Following a false start earlier this year, the city reached agreement to bring the world renowned start-up accelerator MassChallenge to Newton. Globe report here
Instead of an earlier plan to open in Newton Centre, the innovation center will be located at former Newton Corner Library.
Hooray and well done to the city! Pity for Newton Centre but congratulations to Newton Corner. Total aside, does anyone know what is going into the old Italian place next to the old Scott Trade place?
Has anyone seen the details of the deal? I hope the Newton Corner Library building is in better shape than the Newton Centre building is…and that Mayor Warren has negotiated a win-win deal with MassChallenge this time. If so, this is really good news. We sorely need to bring more creative thinking into our midst. Intellectual capital is the best kind for a substantial ROI!
Was the opportunity to lease this facility made available to all worthy organizations, or was this a special deal offered only to MassChallenge, absent of a competitive tender process?
Michael, the Mayor informed the Board of Aldermen by email that he has entered into a licensing agreement with MassChallenge, but did not disclose any financial terms. A license gives the permission of the owner, in this case the City, to an individual or an entity to use real property for a specific purpose. Unlike a lease, it does not transfer an interest in the real property. I assume this was done in order to circumvent the real property reuse process, which requires approval from the Board of Aldermen, as well as the public bidding process.
Well that’s certainly the apogee of sliminess.
Also: gotta love the placement of this article in the Globe on the first Tuesday morning in August.
@Ted
The assessors database has the library use as MUNICIPAL IMPROVED, and zoned as PUB(lic).
Would it need a change for MassChallenge to operate there?
You might very well think that, Michael. But I couldn’t possibly comment. It is actually the same thing the Mayor wanted to do with the Newton Centre Library. The bone of contention there was the severely deteriorated condition of the building and the lack of a commitment from the Mayor to fund necessary rehabilitation and preservation costs. The Newton Corner Library, where Parks & Recreration is now located, has already received a substantial amount of Community Preservation Funds for preservation and rehabilitation and is in much better shape. The condition of the Parks & Recreation department’s new headquarters at the Kennard Estate, however, is not nearly as good as the Newton Corner Library.
This is a excellent news for the city.
The Globe article has been updated with a few more snippets, most notably a statement by Dori Zaleznik implying that MassChallenge is somehow a “community group,” (!) as well as the revelation that “while there is a monthly fee to cover utilities and a portion of maintenance, the city will not charge rent.”
That certainly takes the cake.
I don’t know the mayor, but in my two years in Newton I’ve gotten the clear impression that the guy quite arrogantly has no respect for the democratic process. It would be one thing if he did something to indicate that he knows better than the rest of us, but from everything I’ve heard, just the opposite is the case.
@Ted H-M: Now there’s an issue that the Charter Commission could reasonably debate! What are the checks and balances between BOA and the Mayor on all the processes to determine the re-use of City property? Seems like sale, lease and license of City property have different paths they can follow. Are those three mechanisms for change-in-use the only mechanisms available or are there also other (perhaps more arcane) ones? Where does the BOA and/or the community (“electorate”) have its input into these new uses? Do all paths require property to be declared surplus for a change in use? What about improvements made by/for the tenant? I like the idea of MassChallenge settling into Newton, but I had imagined a more open discussion had taken place already and that I had just missed it!
I just read the Globe update…The license is for two yers. A two-year agreement to get the incubator into the City is not insane. I was worried that it was for 99 years, renewable for 99 years! And Nancy Hyde, Newton’s Economic Development Director will have her offices right there, where she can help those small, new businesses find their homes within Newton’s borders. Sounds like a good plan!
years, not yers
I don’t have strong feeling either way about MassChallenge in Newton Corner. I think MassChallenge is a terrific organization, and I’m impressed that Mayor Warren usually finds a way to get what he wants. The downside is Warren’s willingness to always sell the city short in every real estate deal he’s involved with. He took pennies on the dollar for Austin Street, and it appears he’s not even getting pennies from Mass Challenge. The problem is that Setti’s political aspirations are often at odds with Newton’s best interest, and he prioritizes things in that order.
