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A look at Chinese billionaire's impact on Harvard Square

The Crimson provides an overview of what's going on with all the buildings that Gerald Chan has snapped up of late.

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China just surpassed the US as the as the world largest economy as of yesterday.

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Which buildings did he buy in Havard Sq, I like the new Starbucks in Havard sq ,. Is he also buying up properties on or around Western ave in Allston. Tell Mr Chan to buy some properties in East Boston, we need to raise the rents in East Boston to decrease crime, it's a method that works in Charlestown & Beacon hill.

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There's a map with his properties highlighted in the article. They're all packed tightly within Harvard Square (no Western Ave or No. Harvard properties, at all) - doesn't look like he wants to (or can) build anything new, but the article mentions some alteration/renovations to the block where papyrus/uno is, but without specifying.

He doesn't really raise any red flags as of yet, it looks like some basic restaurant infill on 40 bow street, the old upstairs at the square, the new Japanese "small plate" (more tapas, Adam) shop going into where Tamarind Bay was, and a new breakfast joint for Leo's. I'm sure more will come of it, at some point.

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US GDP is still much larger.

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He is a Hong Kong billionaire, NOT a Chinese billionaire. There is a distinction. Ask all of the people at the Occupy Central protests if you are unsure.

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There has to be a limit on property values and the rents for restaurants where well-heeled clients have to visit by bicycle or Charlie Card in anti-car Cambridge. Hint: most people tend to accumulate wealth over time, thus older people with money will not be bicycling to expensive dinners in Cambridge.

Business failures in Harvard Square have increased with anti-car measures, renovations, and price hikes for leases. There is not a wide enough draw to Harvard Square for those with money to pay the prices there and have to put up with the traffic and parking problems the city planners have worked diligently to increase.

The greater plan for Cambridge may to make it less and less family friendly, sending residents out to the suburbs to raise children and drive them around in SUVs. Poor [edit: insert "public"] school performance and anti-car policies do that, eventually saving on education expenses for Cambridge.

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Often you have to find a sign or pole or rack a block away. The place is jammed with bicycle riders. Also, besides the Red Line, you have a dozen bus routes feeding into the square.

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Sure bike parking is active, but that's irrelevant unless they are spending $50/plate or more for dinner. More likely they are nursing a coffee using wifi, having a burger, or a $4.00 slice of pizza.

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No, the cyclists are shopping at stores and having dinner just like everyone else. And if someone parks and spends 1/2 a day at Starbucks or at one of the offices above the store that isn't a problem in your book? Maybe you should lobby for 45 min hour parking maximums in order to make sure the auto parking turn-over is high enough.

Harvard Sq exists due to pedestrians. It has never been favored by people driving there. The store owners fully expect a majority of their business will come from people who didn't drive to the square.

What they should do is keep removing parking spaces to replace them with bike parking. You can fit 12 bikes in the space of one car. Even if 1/2 the people spend all day at Starbucks that's still six additional people shopping over the single driver.

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Where can you drop that kind of money in Harvard Square, other than Finale? John Harvard's? Didn't all the sushi places move out?

I'm pretty sure the coffee place I frequent is happy to have my $5 every day every bit as much as Spice is happy to get my custom for a more expensive dinner once a fortnight or so.

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I ride my bike to Harvard Square to buy suits at The Andover Shop on a regular basis, but I guess that doesn't fit into your stereotypes of who rides bikes and where they shop.

The guy became a billionaire in the real estate market. He likely knows how to evaluate commercial rents and price properties such that he makes money. He isn't buying the property to be charitable.

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nothing you've said is true, and you've said a lot there kiddo.

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I would say the rising leases forcing stores in Harvard Sq to close and become chainified has some truth. The rest I can't agree I can't respond because I haven't the time or energy to explain with full nuance.

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Rents are certainly a/the major factor in store turnover, whatever happened the proposal in Cambridge to limit bank frontage - I'm looking at you, Citizen's Bank.

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I have had a hard time finding parking in (or near) Harvard Sq. since at least 1995, and have been bemoaning the traffic since then, too. So unless the car-unfriendly policies you're talking about all pre-date that, I'm not at all sold on the argument.

Also, I see and know plenty of people who come into the Square from the suburbs to do precisely what you are suggesting is necessary (i.e., drop $50+ per person). Certainly rezzies at any of the nice restaurants around there are not super easy to get. Also, people who do that have no problem paying for parking in, say, the Charles Hotel garage, so I'm not sure which anti-car measures are dissuading anyone from going there.

On the other hand, perhaps it's because of all these "rich" people are coming in from the suburbs to drop $50+ that the commercial rents keep rising? Maybe there is some small subset of people who have stopped going to the Square because of car-unfriendly policies, but I think there are likely fewer people foregoing Harvard Sq. for that reason than there are, for example, Wellesley residents foregoing The Local or the The Cottage for the restaurants in the Square.

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I know! Since when has parking in the square NOT been an issue? It's a place I travel to by T, I don't even consider taking a car up there.

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As I posted in response to your comment on the Crimson article, these high-end restaurants are allowed to take over public curb space for valet parking.

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I do not understand why someone would buy this, close it, and then let it sit empty for over two years, not collecting any rent from anyone. He doesn't seem to have any development plan, either, whether it involves preserving or demolishing the theatre.

There's certainly demand for a movie theatre here. When it was open, it always had long lines stretching down Church Street.

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Wants to flip the property, not develop it. Cambridge RE prices work against themselves in situations like this - there's always a better deal in just two more months, repeat that for 2 years. I'm from West Cambridge and there was a time in the early 2000s where a third of the two-families on my block were empty because their owners sold, moved out, and the new owners sat on the properties for years. Annoyingly they made a ton of money too.

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FEI (owners of the Capitol and Somerville theatres) would have jumped at the opportunity to run this, even with just a month-to-month temporary lease. I bet others would be interested, too. I don't see why a property owner would not want rental income.

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I don't know man, Carpenter and Co are on record that renovating the theatre to code would be prohibitively expensive. You're post on cinema treasures back in 2012 is the second most searched google hit when you try and look for news regarding the theatre. I think that makes you the resident expert.

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Isn't there some tax thing where it's better for an owner to keep a building vacant for a time than to put a business in there?

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On August 1, 2014, Kirche LLC purchased the property from BNC Church Street Holdings LLC for $17,500,000. BNC bought the property in 2012 from American Multi-Cinema Inc. for $6.5M (half lended by Cambridge Savings Bank).

Tidy profit - much more than by selling movie tickets!

Source: MassLandRecords.com, 10 Church Street, Cambridge MA in South Middlesex County.

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and what experience do they have in commercial real estate redevelopment?

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Adam it's pretty disgusting that your headline mention this persons ethnicity!!! What does being Chinese have to do with the guy buying property. Your just another jealous white dude riding a bike fuming that other people (non-whites) are moving up the ladder. I would rather have this guy buy the property than your friends at Harvard who pay nothing in taxes!!! I think you should think about your race baiting headline and seek forgiveness.

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Bite me.

I'm not referring to his ethnicity but his nationality. He is, in fact, from China, well, OK, Hong Kong. If he were from Germany, I would have called him German. If he were from Djibouti, I would have called him Djiboutian (but, alas, he's not, because that word just isn't used often enough).

Had he been from Massachusetts, or Illinois, or California, no, I would not have referred to him as Chinese.

Also, I don't own a bike.

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Also, I don't own a bike

Adam it's pretty disgusting that your headline doesn't mention whether this person owns a bike!!! What does not owning a bike have to do with the guy buying property. Your just another jealous white dude in a car fuming that other people (non-car people) are moving up the transport ladder. I would rather have this guy buy the property than your friends at Harvard who also don't ride bikes!!! I think you should think about your bike baiting headline and seek forgiveness from the bike god.

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Let me know - we can lend you one and you can figure out what to buy.

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But I'm a confirmed walker.

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Alas, now that more Chinese can afford cars, bikes don't look so appealing to them!

Chinese as a nationality is relevant as more and more Chinese with growing wealth invest in real estate outside their country, where ghost cities are risky investments. Just more globalization.

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