Experts offer good read on Amazon’s latest buy

Experts are hailing Amazon's decision to acquire social reading website Goodreads as a brilliant move that will steer traffic — and sales — to Amazon, which started as an online bookstore and grew to become the world's largest online retailer.

The deal, which was announced Thursday and will be finalized in a few weeks, marks a move to integrate social media with the books found on Amazon's Kindle e-reader.

"Amazon has an incredible recommendations feature, but by tying in who your friends are and what they're buying, all of a sudden you'll see recommendations for those books," said Todd Van Hoosear, owner of Fresh Ground, a Cambridge social-media consulting group.

And the average person is more likely to buy a book that a friend has recommended than one a stranger has, said David Gerzof Richard, a professor of social media marketing at Emerson College.

In addition to reader reviews, other features found on Goodreads' website, including online book clubs and the ability to share passages, may also eventually be available to Kindle users.

Gerzof Richard said he wouldn't be surprised if Amazon expanded into other consumer sharing platforms such as gdgt, which has reviews of electronic goods.

"Amazon knows how powerful experienced-consumer reviews are for converting to sales," he said.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

The Ticker

Battery maker gets cute with name

Lithium ion battery maker A123 Systems is changing its corporate name to B456 Systems Inc. to satisfy one of the embattled company's obligations under an asset purchase agreement with Wanxiang America Corp.

Chinese auto parts manufacturer Wanxiang Group acquired all of the company's heavily government-subsidized assets for more than $256 million earlier this year, after the Waltham-based company filed for bankruptcy.

Lexington co. nets major funding

QD Vision, a nanomaterials product company that makes optical components for LCD applications, has closed a $20 million round of financing to expand production capacity and fund long-term company growth. The company said its Color IQ components significantly improve LCD color performance in televisions, monitors and mobile displays.

CVS CEO pay spikes 44 percent

CVS Caremark Corp.'s President and CEO Larry Merlo's pay spiked 44 percent to $20.4 million last year. In a regulatory filing, the company said Merlo's base salary rose slightly, while other benefits saw greater increases. Merlo joined the company in 1990.

Dynasil Corp. risks delisting

Watertown-based Dynasil Corp. of America is no longer in compliance with the NASDAQ stock market after the closing price for its common stock fell below $1 per share for 30 consecutive days.

The company has until Sept. 23 to regain compliance or face delisting.

Hub on Alaska's horizon

Seattle-based airline carrier Alaska Airlines has launched nonstop flights between San Diego and Boston, the sixth new city the carrier has begun serving from the California city in the past year. To celebrate, the airline is offering a $159 one-way fare available now through April 9 for travel from April 30 through June 12.

THE SHUFFLE

• Acentech Inc. of Cambridge has hired Sarah McGillicuddy, left, as director of marketing and business development. McGillicuddy previously served as director of marketing and was a business development manager at construction management firm Richard White Sons Inc.
• Cambridge-based Tokai Pharmaceuticals Inc. has promoted Jodie Morrison to the position of chief executive officer. Morrison most recently served as chief operating officer and vice president of clinical affairs for the company.
• Square 1 Bank of Boston has hired Michael Madden as senior vice president and managing director in the Boston office. Madden was previously a principal at Edison Ventures.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cape Cod lifestyle in Quincy

This free-standing single-family is part of a Nantucket-like condo development in Quincy's Marina Bay neighborhood.

The four-bedroom house at 12 Hutchinson Lane is in the 18-acre Chapman's Reach planned community, one of 152 single-families and townhouses built in 1999 and designed to resemble a Cape Cod village. Homes are set close to one another to create an urban feel that encourages walking. Transom windows ensure privacy from neighbors, with full windows facing front and back as well as into an enclosed patio. Parking garages are in alleys behind the houses.

This 3,928-square foot two-story home, one of 48 single families in the complex, has 2,400 square feet of living space on the first floor, including the master bedroom suite and is available for $1,180,000.

The well-designed two-story home, with an exterior of yellow clapboard and gray cedar shingles has a front brick walkway and covered farmer's porch. It opens into a double-height foyer with chair-rail wainscoting and maple floors.

On one side of the foyer through a marble column arch is a formal dining room with bay windows, maple floors and a wrought-iron chandelier. On the other side is a guest bedroom with a connecting marble bathroom.

But the showpiece space of the home lies straight ahead in a 25-foot-high maple-floored living room with five sets of double-tiered windows. The west-facing wall of windows looks out into a bluestone patio. In the center of the room is a gas fireplace with fluted columns and green marble surround.