@Mike: a 2 year license is a small lure…unless it’s renewable for 196 more! If MassChallenge locates here, is successful at using Newton’s IQ capital to nurture and expand new businesses locating in Newton and shows solid signs of growing our tax base, then we all win. The devil is in the details…I guess we will have to read the license to find out!
By no stretch of the imagination is MassChallenge a community organization. Its goal is to incubate private/ companies which will then go out and make profits for themselves without any obligation to either MassChallenge or the community. These companies are completely free to fly away to San Jose if they wish. Could somebody please tell me how this is good policy?
Regardless, if the sponsors of MassChallenge think that this is a good business model, then bully for them, but in no way should the community be offering up its limited resources to support this. If you’re a big supporter of MassChallenge’s support of capitalist entrepreneurship and the startup companies’ ability to do whatever they please, then you should also be a big supporter of the public sector staying the heck out of the deal.
And what’s even more infuriating is that apparently all it takes to snooker the starstruck mayor into such boneheaded deals is a business class seat next to him during an 11-hour flight to Tel Aviv. I would have love to have overheard that conversation, which I imagine played out as follows:
“You know what would be great? Is if Newton were to give us free offices so I could walk to work.”
“No problem; we’ll make it happen one way or the other.”
“But don’t you need BoA approval and/or some sort of public hearing process? I mean, there are probably a bunch of other nonprofits that could also benefit from free city-owned space.”
“Nah, you just watch me; I’m gonna make it happen.”
Michael: There are, indeed, many worthy charitable institutions that could be housed, rent-free, in the Newton Corner Library. BUT, charity begins at home! Newton has been losing its commercial tax base as a percentage of total tax revenue for years. That formerly large tax base enabled Newton to grow responsibly while keeping residential tax charges at a more modest level. Now the tables are turned. We have a small commercial tax base and the individual residential tax payer bears much more of the burden. Mayor Warren is right on target when he eases a BUSINESS that generates BUSINESSES into our community. No, there is no rope to tie up the new businesses to remain in Newton, but if the City works with them to find suitable locations in our borders, to facilitate the permitting and licensing process for them and to welcome them as revenue generators into our midst, then they might stay! However, I still think we need to see the terms of the license!
Sallee, my primary concern is fairness: there should be a competitive tender process for organizations that want to use the space. And there should be community input. We shouldn’t be giving away free office space to MassChallenge just because a handful of people in this town evidently think they’re a sexy organization.
As for MassChallenge somehow building up our economy over the long term, I don’t buy it. If any of the incubator companies hit the big time, you can be sure that Newton would be the last place they’d consider setting up shop, even if we were to try to blackmail them with some ridiculous special tax exemptions like the suckers in Needham did.
We can’t give away public resources for free, without a transparent decision-making process; and we especially can’t do it based on the whimsical and non-binding expectation that the beneficiaries will feel some kind of loyalty to us ten years down the road.
As I recall, the incubated (Is that a word? If not, it should be!)businesses were being given a one-year ripening period after a stint as embryos in Boston that would allow them to mature to workability. That would mean that after 1 year Newton would begin to see results if there were to be any! With a two-year lease, I think the risk might be small enough to see good results or boot them! That’s why I’d like to see the terms of the license. My main concern here is with the opportunity to build our economic strength with little risk to the City. Too bad the process (presumably) allows an end-run around transparency and community involvement. I wouldn’t call MassChallenge sexy, I would call them an opportunity knocking at our door.
I welcome Mass Challenge coming to Newton but am very concerned about the relocation of the Parks and Recreation Department to Kennard. I hope the Administration will put up the funds needed to ensure that the Parks and Rec Department folks who were displaced have more than adequate facilities – anything less would be bad for morale.
Michael – As I recall, you claim to be new to the community.
