Feds eye food defense vs. terrorism

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday proposed a rule that would require the largest food businesses to take steps to prevent its facilities from becoming the target of terrorists trying to contaminate the food supply.

The proposed rule would apply to both domestic and foreign facilities that manufacture, process, pack or hold food and are required to register as a food facility under federal law. The rule does not apply to farms or to businesses that have less than $10 million in total annual sales of food.

"This is not being triggered by new intelligence about a potential attack," said Don Kraemer, senior policy advisor at the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. "It's a low-probability event, but the potential consequences could be quite devastating."

The FDA has identified four key activities within the food system that are most vulnerable to attack: bulk liquid receiving and loading, liquid storage and handling, the handling of secondary food ingredients before they are combined with the primary one, and activities such as mixing.

Facilities would be required to review their production system to determine if they have any of these types of activities or complete their own vulnerability assessment. They would then be required to implement a written food defense plan that identifies steps to reduce the risk of intentional contamination, establish monitoring procedures and corrective actions, verify that the system is working, ensure that employees assigned to the vulnerable areas receive training and maintain records.

The proposed rule will be available for public comment from Dec. 24 to March 31.

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Patriots fan’s paradise

The owner of this new Brookline home will be neighbors with Patriots owner Robert Kraft and quarterback Tom Brady.

The 6,000-square-foot shingle-style home at 324 Heath St. occupies nearly an acre in the wealthy Chestnut Hill enclave of south Brookline, on one of two pieces of land recently sold by Pine Manor College. The other parcel, which is 5.2 acres, went to Brady, whose palatial home is scheduled to be completed by next summer.

Designed by Cambridge architect Peter Quinn, 324 Heath is elegant without being ostentatious, with some farmhouse-style touches such as low-set windows and a wraparound covered rear deck. It has hand-stained oak floors, high-quality window and door moldings, coffered ceilings, stone fireplaces and lots of windows to bring in natural light. Each of its six bedrooms has an en-suite bathroom, and there are porches off most of them.

The home, with expansive living spaces and an attached three-car garage with a media room/guest bedroom above, is on the market for $4,699,000, just reduced by $200,000.

There's a low stone wall in front of the property, and much of its front yard is a U-shaped paver driveway for outdoor parking that also connects to the garage.

The exterior of the home is gray clapboard with large gables with second-floor porches and rounded bumpouts in the back. The covered front entrance is flanked with stone walls, and you enter a two-story foyer with hand-stained oak floors, coat closets, a turning staircase with a Rococo chandelier, a built-in display cabinet and even a stone chimney wall.

To the right is a formal living room where the other side of the chimney wall is a gas fireplace with a carved wood mantel above. There's a backlit coffered ceiling, recessed lighting and five windows.

On the other side of the foyer is a formal dining room with paneled wainscoting, a back-lit coffered ceiling and a Rococo chandelier. Off this room is a butler's pantry with gray granite countertops and a wine cooler.

The formal living spaces open into a huge open family room/kitchen area. The high-end kitchen features white cabinets, gray granite counters and gray glass mosaic tile backsplashes. There's a large center island with built-in microwave. Appliances are high-end stainless steel G.E. Monogram, including an oversized refrigerator, a dishwasher and professional grade gas stove with a white marble tile backsplash and a stainless steel hood. The eat-in area has seven windows overlooking the backyard and a door out to a wraparound covered back deck.

The backyard has a large bluestone patio and grass area edged by a stone wall. From this vantage point you can see some of the acreage of the Kraft and Brady properties on either side.

Back inside, the adjacent family room has a backlit ceiling as well as a rounded bumpout with a wall of windows also overlooking the backyard.

There's a second front entrance on the far left end of the home, with a foyer with a porcelain-tiled half bathroom, direct access to the garage and a set of back stairs to the second floor.

The main foyer's staircase leads up to the oak-floored master bedroom suite with recessed lighting and a gas fireplace with a wood mantel set into a stone chimney. There's a large walk-in closet with custom wardrobe built-ins. The showpiece of the master bathroom is a freestanding soaking tub. It also features porcelain tile floors that are radiant heated, a white marble-lined steam shower, and a granite-topped vanity with two sinks.

The other bedrooms all have oak floors, large closets and en-suite radiant-heated porcelain tile bathrooms. The second bedroom has cathedral ceilings and glass doors out to a balcony. The third bedroom opens onto a back porch. There's a wall of windows in the fourth bedroom. The large fifth bedroom, which also makes a great family/media room, sits above the garage and has three closets,

Also on this floor is a laundry room with a long granite countertop for folding, a sink and storage cabinets.

The sixth bedroom and full bathroom is on the first floor, down a set of back stairs.

The home is prewired so a smart-home. surround sound and alarm systems can be easily installed.