The adjacent recessed-lit kitchen features ceramic tile floors, 32 maple cabinets with beige Giallo Veneziano granite counters and island with pendant lighting overhead. Stainless-steel General Electric Monogram appliances include a side-by-side refrigerator, a gas stove and a compactor. The owners recently added a Bosch dishwasher.

There's an adjacent breakfast nook with high transom windows on one side and glass doors on the other that open onto the nicely landscaped enclosed outdoor patio.

Behind the kitchen is a laundry room with a full-size washer and dryer and the hallway continues down to double doors that lead into the master bedroom suite.

The carpeted master bedroom has a vaulted ceiling with a clerestory window and glass doors out to the patio. There are two walk-in closets with built-in wardrobes. The en-suite bathroom has a white Botticino marble floor with black marble inlay. There are Corian-topped vanities on either side of the room, and a whirlpool tub and separate walk-in shower, both with white tile walls.

Off the bedroom is a hallway with direct access to a two-car garage and there are three deeded outdoor spaces.

Above the garage is a carpeted game/media room with a Tiffany-style lamp over a billiards table, which is negotiable.

A distinctive winding maple staircase from the foyer leads to two bedrooms and a study on the house's main second floor. The carpeted study overlooks the living room. The two carpeted bedrooms are on either side of a walkway that overlooks the living room and the foyer. There's a laundry closet here, as well as a full bathroom with a Fiberglas shower.

The house has an additional, uncounted 2,400-square-foot unfinished basement, with lots of storage and room for additional living space. It also houses two gas-fired forced hot air heating systems and a two-zone central air-conditioning system.

Broker: Fred Alibrandi of Otis & Ahearn at 617-851-8050

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tax credits vital to conversions

Affordable housing is crucial to society because it ensures that families with limited economic means have a place to live.

Either new structures can be built or older buildings can be renovated to increase the affordable housing stock.

"Preserving and restoring historic buildings has the potential to breathe life into local communities and their economies," said Larry Curtis, president and managing partner of WinnDevelopment, which is one of the nation's largest developers of large-scale, mixed-use and mixed-income projects, including the Oliver Lofts on Mission Hill and the The Apartments at Boott Mill in Lowell.

Historic tax credits, from both the state and federal governments, can be an integral part of the financing for real estate redevelopment and re-use projects. These subsidies have helped developers revitalize older downtown areas and urban neighborhoods. These projects have provided construction jobs and affordable rental housing for low-income families and seniors since 1976.

"The revitalization of historic buildings into housing typically has significant construction cost premiums and the historic tax credits directly address that and make it possible to create reasonably priced affordable housing," said Bart Mitchell, president and CEO of The Community Builders, the country's largest nonprofit developer of mixed-income housing. Its local projects include the Franklin School Apartments in Lexington and the Central Grammar School in Gloucester.

Making older buildings wheelchair-accessible can be particularly costly, he said.

"Especially buildings such as schools were built as a monumental structure on top of a huge staircase and are not accessible. (It's necessary to) add elevators and such," Mitchell added.

There may also be costly environmental cleanup issues, because renovating older buildings may require asbestos or lead paint removal.

Additionally, when laying out a building for a completely different use, the developer may want to preserve some of the historic features, but may face the costly challenge of coming up with spaces for bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms.

"Preserving the high ceilings and large windows is important and creates interesting interiors within the housing units," Curtis said.

Of course, there are benefits to rehabbing existing buildings.

"When re-using an old building, no one is wondering what the building is going to look like. Sometimes the approval process can be easier," Mitchell said.

The historic credits also can help contribute to a cleaner environment, according to developers.

"The 'greenest' thing you can do is re-use an existing building," Mitchell said. "If you don't re-use an existing building, think about all of the diesel exhaust and landfill that's used in the demolition of the old building, then all of the transportation, manufacturing and assembly for the new building."

Older buildings that were built with thick masonry walls can be extremely efficient to heat, especially once a modern roof and windows are added.

Oliver Lofts, located on Mission Hill, is the only midrise, multifamily building in the city to earn Platinum LEED certification for its environmental friendliness, and one of only two historic renovations in the nation to win that distinction after being converted to mixed-income housing. The 19th century building, recently renovated after being vacant for 30 years, is now a mixed-income housing community consisting of 62 apartments.

Jennifer Athas is a licensed real estate broker and can be reached by email at heraldhotproperty@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter,
@JenAthas.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Suffolk Downs casino losing champion

Mayor Thomas M. Menino's earthshaking decision to bow out of the next election left some at Suffolk Downs concerned about whether Boston's next leader will be as supportive of its casino plans.

The final votes for the project will be cast before Menino leaves office at the end of the year, but an anti-casino successor could still make things rocky.

