Meredith & Grew joined the Massachusetts markets with its own tremendous growth at the beginning of the 1980s. In 1982, despite the national market conditions, the firm secured over 40 leasing exclusives in Boston and remained active in the investment sales market.

Additionally, Meredith & Grew added two new divisions to its roster. The establishment of the Real Estate Development Services team enabled the firm to offer project services from the earliest stages of planning to leasing and management. Meredith & Grew also created an in-house Research Department to facilitate and expedite the collection and distribution of market information. One final notable addition to the firm during the early 1980s was personal computers.

By 1984, the nation was touting the 'Massachusetts Miracle' with much of this success due to the region's strong emphasis on financial and professional service firms, the state's high technology base and the overall quality of life. Also in 1984, construction added over 4 million square feet of space to the market. Later that year, Meredith & Grew accepted the management assignment for the rehabilitation of the United Shoe Building, one of Boston's largest rehabilitation projects, and was named the exclusive leasing agent for the 150/160 Federal Street complex.

By 1985, Meredith & Grew's brokerage department was outperforming most national markets and was at the forefront of Boston's real estate community. In a precedent setting move, the firm sold 105,000 square feet of office space at 160 Federal Street to Price Waterhouse, establishing the Landmark Building (formerly the United Shoe Building) as one of the city's first major office condominiums.

Meredith & Grew's management capabilities were stepped up with the acquisition of a database management system that provided accounting, lease administration and maintenance programs. Meredith & Grew also expanded its outreach when Vice President Almon Townsend III founded a national division with The Office Network, which later became ONCOR International.

Meredith & Grew continued to flourish in the hot market. In 1987 and the firm purchased condominium space at the Landmark Building and moved its headquarters from its long-time home at The Travelers Building. That same year, The Travelers Building was demolished, and Meredith & Grew managed the development of 125 High Street on the site, completing its full-cycle experience with the parcel.

Meredith & Grew's Appraisal Department and Counseling Department also merged into Counseling & Valuation Services in 1987, creating a single department of greater strength and diversity. One year later, the company began serving as the development consultant for the new Boston Garden mixed-use complex.

The end of the eighties found Boston's real estate market soaring as rents and demand reached all-time highs. Despite a national slowdown, the Greater Boston market remained very strong, maintaining one of the lowest vacancies among U.S. cities throughout the late 1980s. After a twelve-year term as Meredith & Grew's President, George Lovejoy was elected the firm's chairman and Tom Hynes, a 23-year veteran of the firm, was elected Meredith & Grew's sixth president.

However, clouds were looming on the horizon. Greater Boston's inflation rate was 60% above the national average and the state's budget deficit was ominous as cost cutting measures on capital expenditures and reduction of personnel seemed certain. Additionally, over 4 million square feet of space was delivered to the Boston market alone between 1985 and 1989, leaving developers scrambling for tenants to fill their projects. The real estate market was changing and tenants were waiting to see how far the market would drop.

Looking ahead, the firm expressed cautious optimism that the market would rebound. It did not. In 1990, the "Massachusetts Miracle" evaporated. On a combined basis the city and state cut 11,000 jobs. Unemployment jumped five percentage points, moving Massachusetts from the lowest to the highest unemployment rate in the nation's 11 industrial states. Massachusetts also led the country in corporate bankruptcies. Without question, the New England region was the hardest market hit in the nation by the economic downturn.

The real estate markets were devastated by Massachusetts' tremendous economic slide. In 1990, 2 million additional square feet were delivered to the Boston market, but were not able to be filled. The seven-year construction boom in the nation had created dramatic oversupply expansion ceased and space was abandoned. In 1991, with 150,000 jobs having been lost in a 12-month period, consumer confidence in New England was well below that for any other region in the country. Massachusetts was one of only three states with a declining population.

By the end of 1992, the clouds began to thin as the supply/demand statistics improved. Massachusetts' per capita income rose by 3% and home sales were on the rise. The unemployment rate, though still higher than the rest of the nation, was sinking, and job losses slowed. The real estate world recognized it had gotten itself into trouble with oversupply, but things were turning around.

The market had undoubtedly rallied by 1993. Back Bay enjoyed one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country and Cambridge experienced strong absorption, significantly lower vacancies and rising rents. Tenants facing higher rents again sought space in the lower priced suburbs, erasing an enormous oversupply in those markets. In 1994, the market expressed restrained enthusiasm as a waning supply of space and increasing rental rates became the story.

Meredith & Grew weathered the storm and saw a tremendous increase in leasing activity. Boston's real estate market was finally recognized as fully recovered. The occasion was coincidentally marked by the groundbreaking of the 525,000-square-foot 10 St. James Avenue, the first tower to be built in the city since the economic slide at the beginning of the decade. Meredith & Grew was named the exclusive leasing agent of the property, pushing the firm to blaze a trail to the new millennium.

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