There's a huge unfinished basement that can accommodate more living space. The basement also houses the home's five-zone gas-fired heating and central cooling system.

Broker: Scott Miller of Realty Executives at 617-216-9260

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AG targets chain after data breach

Hackers targeting Target Corp. hit the bull's eye, but the nation's second largest discounter said it has resolved a security breach that gave cyber-criminals access to the credit and debit card information of some 40 million customers during the busiest shopping period of the year.

The U.S. Secret Service and state Attorney General Martha Coakley yesterday said they're investigating the breach — believed to be the second largest in U.S. history and which 
Reuters tied to hackers hitting Target's terminals that customers use to swipe the magnetic strips on their credit and debit cards.

The breach left vulnerable customer names, credit and debit card numbers, and the cards' expiration dates and security codes from purchases made Nov. 27 to Dec. 15 at Target's 1,700 U.S. stores.

"We have moved swiftly to address this issue, so guests can shop with confidence," CEO Gregg Steinhafel said in a statement.

Target said it notified authorities and financial institutions when it discovered the breach. But, citing the investigation, spokeswoman Katie Boylan declined to confirm how the information was accessed, when Target discovered the problem and how many customers already reported being victimized.

The breach is likely to get the attention of the Federal Trade Commission and class-action lawyers, said Chris Zoladz of Navigate LLC, a Maryland information protection and privacy advisory firm. "If this breach is as large as it has been reported to be, there had to be a fairly substantial failure in some internal control," he said.

In 2009, TJX Cos., the Framingham owner of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, agreed to pay $9.75 million and implement a new data security program after a 2005-2006 data breach that affected at least 45.7 million card users.

The Target breach could deter consumers from shopping there in the tail-end of the holiday season.

"For those who shopped during that period, they may think twice about returning in the near-term," said analyst Joseph Feldman of New York's Telsey Advisory Group.

Target customer Heather Tinlin, a victim of credit theft 20 years ago, admitted to panicking and immediately checking her account. "It happens from
time to time, knock on wood, you just have to be careful," she said yesterday at the Target in Dorchester.

Sara Lawson wasn't taking any chances. "I was a little nervous, and I will be paying cash today, just to be on the safe side," she said.

Andrew Blom contributed to this report.

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Lost piece of Chinatown to rise again

In the 1950s, Paul Lee's family was forced to leave a stretch of Hudson Street that was demolished to build the Southeast Expressway.

Lee, now board chairman of the Asian Community Development Corp., recalled that the block "was full of Chinese families out on the stoops."

"My dad worked in a local restaurant and my mom in a local garment factory," Lee said. "It was a real neighborhood where people looked out for one another."

Now ACDC and joint venture partner New Boston have broken ground on a residential development on that same block, known as Parcel 24, that will bring 50 affordable condos and 95 affordable apartments to a 362-unit complex called One Greenway, which sits at the end of the mile-long swath on top of the Big Dig tunnel.

"We saw it as a time to bring this site back as part of Chinatown that was lost so many years ago," said ACDC Executive Director Janelle Chan.

With many developers saying that luxury housing is the only option in central Boston because of land and construction costs, the developers of One Greenway are out to prove that a project that has a significant amount of affordable housing — 40 percent — can be financially feasible.

The state Department of Transportation controls the long, narrow 64,000-square-foot lot, and awarded the site in 2008, later signing a 99-year ground lease with the developers.

"It helped that the ground lease only charges for the market-rate units," said Sean Sacks, vice president of development for New Boston, which brought its experience in mixed-income development and its commitment to affordable housing in its $190 million Urban Strategy America Fund.

"This is a great opportunity for us and our investors as well, but to do this sort of project requires a commitment," said Sacks, who said that New Boston has been on board since 2005. "It takes more patient money with a triple bottom-line mission."

The complex project has taken many years to develop and finance, but One Gateway was able to get more than $10 million from state and city programs, including city linkage funds.

The first phase, opening in summer 2015, will include a 21-story tower fronting on Kneeland Street with 217 market-rate apartments, and rents ranging from $2,500 for a studio up to $5,500 for a three-bedroom. The units will have all the amenities young professionals are looking for, including a skydeck with city views, a gym and fitness studio.

For the developers, it's not luxury versus affordability.

"We need the market-rate apartments to be successful because these and the affordable component are dependent on one another," Chan said.

The 95 affordable apartments will be in a connected 10-story building, also part of the first phase, and those making less than 50 percent of Boston's area median income will pay about $866 for a one-bedroom, Chan says. Some of the units will be reserved for very low-income and even formerly homeless people, who will pay no more than $531 a month for a one-bedroom. The maximum for a two-bedroom will be around $1,275, with those making 50 percent of the median paying about $1,063.

The second phase of the project, the 50 affordable condominiums, will be farther down Hudson Street in a six-story building, separated from the apartments by a one-third-acre park — much needed green space in this dense neighborhood.

