Dick Friedman Bullish on Boston’s “Low-Key” Tech Wealth, Branded Residences

Legendary developer Richard “Dick” Friedman expressed confidence in the continued growth of Boston’s high-end real estate market, driven by demand for luxury amenities and an imminent wave of new buyers from the region’s exploding tech sector. (Photo: Matt Surette) Appearing at One Dalton , his new development of Four Seasons private residences in Boston’s Back Bay, as part of an April 7 event promoting the release the Douglas Elliman-Knight Frank Wealth Report 2022 , Friedman spoke about market trends with Douglas Elliman’s Kevin Ahearn, Susan de França and CEO Scott Durkin, who moderated the conversation. “People today want amenities—this is a very critical thing,” he said, noting that Elliman’s Boston-based Sarkis Team had just sold two units at the full-service One Dalton. “And I tell you, the more the world gets troubled, the more people want to buy hard assets,” he continued, echoing a perspective voiced by Douglas Elliman Executive Chairman Howard M. Lorber at a prior Wealth Report event in New York City. “If you say, ‘I don’t know that crypto is going to be a good,’ and ‘I’m not sure about XYZ.’ But I know real estate is a solid thing for me to do. The Knight Frank study is very persuasive on this subject.” Friedman’s remarks followed a bullish overview of the Boston market from Elliman’s Ahearn, who credited steady increases in price per square foot, combined with “critically low” inventory, for carrying the city through recent uncertainty. “This happened during a pandemic,” he said. “It’s remarkable the way the market worked through that. I don’t see anything really on the horizon to slow it down, quite frankly.” The coming wave of new buyers may be easy to miss, said Friedman, because of the “low-key wealth” typical of Boston. “You can’t tell wealth in this city in a normal way,” he said. “But the people who are from Moderna, and these high-tech companies, they have yet to move into the market to buy stuff. I think you’re going to have a whole wave of younger people who are just going to want to buy really great real estate. They may be living in a rental place, and now they’re worth $10 million or a couple billion dollars. And they’re coming into the market now.” Scott Durkin, Kevin Ahearn, Susan de França, Richard Friedman, Richard Ferrari, Stacey Watson and Hugh Dixon. Richard Friedman. (Photo: Matt Surette) Scott Durkin, Stacey Watson, Susan de França and Kevin Ahearn. (Photo: Matt Surette) Stacey Watson and Hugh Dixon. (Photo: Matt Surette) Michael Lorber, Scott Durkin and George Sarkis. (Photo: Matt Surette) Matt Robitaille of CrossCountry Mortgage, Stephen Connolly and Emily Farrar. (Photo: Matt Surette) Scott Durkin, Myrna Rothman and Stephen Larkin. (Photo: Matt Surette) Lydia Sussek, Lynne Zeekis, Ruth Anne Bowers and Heather Roy. (Photo: Matt Surette) Stephanie Crawford and Tad Crawford. (Photo: Matt Surette) Giavanna Silva. (Photo: Matt Surette) Mario Massimino and Eric Labatte. (Photo: Matt Surette) Michael Passaro, George Sarkis, Roy Bahnam and Johnny Hatem Jr. (Photo: Matt Surette) Scott Durkin. (Photo: Matt Surette) Stacey Watson. (Photo: Matt Surette) Stacey Watson. (Photo: Matt Surette) Scott Durkin and Susan de França. (Photo: Matt Surette) Scott Durkin, Susan de França and Richard Ferrari. (Photo: Matt Surette) Kevin Ahearn, Susan de França, Richard Friedman and Scott Durkin. (Photo: Matt Surette) Kevin Ahearn, Susan de França, Richard Friedman and Scott Durkin. (Photo: Matt Surette) Kevin Ahearn, Susan de França, Richard Friedman and Scott Durkin. (Photo: Matt Surette) Jess Kroll, Stephen Larkin, Gigi Blanco and Sam Feld. (Photo: Matt Surette) Alexandra Hernandez, Sam Feld, Jess Kroll and Gigi Blanco. (Photo: Matt Surette) As CEO of Douglas Elliman Development Marketing—which recently launched sales for The Parker, its first new development in Boston—de França sees the same factors fueling demand for luxury residences from brands like Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental. “Our firm is very, very lucky and privileged to be representing almost every brand,” de França said. “And the reason for that is the services, the amenities, the management of the building and also the long-term appreciation. There’s such a tremendous deep appetite for people who want these branded residences and the comfort and security of long-term appreciation.” De França pointed to The Wealth Report as a trove of valuable data on this very topic. “So many of these branded residences, you can just show the stats to your clients and help close the deal,” she said. “That’s why the [research and data] of The Wealth Report  are increasingly important for us to have.” Ahearn sounded a final note of optimism about Boston’s outlook based on its resilience and spirit of innovation. “Look at life sciences—$ 9.6 billion in private investment in [the life sciences industry],” he said. “That came out of the blue because of the pandemic. So, now we have another engine we didn’t have. So, I’m just really bullish. The reality is the market is out here, and perception is trailing markets out there.” Download the Douglas Elliman and Knight Frank 2022 Wealth Report