"We're on pins and needles here. We don't know what's going to happen," said a source connected to the racecourse.

A spokesman for Suffolk Downs declined to comment, but pointed to a timeline showing that much of the casino's approval process will be completed before Menino steps down in January.

State Rep. Marty Walsh, who has said in the past that he will consider a run for mayor, said he believes Menino will see the project through: "That's part of his plan, to bring an industry to Boston, to bring jobs to Boston. Knowing him he'd want someone to continue that."

The news of Menino's departure came as Vornado Realty Trust has decided to divest its 19 percent interest in Suffolk Downs after refusing to submit to background checks required of all casino license applicants.

The state gaming commission approved putting Vornado's interest in Suffolk Downs into a blind trust until the divestiture is completed so the license bid could move forward, according to a memo from Catherine Blue, the commission's general counsel.

The memo indicates that out of 14 individuals associated with Vornado, only two filed the required disclosure forms, with another being allowed to withdraw as 
a qualifier.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mayor ‘touched all the bases’

Hub real estate developers told the Herald yesterday that Mayor Thomas M. Menino's successor should stick to the five-term leader's focus on balancing the needs of Boston citizens with pro-business growth.

John Rosenthal, president of Meredith Management Corp., looks for the next mayor to follow Menino's legacy of "threading that needle between the neighborhood concerns and overall regional business and economic realities."

"It's not easy ... but Mayor Menino has done it brilliantly over the years," he said.

While many will point to the building boom during Menino's tenure as a lasting stamp of his administration, several developers said Menino's real legacy will be his work on behalf of city dwellers.

"There's no mayor in America that has been as committed a leader on homelessness prevention, and he and (New York) Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg have championed gun violence prevention for a long time," said Rosenthal, also the founder of Stop Handgun Violence, whose massive billboard fronts the Massachusetts Turnpike.

It's rare when an elected official is perfectly happy being in his role and not looking for higher office, Rosenthal said.

"It allowed Mayor Menino to focus every day on the city of Boston versus his future," he said.

Developer John B. Hynes III, CEO of Boston Global Investors, says Menino will be credited with "the rebirth and expansion of the city."

"Menino touched all the bases," said Hynes, who left the former joint venture behind the long-stalled Filene's project in Downtown Crossing last year and is developing the 23-acre Seaport Square in South Boston's Seaport District. "From a development perspective, he touched upon design, economics, private contributions to service public needs, expanded affordable housing and environmental sustainability — all good programs, all reasonable and fair."

Menino has championed the now-booming Seaport District, rebranding it as the Innovation District.

"Mayor Menino has always envisioned this area as a growth district, and for him, it was important that the uses would create a diversity of people and businesses," said Joe Fallon, whose Fallon Co. is developing the $3 billion Fan Pier project that includes Vertex Pharmaceuticals' new headquarters. "It's proven to be true. We now have life sciences, commercial, residential, a convention center, a (music) pavilion. It's a great story."

But, Fallon said, with all of Menino's milestone accomplishments, he kept one thing in mind: "He cared more about the people in the city than any development or expansion or perceived legacy."

And Fallon doesn't foresee the next mayor reversing course. "The city is growing, people want to live in the city — why would a new mayor want to change that?" he said.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Casino rivals show off their grand designs

Developers behind two dueling, billion-dollar resort casino bids — one promising to save thoroughbred horse racing at Suffolk Downs and the other vowing to clean up a polluted waterfront in Everett — tried to steal each other's thunder yesterday by each unveiling designs of their gaming complexes.

Standing behind a newly created portable scale model of the proposed Caesars resort at his 78-year-old racetrack, Suffolk Downs chief Chip Tuttle said he plans to "take this model on the road" after a series of "open houses" aimed to disarm opponents in neighboring East Boston and Revere.

"We are working very hard to earn this license and to earn local support," said Tuttle, who last summer released renderings of the planned resort that features two hotels, a refurbished racetrack grandstand with a gaming parlor, 10 restaurants and a 25,000-square-foot convention and entertainment hall.

A few hours earlier, with Frank Sinatra crooning "Luck be a Lady" in an Everett armory gussied up with white curtains and stage lighting, Wynn Resorts gave dozens of local officials and residents their first peek at a planned 19-story Vegas-styled glass hotel tower with a sprawling promenade of shops and restaurants.

"The idea here is introducing a magnificent development right at the heart of Everett," said Gamal Aziz, president and chief operating officer of Wynn Resorts, noting the award-winning casino operator plans to use water taxis to ferry patrons to and from Logan International Airport and downtown Boston.