The average two-bedroom condo is expected to cost about $200,000 for those who meet the income guidelines, and will be chosen by lottery.

The affordable condos, scheduled to be finished in summer 2016, are being designed with families in mind, with many three-bedroom units.

"There are very few opportunities for family-sized, affordable ownership here," Chan said.

She said ACDC's mission is also to ensure that Chinatown continues to be a gateway community for new immigrants.

"We know we have to build, not just preserve," said Chan. "The neighborhood has to grow so it doesn't become a ghost of itself as other citys' Chinatowns have. New immigrants bring new life."

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Gov vows all will be insured Jan. 1

Gov. Deval Patrick vowed yesterday the state will meet a key Obamacare deadline — insisting the disastrous website is "not the main event" — even as skeptical Bay Staters nervously struggled to sign up for health care with less than five days to go.

"Everyone who has applied and is up against the Jan. 1 deadline will be insured on Jan. 1," Patrick told the Herald at Logan International Airport yesterday morning after jetting in on a Japan Airlines 787 Dreamliner, returning from his 10-day "trade mission" to Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

"There's no denying the fact that the performance of the IT vendor has been subpar, but that's not the main event. The main event is making sure people are covered and the team is doing everything they can — and then some — to make sure that happens," Patrick said.

But some Bay Staters facing a critical Dec. 23 sign-up deadline who have hit dead-ends on the state's glitchy website don't have faith in Patrick's promise.

"I think it's going to be a 'Festivus' miracle if they pull that off," said Adam Romanow of South Boston, referring to the old "Seinfeld" show's bitter phony holiday for people who are disillusioned with Christmas.

Romanow, who first told the Herald on Nov. 8 that the Connector site falsely insisted he was incarcerated, was finally able to sign up for insurance, but hasn't been able to pay his first premium — due by Dec. 23 — because he never got a bill. He also tried and failed to pay on the state's Obamacare site and on the phone.

"I'm jonesing to pay my premium, but I don't know where to send it," Romanow said. "The whole thing is a complete disaster."

Andrea Lane of Arlington applied for insurance through the Connector site in October, then heard nothing until this weekend when a letter finally arrived declaring her eligible for insurance and urging her to bypass the website and call to sign up.

Facing a similar Dec. 23 deadline, Lane said she now can't access a comparison of different plans online, and doesn't feel comfortable choosing health insurance based on an operator's description of the plans over the phone.

"This is my health we're talking about," said Lane. "I need to know how much it's going to cost and whether I'll be able to keep my doctor. I have some ongoing health issues, and I need to know if I'm covered. It's absurd to do this over the phone."

With four days to go, Lane said it's too late to take a day off from work to meet with a health insurance "navigator."

"I'm resigned to the fact that I'm going to be without coverage for the month of January," she said. "I'm just going to be very careful."

An estimated 2,800 Bay Staters in Commonwealth Choice and the Young Adult Plan face the approaching Dec. 23 deadline, said Connector spokesman Jason Lefferts. It was unclear how many other people with other plans it might apply to.

The state admitted yesterday it may have to provide temporary insurance plans to some people if it can't process their applications by the deadline.

As for Lane, Lefferts suggested using the "anonymous browsing functionality ... open to everyone on the website."

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Fed stimulus reduction taken as optimistic sign

The Federal Reserve's announcement yesterday that it will slightly reduce its stimulus efforts beginning next month rallied Wall Street, but stands to have a limited practical effect on the economy, experts said.

The Fed said at the end of its two-day policy meeting that it will trim its $85 billion a month in bond purchases by $10 billion, and chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed expects to make "similar moderate" cuts in its purchases if economic gains continue.

"The changes in Federal Reserve policies are not substantive enough to make a dramatic impact economically," said Max Wolff, chief economist and strategist for ZT Wealth in New York. "It's a fairly modest adjustment. They're going to continue to support the federal budget deficit and the housing market, just by a little less."

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren dissented because he believes that as long as the inflation index continues to run below the 2 percent target and the jobless rate is 7 percent, changes to the bond-buying program are premature.

The prospect of a lower pace of purchases, which have been intended to drive down long-term borrowing rates by increasing demand for the bonds, could mean higher loan rates over time.

But investors seemed elated by the majority of Fed members' finding that the economy has strengthened, by their commitment to low short-term rates and by the slight amount by which they are paring bond purchases. The Dow Jones industrial average soared nearly 300 points.

"The economy is going to continue to do well, even with the slower pace of bond buying," said Paul Edelstein, director of financial economics at IHS Global Insight in Lexington. "Mortgage rates aren't going to jump because of what the Fed is doing. The housing market shouldn't be hurt by this."