Over the years, we’ve had a lot of people come to this forum and create a “persona” of some sort. Eventually these folks give themselves away – by changing voice (the teacher in me has a keen ear for that one), suddenly taking on an issue with excessive anger usually directed at an individual, or supporting certain candidates for office. Your anger doesn’t ring true to me.
Carrie appears to me to be a newcomer who is genuinely trying to figure out how his/her new community functions. I appreciate his/her questions and value his/her comments and questions and hope s/he doesn’t disappoint.
What Amy said.
@michael – whoa, take it easy big fella, I’m concerned you’re going to pop a blood vessel there. You do realize MassChallenge is actually a non-profit, right? Have you read a little about them, maybe here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MassChallenge just for a little background? I don’t have strong feelings one way or the other, but I think it’s safe to say they have a pretty good reputation at this point, and would be a positive addition to the Newton community. How about taking a deep breath and letting the thing work itself out before setting your hair on fire in the town square right away? Ask questions, definitely, I’m always a fan of that. You’ve got Detective Striar on the case, so not much is going to slip by, that’s for sure.
From the sound of it, much has already slipped by:
HL, for background you can also try this Globe article from the beginning of the year when the mayor first tried to snooker the city into a sweetheart deal for MassChallenge to use the Newton Centre library. That didn’t work out, so now we have this Tuesday-morning-in-August surprise.
And in addition to the “related posts” above, there was also this v14 post.
The library is a valuable community asset and there are many groups that would benefit from its use. The mayor can’t just decide to give the keys to a group of people whose CEO charmed him on an airplane one time. We as a community need to exhibit a little bit more fairness than that.
You think this decision was made on an airplane? You’ve got to be kidding.
Jane,
Ummm, yes.
Ummm…Ever hear of the concept of networking?
@michael – looked at the links you provided. The Globe article is pretty straightforward, I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make there. MassChallenge is well regarded, etc and for a variety of reasons the previous scheme to bring them to Newton didn’t work out. My personal opinion is that the building in Newton Centre was just too far gone and would have required a huge chunk of funding from somewhere just to be habitable. Reference to your V14 posts at the time now reminds me of your earlier position, which boils down to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtMV44yoXZ0
and your mind is obviously made up, so further conversation is kind of pointless. Why so negative, anyway? Is it that you have a problem with the Mayor, you don’t like entrepreneurs, you think bringing businesses into the community is a bad idea? I’m trying to understand your virulent hostility to this kind of project. Do you have some examples of projects you like, or how you would modify this one to make it a Good Idea? Saying no to everything gets old after a while – give me something positive that could move things forward.
HL, that “I’m against it” video was funny maybe the first 12 times it was posted here, but if you read my posts and think that it even remotely characterizes my position, then I give up.
I’ve got absolutely no problem with an alternative use of the property. But there needs to be a fair and transparent process for awarding that use. That’s my only concern here.
Maybe the Newton Food Bank, or the Silent Spring Institute, or an incubator like Smarter in the City could better use that space. But we’ll never know, because the mayor has arrogantly and undemocratically decided to give the keys to an organization that he’s evidently fond of. He tried to do it with the Newton Centre library earlier this year and failed. So now he’s decided to give it another try through the back door.
Anyway, it seems that everyone’s quite happy with this and doesn’t have any real concern about fairness. When I point out how unjust this is, people come back with condescending, ad hominem attacks that I’m a fraud, or an obstructionist. So, I officially give up.
Michael, while I am pleased to have MassChallenge in Newton, I do understand your concern about process. Five years ago, I got a call from the director of the Waban Food Pantry, telling me they had been evicted on short notice from the basement of the former branch library so that the police department could use the space. The Food Pantry had been there for many years, and I had helped them in the past with resolving some logistical issues. Their eviction was a total shock, as there had been a total lack of communication and transparency about the City’s plans.
Eventually, the Food Pantry and I worked something out with former chief administrative officer Bob Rooney, and they have continued to operate out of that space ever since. The Food Pantry is currently looking into alternative space because over the years their operations have grown in response to increased need in the community and the basement is not handicapped accessible. I am docketing an item so that the Board of Aldermen can have an open and transparent discussion with the Administration about it.
Michael, the Marx Brothers are always funny.
Ted, for clarification sake, are you docketing an item to address the Food Pantry’s expansion needs (the paragraph in which you mention docketing an item) or to address the MassChallenge issue?
While I like the idea of a 2 year license for MassChallenge (if the terms allow the City to reassess the license and, perhaps, not renew after 2 years), I certainly hope that the process for determining re-use of municipal buildings in any form (sale, rental, lease, license or any other legal definition) would be an issue that the Charter Commission, if approved by the voters, would investigate closely and discuss openly! And, if the voters decide not to open the can of worms allowing review of our City Charter, then I hope the BOA uses any mechanism in its power to clarify this process and, if necessary, petition the State to change it.
@Patrick, my item is about the Food Pantry.
@Sallee, message received and understood.
I am very excited about having MassChallenge in Newton. However, I am in total agreement with Michael. This Mayor has a nasty little habit of pushing things through without following appropriate procedure (best example: cutting of the public comment period on Engine 6 before the HUD-required amount of time). It is an issue that has plagued his entire “transparent” (not) time in office and the City, I am afraid, will long remember this Mayor. I hope that the Charter Commission will carefully examine and reassess guidelines surrounding the role of the Mayor.
Ted, thank you for your work on behalf of the Food Pantry. How awful that they nearly were evicted! Sad that they need to grow to bigger space but I am glad that you are advocating for them.
@michael – enough with the crocodile tears. I linked the “I’m against it” clip not because it’s new or because it’s funny, but because it characterizes a certain attitude in a way that is very incisive and insightful. It also happens to be very funny, and probably its humor content is related to how well it portrays this attitude. I’ve looked back over your posts on this iteration of MassChallenge and the previous one (Newton Centre building) and sorry, the perception I come away with is that you just don’t like anything the mayor does. Phrases like “starstruck mayor” and “boneheaded deal” and on and on, just leave one with a feeling that you’re against it, where “it” is anything the mayor does. Maybe that’s not what you intend, but your tone, pejorative language, unrelenting negativism, all end up creating that perception, and as the saying goes, perception is reality. If you really want to convince people, or advocate for a different point of view, or whatever, you really ought to think about how you are coming across. If not, and you just want to enjoy yourself throwing stones at the mayor, hey, that’s fine too, but don’t whine about being ‘misunderstood.’ By the way, the whole question of this being an ‘undemocratic’ process is totally irrelevant. The democratic part of the process is called an election. Once you elect a mayor, his job is being the chief executive of the city government. That means he makes decisions. You don’t like the decisions he makes, throw the bum out next election. It does not, however, mean that every decision has to go through some sort of public hearing, and town hall, and whatever other ‘democratic’ process you think he needs to follow. If he is doing something illegal, something not permitted to the mayor by the City Charter, or otherwise improper, fine, call it out. I can hear the criticism now, if folks wanted him to do something, and he called a public hearing – accuse him of dragging his feet and being indecisive.
Hi HL, thanks for your feedback. A few thoughts –
My point in providing those links was to try to say, as politely as possible: Thanks very much for directing me to the Wikipedia article and explaining to me that MassChallenge is a nonprofit, that was very useful. But you didn’t take the hint apparently. Sorry; I’ll be more direct next time.
…or in any way relevant to the discussion…
I can’t get the Tab website to load without crashing my computer, we don’t have cable TV for local access, and I’ve been to Newton City Hall for a total of maybe 5 minutes in my entire life, so quite frankly I’ve got very little idea what the mayor does. But when I learn (from the only local news outlet that I follow) that a local leader is acting in an arrogant, improper, and unfair way, then I’m inclined to complain.
Sorry, not true.
Thanks! That’s what I’m trying to do.
Cheers
Not buying it, Michael. No one moves into a community and takes on a “hate…” attitude in such a short time. As you well know, we’ve been there and done that with other folks on this blog.
