![\"Carl](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/BIDQLLCVNFG2VNJSHRIINOT55I.jpeg\")
Carl Rodrigues, Harvard’s point person on its Allston developments, is leaving Harvard to oversee real estate for Vanderbilt.Photo courtesy of Harvard<\/p>\nWith that $100 million, Palmieri hopes to invest in 12 to 15 startups. He\u2019s started looking for potential investments, even as he courts potential investors, with a focus on tech-enabled health care services. Companies he\u2019ll consider for investments will have between $2 million and $10 million in annual revenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is frustrated with how health care is being delivered,\u201d Palmieri said. \u201cThe consumer experience is really lagging behind every other industry. People really want to lean in and be part of the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winter Street\u2019s staff consists of four people, including Palmieri and two venture partners, Jennifer Bell<\/b> and Aaron Sells<\/b>. Palmieri said he\u2019s hearing from leaders of health insurance plans eager to learn about the innovations coming out of Winter Street Ventures and maybe put some of them to use.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe promise of being able to work with entrepreneurs that are solving complex health care problems and hopefully improving how health care is delivered, that\u2019s really exciting to me,\u201d Palmieri said. \u201cI wanted to do something that would have an impact on the industry that I love, [and] my time is better spent helping other CEOs and entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saying goodbye to Harvard<\/p>\n
Carl Rodrigues, Harvard’s point person on its Allston developments, is leaving Harvard to oversee real estate for Vanderbilt.Photo courtesy of Harvard<\/p>\n
As Harvard<\/b> opens the first phase of its long-awaited \u201cEnterprise Research Campus\u201d in Allston, its top executive on the project is leaving for a major real estate role at Vanderbilt<\/b>.<\/p>\n
Carl Rodrigues<\/b> starts full-time as the Tennessee university\u2019s first vice chancellor for real estate facilities and development on Nov. 1. He\u2019ll lead the development and implementation of Vanderbilt\u2019s master plan while working to redevelop its underused properties and overseeing maintenance and operations at its 340-acre campus in Nashville.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Jen Cohen<\/b> has been appointed interim chief executive of the Harvard Allston Land Co.<\/b>, taking over for Rodrigues to lead a roughly 10-person staff that oversees commercial development of Harvard\u2019s land in Allston. Cohen has been director of real estate development there, overseeing all aspects of Harvard\u2019s development in the Boston neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Rodrigues had joined as its chief executive in 2022, taking over for Tom Glynn<\/b>.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder Carl\u2019s guidance, the HALC team helped advance the Enterprise Research Campus, initiated planning for the next phase of growth, and built a strong foundation for future projects,\u201d Harvard executive vice president Meredith Weenick<\/b> said in an email. \u201cPerhaps most importantly, Carl has led a committed and capable team that remains focused on our mission as we continue this important work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 900,000-square-foot first ERC phase, developed for Harvard by Tishman Speyer<\/b> along Western Avenue across from Harvard Business School<\/b>, is just starting to open; it will include an apartment complex, conference center, a hotel, and labs. Real estate trade group NAIOP Massachusetts plans to give its members an early look with a panel discussion and tour scheduled for Thursday.<\/p>\n
![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/2B5ILN53O3A547FGHLHAP2W5OQ.jpg\")
Adam Chapdelaine, executive director and CEO of the Massachusetts Municipal Association.Pat Greenhouse\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n
Just weeks after Adam Chapdelaine<\/b> started as the Mass. Municipal Association<\/b>\u2019s new chief executive<\/a> two years ago, the MMA handed him an important homework assignment: Study the inadequacies of Proposition 2.5 and report back with an analysis.<\/p>\n The levy limit prevents municipal leaders from raising property tax revenue by more than 2.5 percent in one year without a voter-approved override (exceptions are made for taxes on new construction). The 1980s-era law is considered sacred in some quarters, but is also a source of stress in town halls across the state.<\/p>\n Last week, Chapdelaine and his team unveiled the results of that homework assignment. The picture isn\u2019t pretty. The new report<\/a>, written by Evan Horowitz<\/b> at Tufts University<\/b> on the MMA\u2019s behalf, underscores its conclusion with its title: \u201cA Perfect Storm.\u201d <\/p>\n Cities and towns face historic budget pressures, in part because the Prop. 2.5 limit doesn\u2019t allow municipal budgets to keep up, and because the portion of state aid to communities that\u2019s unrestricted has fallen 25 percent since 2002 when adjusted for inflation.<\/p>\n The report points out that nearly two-thirds of states provide more unrestricted aid to municipalities than Massachusetts does and notes that city and town leaders are prevented by state law from collecting local income or sales taxes (except for hotel and restaurant taxes). The report coincides with Mayor Michelle Wu<\/b>\u2019s criticism of Prop. 2.5 in a speech last month to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce<\/b><\/a>, and in a scrum with reporters afterward. <\/p>\n So what can the MMA do about it? That\u2019s Chapdelaine\u2019s next homework assignment. <\/p>\n The group is vetting a series of proposed solutions. Expect tweaks to Prop. 2.5, such as providing leeway in years of high inflation, along with calls for more state aid and possibly greater taxation authority at the local level.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a surprise to any city or town leader, but what it does is it puts numbers behind our experiences,\u201d Chapdelaine said of the report. \u201cIt\u2019s not just \u2018things feel tight\u2019 or \u2018I think we\u2019re having a bad budget year.\u2019 The realities are there\u2019s a structural challenge with costs outpacing revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a frustrating time for Representative Katherine Clark<\/b>, after more than a week into a federal government shutdown<\/a>. But the House minority whip also sees reason for hope when she looks to the midterm elections next fall.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel very good about winning the House [from the Republicans],\u201d the Massachusetts Democrat said, in response to a question from PR executive Geri Denterlein<\/b> at the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce<\/b> last week.<\/p>\n The Democrats only need to flip a few seats for that to happen. But Clark said the Republican Party\u2019s redistricting efforts, particularly in Texas, have made it more challenging \u2014 though she pointed to a pending ballot question in California<\/a> to realign districts there and offset the Texas realignment<\/a>. <\/p>\n Clark portrayed winning the House next year as crucial to representative democracy, given how Republicans have been marching in lockstep with the Trump administration.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see any \u2018Plan B\u2019 for our country if Democrats don\u2019t win the House back,\u201d Clark said. \u201cI hate to be so blunt about it at such a nice event.\u201d<\/p>\n Clark mentioned the future of the Affordable Care Act<\/a>, a big sticking point in the budget negotiations between the House and Senate. Clark, like other Democrats, is concerned that millions of people could lose their health care coverage at the end of the year if certain ACA tax-credit improvements aren\u2019t continued.<\/p>\n Many of her colleagues on the GOP side share Clark\u2019s concern about the health care cuts, Clark said, but they will vote along with the president despite what\u2019s best for their constituents.<\/p>\n Grace Lee<\/b>, chief executive of St. Mary\u2019s Credit Union<\/b>, was interviewing Clark at the event and asked her what it\u2019s like to be the highest-ranking woman in Congress. <\/p>\n \u201cI feel a lot of responsibility around it [but] it\u2019s also very disappointing,\u201d said Clark, noting that even as minority whip, she is excluded from many important meetings. \u201cThe minority whip in Congress should not be the highest-ranking elected woman in the federal government. … I feel the weight of it sometimes. I also feel we have to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @jonchesto<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"House](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/DEFEJOQA3IKUISZNWWPPBTPMZM.jpg\")
House minority whip Katherine Clark spoke at a news conference on the eighth day of a government shutdown at the US Capitol on Oct. 8.John McDonnell\/Associated Press<\/p>\n