It's Thursday.

• Today, we look at who's capitalizing on commercial vacancies downtown, and what Meta's settlement means for Mass.

🌧️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny then slight chance of rain showers, with a high of 84 and a low of 69.

🎂 Happy birthday to our member AJ Andreucci!

Today's newsletter is 1,060 words — a 4-minute read.

Boston-area nonprofits are capitalizing on office vacancies downtown.

Why it matters: Office vacancies and, in some cases, steeply discounted building sales have created an opening for nonprofits to buy or lease in a pricey real estate market.

Catch up quick: The market conditions created the perfect opportunity for BreakTime, a nonprofit that helps young adults achieve stable housing and economic mobility.

• The organization bought a six-floor building from Eastern Bank in late 2024 for $6.3 million, less than one-fourth of its 2015 price.
• Bridge Over Troubled Waters, a nonprofit serving at-risk youth, bought 25 West St. in October for $4.4 million, above its assessed value but just over half of the asking price.

State of play: More nonprofits have moved downtown this year.

• Embrace Boston bought the buildings at 33-41 West St. this summer for $9.5 million.
• That's more than twice what the buildings sold for in 2023, but just over half of what they sold for in 2016, per property records.

Yes, and: Two nonprofits — the Boston Society for Architecture and Lawyers for Civil Rights — are renting space downtown, not far from planning and design firms Sasaki and Utile.

• The latter will support BizGrow Central, LCR's program supporting entrepreneurs from historically marginalized communities.

What they're saying: Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, LCR's executive director, declined to discuss the terms of the lease, citing a confidentiality clause, but said market conditions didn't hurt.

• "I strongly believe that this intervention is possible because of more affordability and availability of space in the downtown core that would have been difficult to achieve before the pandemic," he said.

The big picture: Downtown's vacancy rate is hovering just above 25%.

• That's lower than the last couple of years but still above what it was during the 2008 recession, even as developers pursue office-to-residential conversions, said Jeff Myers, research director at Colliers.
• Boston's job market, which lags behind the national employment rate, has complicated downtown's recovery, per Colliers' Q2 office market report.

Follow the money: Those savings may have also trickled down to commercial tenants.

• Downtown asking rents are down by 19% since the start of the pandemic, Myers said.

Yes, but: The influx of nonprofits may make the neighborhood more racially and economically diverse, nonprofit leaders say.

Go deeper

Meta agreed to settle with U.S. states for up to $17.1 billion in a landmark deal over allegations that Facebook and Instagram were designed in ways that harm children.

Why it matters: This is social media's version of the landmark 1990s tobacco settlement. It effectively reshapes the industry and potentially the user experience.

Driving the news: Meta agreed to provide compensation to the states for a variety of public health purposes, including $516 million for Massachusetts.

• Meta also agreed to limit users ages 13-17 to 2 hours per day on Facebook and Instagram, block them from accessing the platforms from midnight to 6 am, and limit notifications to them during school hours.
• Youth will also be given the option to have a chronological feed, not an algorithmic one, and parents can make it the default option.
• Kids also won't be able to see likes and other reactions on posts.

The intrigue: Meta issued an open letter to TikTok and YouTube calling on them to join in the deal.

Between the lines: About $5 billion of the Meta settlement kicks in only if YouTube and TikTok also settle with states on two conditions:

1. Imposing a one-hour daily usage limit, night restrictions and age assurance features;
2. Paying about $5 billion each.

Follow the money: At roughly $17 billion, the Meta settlement is on par with historic federal civil settlements like the Volkswagen "Dieselgate" scandal and the BP Deepwater Horizon deal.

• But it's a small fraction of the 1998 tobacco deal, under which states collected more than $200 billion.

Tell a parent

State Rep. Francisco Paulino (D-Methuen) was arrested yesterday on federal pandemic benefit fraud charges. (NBC Boston)

• House Speaker Ron Mariano said the House would monitor the legal proceedings and "upon their conclusion, take appropriate action if necessary to ensure accountability."

🦪 It's official: Union Oyster House will be sold to Texas-based restaurant magnate Tilman Fertitta. (BBJ)

The trial against Lindsay Clancy, who is accused of murdering her three children, will move to closing arguments today after the last rebuttal witness testified. (CBS Boston)

• Catch up quick: Dr. Gregory Saathoff, a forensic psychiatrist, said there were inconsistencies in Clancy's story about a voice she said had ordered her to kill the children.
• Saathoff also described Clancy's suicide attempt as "very serious," despite the prosecution's suggestion otherwise.

🏗️ Boston planning officials are giving the public until Nov. 2 to weigh in on a proposed redevelopment of the former Carney Hospital campus in Dorchester. (Dorchester Reporter)

Fenway Park will host the state's first legal bare-knuckle fighting tournament this weekend.

Why it matters: The bloody combat sport, which was illegal nationwide until 2018, has spread across over 30 states in the years since.

Flashback: Boston has a history with the sport as the hometown of boxer John L. Sullivan.

• Sullivan, "The Boston Strongboy," became the Bare Knuckle Boxing World Champion in 1889. (He and his rival, Jake Kilrain, were later arrested and jailed in Mississippi, per ESPN.)
• That was over a century before former professional boxer David Feldman embarked on a crusade to legalize the sport, drawing professional fighters across boxing, mixed martial arts, kickboxing and Muay Thai.

State of play: Now Feldman's Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship will make its Boston debut with "BKFC 92" at 6pm Saturday.

Go deeper

Steph here. Our super scientific poll results are in.

The verdict: 18 of you responded (like I said, super scientific), and about half said Bully Boy should take their pitch to a local brand like Polar Seltzer or Spindrift instead of Red Bull.

Deehan and the BPL have had the same thought: Have you ever wondered how Boston used to smell?

Steph is mourning their favorite "Sweet Transvestite."

This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner.