Real Estate

A report from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors today showed improvements in the housing market in October compared with a year earlier.

A mixed-use Chapter 40B affordable housing proposal in Shrewsbury won the approval of selectmen Wednesday.

While manufacturing vacancy remains higher along the I-495 corridor than areas closer to Boston, new tenants are eating up empty space at a faster clip than those settling closer to Boston. That's according to Transwestern|RBJ, the Boston commercial real estate brokerage, which publishes quarterly reports detailing commercial real estate trends in all sectors. The report covering manufacturing, flex and warehouse space, indSTATus—Fall 2014, showed a continued contraction of available manufacturing space in particular in the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30.

Nearly two centuries ago, the Blackstone Canal helped catapult Worcester, then primarily a farming community, into the industrial age. But by 1848, the canal was closed and later capped after it served as the area's major trade route to Providence.

What will Southborough look like in 25 years? Town leaders and economic development experts opened that discussion, Thursday morning at the Southborough 2040 Business & Nonprofit Summit.

What will Southborough look like in 25 years? Town leaders and economic development experts have opened that discussion, beginning with the Southborough 2040 Business & Nonprofit Summit Thursday morning. Hosted by the Southborough Economic Development Committee, the event was an opportunity for business and local government officials to collectively ponder the town's business climate and how it should be developed to stay competitive with neighboring towns, said committee chairman Dave McCay. “What should the town and specifically the (Economic Development Committee) be doing to prepare for Southborough in 2040?,” McCay asked Thursday morning in the Putnam Family Arts Center on the campus of St. Mark's School.

Real estate foreclosure activity increased in Massachusetts for the seventh straight month in September, according to The Warren Group of Boston, although it said it's confident the Bay State is not heading toward a market crisis.

Greater Worcester is home to 12 colleges and universities that graduated 7,500 students in 2014. But for most, their time in Worcester is short lived.

Real estate brokerage Greater Boston Commercial Properties said it has completed a “leasing spree” at Hopkinton Technology Park, after landing seven tenants in the last 10 months. Bret O'Brien, president of the Marlborough-based firm, said a handful of large tenants left Hopkinton Technology Park on South Street in recent years, leaving the site with a “big glut” of space left, he said.

Nearly two months after launching its initial classes at its new Healthcare and Workforce Development Center in downtown Worcester, Quinsigamond Community College imprinted the “officially open for business” tag on the site Wednesday in a formal ceremony before about 300 people.