This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
Millennium Partners, an early mover in the rebirth of Boston's traditional Downtown retail and financial district, has been chosen by the city to develop a $1B-plus mixed-use tower on a coveted, city-owned site.
The developer and the city have started negotiations for the sale of the publicly owned Winthrop Street Garage site, at 115 Federal St in Boston’s traditional commercial center. The developer, an early mover in the rebirth of the adjacent Downtown Crossing neighborhood from eerily derelict into a vibrant hotspot of new luxury projects, is planning a $1B-plus, 750-foot tower of retail, offices and condominiums on the garage site. With Handel Architects, a longtime collaborator on other large projects in this neighborhood, the pro forma calls for: 14 stories of offices and 36 residences built over a 65-foot-high Great Hall and an innovation accelerator space. You can hear from Millennium Partners Boston principal Anthony Pangaro and other experts at Bisnow's Boston State of the Market event on Sept. 13. Tickets and info here.
The city chose Millennium over five other developers partially based on its offer to pay the city $151M for the site, and its plan to create public space that will cultivate a sense of community and place. The project’s proposed centerpiece is a nearly 13k SF multi-story Great Hall that would serve as a cultural and commercial center. The developer expects to partner with the city in the innovation accelerator space to support the development, growth and maturation of startups. Ernst & Young will work with the team to help the BRA and the city do independent financial analysis during negotiations. Get the details from the experts at Bisnow's Boston State of the Market event on Sept. 13. Tickets and info: https://www.bisnow.com/events/boston
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Boston College is advancing its $200M plan to upgrade its athletic facilities by seeking BRA approval for new baseball and softball fields, and a recreation field and support building on the northern portion of its Brighton campus. The new Brighton Athletic Fields will occupy 14 acres bounded by Anselm Terrace and Glenmont Road to the north, Lane Park and Campus Lane to the south and Lake Street to the west.
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DJ Properties won a green light from the BRA to build Washington Village, a $400M, mixed-use project on nearly five acres in South Boston to replace surface parking, vacant land, and light industrial and commercial structures. DJ Properties expects to build a mix of 650 housing units (including 110 deed-restricted ownership homes) and 99k SF of retail. The plan exceeds the city’s usual affordable housing requirement and also will include 650 parking spaces on-site for residents and retail customers. The housing designed by Prellwitz Chilinski Associates will be a mix of rental and ownership units in eight buildings, ranging in height from three stories to 21 stories, to be built in three phases.
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The Cronin Group, which owns the Atlantic Beer Garden and Whiskey Priest on the South Boston Waterfront, will do a $260M redevelopment of these properties at 150 Seaport Blvd with a 22-story, 124-unit condominium high-rise that features two floors of retail and restaurant space and underground parking for 179 vehicles. The Elkus Manfredi-designed project is slated to complete the picturesque Boston Harborwalk at the water’s edge to better link Pier 4 with Northern Avenue. The plan also includes funding to create 46 units of affordable senior housing.
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Trinity Financial is partnering with the Boston Housing Authority on the $186M redevelopment of the Orient Heights public housing complex in East Boston to serve a mix of income levels from affordable to market rate and to be LEED Silver certifiable. The existing 331 public housing units will be demolished and completely reconstructed in three phases; with the first phase expected to cost approximately $51M. Funding is still being sought for phases 2 and 3, but Trinity Financial and the BHA hope to begin construction of those phases in 2018 and 2020, respectively.
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Jackson Square Partners and The Community Builders are moving ahead with Phase 3 of the redevelopment of Jackson Square, a $62.6M transit-oriented master plan project spanning Jamaica Plain and Roxbury. It will create 144 units of new housing, 68 of which will be deed-restricted as affordable at below market rates. Designed by ICON Architecture to be LEED Silver, it includes two buildings, one with 44 affordable rental units, and the second with approximately 100 affordable and market-rate units and 2,400 SF of retail space.
