The Polar Plunge will be held on January 31, 2015 in Gloucester. Please see the flyer for all the information. Polar Plunge 2015
BIRTHDAYS
Happy birthday to Nick Helides and Bruce Whear on December 17th, and to Ray Hodge on December 18th!
SPEAKER OF THE WEEK/NOTES
We were treated to a performances by the Salem high school jazz band and choir. Both did a great job spreading some great holiday cheer to the group.
Our speaker this past week was Raymond Torto, Ph.D. Raymond is currently a lecturer at Harvard's Graduate School of Design and is the retired Chief Global Economist for CBRE.
Raymond explained to us his role of strategist behind major commercial property acquisitions and sales while at CBRE. His position as an economist required him to think creatively but make calculated decisions on good vs. bad investments. For example, he advised one of his clients to pass on an office building purchase on State Street in downtown Boston in 2008. Ray's analysis saw this to be a bad investment because of the growing amount of renovated, and less expensive, space in the Seaport area, and because of the general decline of space required by companies. Paperless operation, open workspaces, and smaller equipment all mean companies don't need as much space anymore. His client passed on the purchase and now the current owner is left with a building that has a lot of vacant square footage.
Raymond also gave us his analysis of investing in real estate in Massachusetts and on the North Shore. When asked where investors should be putting their money he said his target market for a good return is still Southie and Somerville, namely Davis Square. He suggested that investors should shy away from suburban areas because of the growing purchase power strength of the Millennial generation, who want to be closer to the city and in walking distance to retail and restaurants.. Sounds like Salem to me!
Please email all announcements to be added to The Spoke to SalemRotaryClub@yahoo.com by noon on Wednesday. Also, feel free to contact any of the committee members listed below.
Committee Chairperson and Editor: Dave Wescott
Photographers: Trip Mason and Juli Lederhaus Committee Members: Patrick Langmaid, Juli Lederhaus, Joanne Scott and Amy Delaney