"Any REIT with a presence in Boston is doing well," Penobscot Group Inc. principal Frederick Carr tells GlobeSt.com. "The surprising thing is how difficult it is for apartment REITs to break into the market." The problem is one of approach, the locally based principal states. "Typically, when they want to break in, they'll have someone from the home office spend a day or two a week here, and that's not the way to uncover investment opportunities."
Of the apartment REITs that are doing it right, he says, the closest is AvalonBay Communities, which has a long-standing Boston office. But, with the promotion of local office head Bryce Blair to president and COO and his subsequent relocation to Virginia, Carr questions how well the trust will perform locally going forward. The move, he tells GlobeSt.com, "might hurt Boston." Blair did not return phone calls.
"The mayor will do anything to get more housing going," Carr adds. "But if REITs want to develop here, they have to get someone of sufficient capability on the ground here."
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
John Salustri
John Salustri has covered the commercial real estate industry for nearly 25 years. He was the founding editor of GlobeSt.com, and is a four-time recipient of the Excellence in Journalism award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.