Caesars, Wynn and a third developer, David Nunes, who has partnered with Foxwoods and hopes to build a resort casino off Interstate 495 in Milford, are competing for a single casino license to be issued for Eastern Massachusetts by the state Gaming Commission.

Aziz said the 2.7-million-square-foot Wynn Everett resort would recruit Beantown boutiques to rent space in its mall instead of its usual lineup of high-end shops.

"When we have international visitors and tourists from around the world, I think they will be a lot more interested in seeing something that is part of the fabric of Massachusetts than me bringing in Louis Vuitton or Cartier," he said.

The hotel will have 550 suites, ranging in size from 700 to 2,800 square feet. Construction will be done in one phase and employ 4,000 workers. Once completed, the resort will create another 4,000 permanent jobs.

One of Wynn's biggest selling points is the creation of a "river walk" on the Mystic that would connect to other waterfront paths near the Gateway Mall and downtown Everett.

"This development would really give us the opportunity to give the river walk back to the people of Everett," Aziz said, noting the company is "fully committed" to the costly cleanup of the former Monsanto chemical plant site.

Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr. said residents for the first time in generations will be able to launch canoes along their waterfront. "I think we have a little more support here in Everett than they do in other cities," he added.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hey, Dad, got $35G for my little wedding at the Mandarin?

Groupon is offering its priciest "deal" yet in Boston: a $35,000 wedding at the Mandarin Oriental.

The invitation-only offer, which ends Sunday, includes space for up to 100 guests for five hours, a reception with a live DJ for four hours, a three-course dinner and wedding cake, and a two-night stay for the couple in a premier suite.

"It's a way for brides and grooms who want to have a wedding in 2013 but might not have time to plan it," said Molly Kinsella, a hotel spokeswoman. "It takes the stress and trouble of planning a wedding out of it."

Not completely out, though. Although various dates are available, the offer does not include the cost of stationery, wedding attire, transportation, an officiant, photography or flowers.

Nonetheless, the offer far exceeds the typical Groupon daily deal, which usually tops out at around $1,000.

"We're always looking for ways to surprise and delight our customers and partner with top local businesses to offer great deals," Groupon spokesman Tim DeClaire said in an email. "The Boston market is a very important market for Groupon."

The website isn't the first, however, to offer a lavish wedding deal in Boston.

Gilt City offered five similar packages that expired at midnight for weddings at the Boston Harbor Hotel after it sold a $35,000 wedding last November in less than one hour, said Heather Joselyn, a hotel spokeswoman.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

Sporting News partners with digital video provider

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sporting News will add online highlight clips as part of a new business deal.

Parent company American City Business Journals and digital video provider Perform will work together on Sporting News Media in the United States and Canada. The venture will combine the two organizations' management, sales, content, technology, editorial and media assets.

Perform owns ePlayer, which streams highlights and news from the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, NHL, colleges and other sports.

American City Business Journals CEO Whitney Shaw says "we are combining the heritage and editorial excellence of one of the U.S.'s oldest sports media brands with a forward-looking, digitally focused organization."

The joint venture will be owned 65 percent by Perform and 35 percent by ACBJ.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More

$un shining on Third Rock fund

Hub-based venture capital firm Third Rock Ventures, LLC, has closed its third fund and is ready to put the money toward its intended purpose — supporting innovative health-care companies.

Third Rock partner Kevin Starr said the $516 million fund will help start 15 to 16 new companies, with a bias toward those that will be based in the Boston area.

He said the new fund will target "big ideas" companies.

"It's more about making a major impact on severe diseases," Starr told the Herald. "It's not about me-too drugs. We're looking to make a truly meaningful impact on major diseases."

Starr said a recent example was Third Rock's decision to fund Lotus Tissue Repair, which creates innovative treatments for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. The rare disease's victims, often referred to as "butterfly children" because their skin is as fragile as butterfly's wings, suffer from birth from a painful condition in which the top layer of their skin is so fragile that everyday activities such as eating or going to the bathroom can cause severe injuries to their skin and organs.

Lotus Tissue Repair created a unique drug that is injected monthly to help butterfly children lead more normal lives, Starr said.

"Our investors are happy, but what makes us happy is that we can help these kids with this horrible disorder," Starr said.

He added that Third Rock Ventures, which previously closed funds of $378 million and $428 million, is not yet thinking about a fourth fund, since it will be busy launching companies from the third fund for the next few years. He said most of the companies will be based in the Hub, since promoting innovative health care in Boston is a major goal of the fund.

"If you make a big difference for patients, the economic benefits follow," Starr said.

16.30 | 0 komentar | Read More