued they were wrongly classified as independent contractors and were owed mileage and expenses, which could add up to as much as $60 million for the approximately 1,500 carriers, according to court documents.

Henry's deal, which was completed within about an hour of the release of the judge's decision, includes the Globe, Boston.com, the Telegram and all related properties, including the broadsheet's Dorchester headquarters, seen as the most valuable asset.

Henry has been tight-lipped about his short- and long-term plans for the Globe, but has frequently visited the news plant.

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Globe scribe tweets he’s ‘tired of Boston Strong’

A Boston Globe reporter tweeted he was "so tired of 'Boston Strong,' " just as marathon survivors were being honored during the seventh inning of last night's Red Sox World Series game — and came under fire from shocked tweeters who schooled the Morrissey Boulevard scribbler in sensitivity.

"So tired of 'Boston Strong,' but still inspired by the resilience of so many of those wounded in the marathon bombings," Tweeted Globe scribe Wesley Lowery as James Taylor sang "America the Beautiful" flanked by injured victims in the marathon attacks.

"Say that to the families that lost a loved one. #Classless" Tweeted @WOOKIE318 in response.

"Calling out the fact that loss has been tied to sports team and monitized makes me classless?" Lowery responded.

"As someone who had federal agents searching her garage for a terrorist I feel differently," Tweeted @karamat.

Lowery said in follow-up tweets he was "tired of" the commercialization of Boston Strong as a slogan and that it became "meaningless (for me) once it was linked to sports." But the reporter added he admired "the resilience of those recovering from the attacks."

The Tweets came just hours after Red Sox owner John Henry — whose team has a "B Strong" logo in the outfield — finalized the purchase of the Globe.

Lowery declined to comment when reached by the Herald by phone late last night.

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