Revving up RevPAR
| Leaving other cities in the dust, Boston hotels may see an 8% to 10% rise in RevPAR in ?12 compared to a 3% to 4% rise for the US industry overall, says Jim O?Connell, the founder of O?Connell Hospitality Group. He'll share this and other observations at Bisnow's Hotel Summit, Dec. 14 at the Westin Copley Place.Register here! | |
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| Jim, whose firm primarily finances and brokers the sale of East Coast hotels and resorts, says ?12 will be a ?historically strong? year for Boston. Convention bookings are up, tourists will flock here for special events like the NCAA Lacrosse championship expected to draw a crowd of 100,000 Memorial Day weekend. That's on top of the consistent demand from area colleges and hospitals (bless the eds and meds). Meanwhile, sale prices softened this summer, so a property that would have fetched $25M earlier this year may now only be valued at $22M. | |
| The Deal Sheet | |
| The City of Boston will invest $115M to redevelop Dudley Square?s Ferdinand Building and surrounding properties into the Dudley Square Municipal Building. Construction is slated to start in March on the 152k SF project. Sasaki will lead the local design team as a rep for the Dutch Mecanoo Architecten. The project will incorporate the Curtis Block and J.S. Waterman Block to allow for ground-floor retail, better access to Dudley Station, and more landscaping in the Square.*** | |
| Wegman?s Food Markets of Rochester, NY, which in October opened its first New England store in Northborough, will open another supermarket in Chestnut Hill Square. The Newton store will be a relatively small, 70k SF, to fit the urban retail, medical office, and residential complex being developed by New England Development. | |
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| North Kentucky University recently dedicated the Griffin Hall Center for Informatics designed by Goody Clancy. The building features the George and Ellen Rieveschl Digitorium, a two-story hall with a transparent skin. It leads to an L-shaped classroom and administrative wing. The building is illuminated by RGB LED lighting. The project team also includes: McGill Smith Punshon, Associate Architect and Civil Engineer and Turner Construction as the GC.*** | |
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| The Heywood Wakefield, a 78-unit assisted living complex in a converted mill, is up and running in Gardner. Opened last month, it features a commercial kitchen, dining room, library and wellness facility. The developer, the Worcester Community Housing Resources and Commonweal Collaborative, worked with Henry Schadler Associates architects and Metric Construction.*** | |
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| EXEL leased 182k SF at 530 John Hancock Rd in Taunton from 530 JohnHancock, a client of Invesco Real Estate. The space in Myles Standish Industrial Park will house Exel Logistics storage and distribution operations for EMD/Millipore. Lincoln Property's Ellison Patten and Ned Halloran repped the landlord. Cassidy Turley FHO?s Kevin Hanna repped the tenant. ***InVivo Theraputics has leased 21k SF at One Kendall Square in Cambridge as it outgrows its 4,000 SF in the Cambridge Innovation Center at One Broadway. The life science company developing treatments for spinal cord injuries is based on technology developed by MIT prof Robert Langer and Mass General doc Joseph Vacanti. It plans to grow from 20 to 32 full-time employees in ?12; its new HQ can accommodate 47. *** Psychological Care Associates leased 3,500 SF at 321 Billerica Rd in Chelmsford for 10 years from RREEF, in a relo of its Tewksbury office. With an HQ in Woburn, it also has offices in Stoneham and Arlington. Lincoln Property's Rob Cronin repped the tenant. *** JP Licks Homemade Ice Cream Co has leased a retail space at 150 Charles St on the Beacon Hill flats. The 30-year-old local chain, which also has a store on Newbury Street plans a spring opening for its 11th outlet. ASSIGNMENTS The Federated Cos has hired The Dartmouth Co and WRE Commercial Brokers to lease the retail section of the 1M SF Maritime Landing in the Bayside neighborhood of Portland, Me. Construction is set to start in April on the project that includes: 97k SF retail, a 96k SF full-service hotel, 554 luxury housing units, and public parking for 1,060 cars. Nearby is a Whole Foods and a Trader Joe's. *** Campanelli has hired Colliers International to lease Weymouth Woods Corporate Center at 97 Industrial Pkwy. The 100k SF building has been 100% leased for more than a decade. Colliers lease team includes Jim Elcock, David Goodhue, and Caleb Hudak. | |
| HONORS | |
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| Last week, National Grid?s 145k SF New England operations center in Northborough won LEED Gold for its '10 interior renovation. The USGBC?s Nathan Gauthier presented a plaque to NGrid?s facilities director Patrick Burns and president Marcy Reed. Green features: energy saving lighting, heating and cooling systems, water conservation measures, use of 25% recycled materials and furnishings. | |
| EXECS ON THE MOVE | |
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| Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott announced that David McGlone has joined the Boston office of the 330-person law firm as a litigator specializing in construction law. He was recently at Preti Flaherty. The matters he handles include: acceleration and inefficiency claims, mechanic's liens, bid protests and claim arbitration, and AIA drafting contracts. |