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Shopping hits homestretch

If yesterday's snow put a crimp in your holiday shopping plans, fret not: Today is "Free Shipping Day," and close to 900 online stores have agreed to a new change this year — no minimum purchase required for orders with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve.

With Christmas just a week away, 49.9 percent of consumers expect to finish their shopping online, according to the National Retail Federation.

Meanwhile, this weekend's "Super Saturday" is projected to be among the busiest shopping days of the holiday season for brick-and-mortar stores.

Analyst Ken Perkins said he expects those sales to finally pick up after a couple of weeks of the "typical December doldrums" that follow Black Friday weekend.

In-store retail sales fell 0.8 percent last week from the same period last year, and foot traffic dropped 19.9 percent, as a weekend snowstorm hit the Northeast and Midwest, retail tracking firm ShopperTrak said yesterday.

"The issue is going to be whether it really picks up and there's a crush, or did more sales go online the previous two weeks" said Perkins, of Swampscott's Retail Metrics Inc. "We would expect the retailers ... to ramp up discounts in order to generate more traffic for this final push."

Toys'R'Us yesterday said its stores would stay open for 87 straight hours starting Saturday at 6 a.m. to take advantage of the final rush through 9 p.m. Christmas Eve.

But armchair shoppers can find online stores participating in the sixth annual Free Shipping Day at FreeShippingDay.com. The for-profit venture derives revenue from participating retailers.

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B.R.A. adds huddle to end Menino era with project OKs

The Boston Redevelopment Authority is squeezing in an additional meeting Jan. 2 to approve development projects before the Menino administration comes to an end.

"The lending and financing community is very confident in Boston right now, so we want to take advantage of that," BRA spokeswoman Melina Schuler said. "There are projects in the pipeline that we think are going to be ready."

A BRA board meeting tomorrow has hearings on proposed projects, including Boston Properties and Delaware North's 
$950 million redevelopment of the old Boston Garden site into a mixed-use complex with a 600-foot tower and a Star Market. A vote on $7.8 million in tax breaks also is expected.

Other projects up for approval are a 21-story, 202-room hotel at Tremont and Stuart streets; Trinity Place, a 33-story building with 220 hotel rooms and 142 residential units; 1350 Boylston St., a 200,000-square-foot building with 200-plus residential units and ground-floor retail; and Innovation Square, a 355,000-square-foot research and development/manufacturing facility in the Boston Marine Industrial Park.

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Nonprofit to invest $20M in South End

Community Builders Inc. is planning more than $20 million in renovations to its South End properties, including 32 additional apartment units it has acquired for 
$5 million.

The Hub-headquartered nonprofit housing developer, which has a 49-year history with affordable housing in the South End, will outfit a total of 146 apartments in 29 South End buildings with new safety systems, upgraded heating systems and improved handicap accessibility. The work is scheduled for completion in late 2014.

Included in the rehab program will be the apartments in eight separate, but contiguous buildings at 160-174 West Springfield St. that Community Builders purchased from Ebenezer Homes Associates.

"The acquisition ensures continued affordability and professional management of the Ebenezer-owned apartments as part of the (Community Builders) portfolio," spokeswoman Stephanie Anderson Garrett said.

Community Builders recently formed Historic South End Limited Partnership to combine into one entity the West Springfield Street units and the two other South End Section 8 developments slated for renovations.

It is financing the acquisition and rehab with tax-exempt bonds, 4 percent low-income housing tax credits from the state, federal and state historic tax credits, and a $22.9 million loan from the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, according to Garrett.

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Google will keep robot co. in Mass.

Boston Dynamics — the maker of uncannily agile robots including Cheetah, WildCat and BigDog — is staying in Massachusetts for now after its acquisition by Google, a purchase that could draw investors to other robotics companies in the state and ultimately lead to more jobs.

A Google spokesman yesterday declined to comment. Marc Raibert, the former Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who founded Boston Dynamics in 1992, said in an email:

"We have had a great time building our unusual robots and bringing them this far along. Now we are excited to see how much further ahead we can take robotics, working with Google's gangbuster team. Our entire robotics team will continue on, working here in Waltham."

The acquisition — Google's eighth in robotics in the past six months — "materially changes the odds of getting a return if you're a prospective investor in robot companies," said Colin Angle, CEO and co-founder of Bedford-based iRobot.

"Massachusetts is kind of the Silicon Valley of the robot industry, with more than 50 companies here," Angle said.

"If these exits create more of an appetite for investments in robot companies, Massachusetts will benefit disproportionately because we're the hot spot for robot entrepreneurship in the world. Even though we're losing one of our top-tier robot companies as an independent business ... we could see the creation of new jobs as other robot entrepreneurs found new companies here."

Angle said he suspects Google acquired Boston Dynamics to help develop an autonomous car that can drive itself and deliver packages, which could lower costs and decrease delivery times for e-commerce.

Jordan Graham contributed to this report.

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