@Jane: Sorry for this question…but who is Carrie and how does he/she figure in this discussion? That reference made me feel like either like an outside insider or an inside outsider!
Ironic that HL Dewey should be criticizing “unrelenting negativism” and “pejorative language”, but I actually agree with him here. I’ve worked with John Harthorne and MassChallenge pretty extensively in my role as director of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, out of which MassChallenge was born, and I have tremendous respect for both John and his accelerator. They are a welcome addition to the city as a potential anchor for an entrepreneurial ecosystem and both John and the mayor deserve credit for guiding this project to completion.
I can’t help but recall the Needham Town Meeting debate over whether to grant an exclusive five-year, 76 percent tax break to TripAdvisor.
Never mind that the tax break came at the direct expense of Needham’s public schools, public safety, and infrastructure, and never mind that it was patently unfair because it was offered only to TripAdvisor.
Instead, we were treated to Needham Town Meeting members pushing each other out of the way to get to the microphone and tell us about how enamored they were with TripAdvisor, what a great company it was, how it had helped them choose a romantic hotel in Montmartre on their first-ever trip to Paris, how blessed the little people of Needham were to have this incredible world-class organization, etc. In fact as I recall they actually ran out of time and not all of the Town Meeting members were able to get their obsequious comments in. It was pretty nauseating stuff.
And when I criticized the inherent unfairness of an exclusive tax break, it turned out that I was the “provincial” one (as per Greg Reibman):
Just because MassChallenge is the world’s most amazing organization and we should evidently be bending over to shine their shoes, does not mean that they, out of probably hundreds of worthy organizations, should get exclusive free use of a public facility. Let’s please show some fairness and have a transparent request for proposals. If MassChallenge wins, then great for them!
LOL, Sally! Carrie is a blogger who joins the conversation every once in a while and from her questions and comments, it’s clear she’s new to the city and wants to learn more about how her community functions. She expresses concerns about what various issues, but never goes for the jugular.
Thanks, Jane! I’ll wear leather turtlenecks near Michael from now on!
@Michael: I’ve been thinking about your arguments about transparency in the process of assigning a new use to a municipal property. Admittedly, I am a pragmatist. We have a situation here, apparently, whereby the Mayor can legally assign the use of the Newton Corner Library via a license. No BOA approval necessary. You and I and the rest of the citizens of Newton are “at fault” here. This is not a new power recently granted to the Mayor…very likely he has had it all through his tenure. Our fault is not knowing about it and challenging it before its use if we didn’t like it!
Now, more pragmatism: In order to change the licensing ability of the Mayor, we would have to 1) Ask the Charter Review Commission to study this and recommend a change if they found it reasonable to do so, or 2) look for a Charter Change directly (via the BOA) from the State. Either process would take about two years! But…what Mayor Warren has done is done for those two years. Presumably, he has legally licensed the building to MassChallenge for that period. Two years from now, provided there is no license extension provision unable to be legislated away, we can remove that “power” from our Mayor if enough of us feel it is in the best interests of Newton to do so! But, in the meantime, MassChallenge will have a temporary trial in our hometown to grow its business babies and maybe some of those babies will settle here! As to your argument that the license to MassChallenge is not fair…I raised 3 happy and successful children who will tell you that I admonished them daily that “Life is not fair; there is no justice; you cannot win; and everything good causes cancer.” And those words have never disappointed or stopped them!
@Sallee, I think you summarized the rights and options well. As a matter of procedure, sometimes it makes sense to empower an individual with the responsibility to say grant a license to an organization and other times it is better to subject the decision to license to a larger committee entity like the BOA. I think this would be the question posed to a Charter Review Commission, should one be elected. As a candidate for the commission who has expressed an open mind on all questions, I can see benefits to both sides of this argument.
In many business situations, confidential negotiations and fast turnaround may be needed to get the organizations to enter Newton and share their benefits. Some organizations may be hesitant to enter a protracted process and look to consider other locations. If time is less important to a deal, the BOA committee(s) process would potentially improve the outcomes finding the best possible tenant.
This may come down to a question of opportunity costs where we have a short term tenant now with little committee deliberation and use this as an opportunity to engage the BOA and other stakeholders to lay out a vision for use of municipal properties i nthe future.
Jane, I never got back to you on your following points:
and
I understand. Because after all, no real Newtonite would ever waste time complaining about something that didn’t directly impact his or her property value or somehow further his or her personal political ambitions. It just doesn’t work that way.
Here I am, claiming to be “worried about fairness.” Yeah, sure! And next I’ll probably be trying to sell you Echo Bridge!
Light finally dawns on my Marble Head. Who’s all for expansion of mayoral powers? Raise your hand!
Sometimes it seems that folks need to stop, take a deep breath, and recall those Civics 101 classes. We have some very basic principles upon which our governmental institutions at the local, state and federal level have been crafted. Three branches, separation of powers, checks and balances. Executive branch runs the day to day operations, administers government, enforces the laws, makes decisions. Everybody with me so far? Oh, you don’t like what a particular mayor, governor, or president just did about something you care about. OK, complain directly to the executive. Didn’t get satisfaction from that? Talk to your legislator. Couldn’t get any resolution from that option? Bring suit in the relevant court of jurisdiction. Still not happy? Dump some tea in the harbor, hold a sign out by the roadside, circulate a petition, whatever. But this is really going off the deep end over a relatively minor question:
Sure, let’s increase the viscosity of local government by a factor of ten and take even longer to make decisions than we do now. Do we all understand what the word delegate means? You elect someone through a democratic process, and then they are going to carry out certain responsibilities, defined and documented ahead of time, on your behalf. Don’t like em, don’t vote for em. Unhappy with what they’ve done, elect someone else.
HL Dewey is right. Let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater. If the Board of Aldermen micromanages every single thing that the Mayor does, it is not necessarily serving the public good. Community organizations like the Food Pantry, the Newton Schools Foundation, and others over the years have used public buildings to serve the community. Not to mention the hundreds of licenses and permits issued every year for residents to use parks & playgrounds for sports or cookouts. Do we really want to have a public hearing and a 2/3 vote of the aldercritters before we allow the city to issue these permits and licenses? I think not.
When there are important public issues raised by a particular licensee or use, then I can see getting the legislative branch involved. Or if the Mayor or School Committee has to come to the Board of Aldermen to approve funding, then it is legitimate for the BOA to ask questions and hold a public hearing if required by ordinance (as with site plan approval). MassChallenge, I think, will serve a community purpose by promoting economic development in the City. My only concern about this particular licensee is that startups will move to Needham or Waltham once they find investors. But that is not a reason not to do this. It IS, however, a reason we should be doing some master planning around our office parks and economic corridors, instead of wringing our hands all the time.
Anyone who has not been living under a rock knows the Mayor and I are not exactly bosom buddies. But I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt on this one. This is a short term license, so that if this Mayor moves on in two years, the next Mayor can decide whether to renew the license or not. It is located in an area that has easy access to the Masspike and to public transportation, and is close enough to the Charles River Mill District that a shuttle could connect the two to leverage their complementary activities. And, thanks to CPA funds approved by the BOA, the Newton Corner Library is in much better condition than the Newton Centre Library, which was where the Mayor originally wanted to put MassChallenge, over the objections of the aldermen from the ward.
If there is any concern I have about this particular move, it is that this is the third time in the past few years that Parks & Recreation has had to pull up stakes and concentrate on moving instead of its core mission. The Kennard Estate is not an upgrade in quarters, and the location is not particularly convenient. But I am very much looking forward to Parks & Recreation making its home at Horace Mann, once the schools are reconfigured in a few years. Being right next to the Halloran Sports Complex and the Boys & Girls Club offers far greater opportunities for collaboration and synergy.