This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
The Druker Co. filed plans for a two-building lab and office project in the South End, marking one of the largest new lab proposals in months as the city's booming industry has begun to slow.
The project is proposed to comprise 588K SF of office and lab space with ground-floor retail and two levels of below-grade parking at 1033-1055 Washington St. The developer filed plans for the project on Dec. 28, the Boston Business Journal reported.
Druker has been active in planning new developments in the city even as the overall pipeline has slowed. The developer was also approved in May for a 265K SF office and lab development at 80 East Berkeley St., which originally was a proposal for just office space.
In the Back Bay, Druker has begun construction on an office building right across the street from the Boston Public Gardens. In June, Bain & Co. announced that it would lease 221K SF in the building.
SALES
IQHQ bought a building in Brighton for $18M as a potential space for the Sound Museum, a music rehearsal facility and recording studio, the Boston Business Journal reported. The building is located at 290 North Beacon St.
The Sound Museum is located nearby at 155 North Beacon St., but IQHQ is planning on redeveloping that property as a 350K SF lab and office project. IQHQ agreed to relocate the music space months ago, as it intended to tear down the building, giving the Sound Museum until Jan. 31 to leave the property.
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Choate, Hall and Stewart LLP bought a multifamily property in the Back Bay for just over $16M last week, according to public records. The 16 Marlborough property is a 6,207 SF rowhouse sitting one block away from the Boston Public Gardens. The buyer acquired the property from Tremont Asset Management LLC.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
The Needham Planning Board approved The Bulfinch Cos.' plans to develop a 465K SF lab project on the site of an old car dealership, the Boston Globe reported. The two-building development would sit on 9.75 acres that the firm acquired for $57.5M in 2021.
In 2021, the site had been rezoned to allow for office and lab use in an effort to block a bid from Amazon, which at the time was gobbling up land and leases in an effort to expand its industrial footprint.
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Drexel Village LLC filed a letter of intent to develop 300K SF on the Boston Planning & Development Agency-owned Crescent Parcel in Roxbury's Nubian Square. The project is proposed to consist of 217 units divided between three buildings on Melnea Cass Boulevard and Tremont Street, Universal Hub reported. The project is also planned to renovate the St. Katharine Drexel Church that sits on the site, and it would include retail, commercial and over 60K SF of public open space.
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Watertown is pursuing new linkage fees on commercial projects after the state approved a bill that would allow the city to adopt them. The city would initially be able to enact a fee of up to $18 per SF, but it would be able to adjust it over time. Any linkage fees the city proposes need to be finalized by the Watertown Planning Board.
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The Boston Planning & Development Agency announced it will give approximately $11M in funding to local organizations provided by Massachusetts General Hospital through its clinical building project on Fruit Street. The funding will go to organizations like the West End Museum, Museum of African American History, Boston Preservation Alliance, Old West Church, the Boston Transportation Department and the Boston Public Works Department.
This funding is a part of the community benefits and mitigation agreement the BPDA and MGH negotiated as part of its 1M SF clinical facility, which will be part of the hospital's main campus in the West End.
UPDATE, Jan. 17, 3:50 P.M. ET: This story has been updated with a more recent rendering of the Needham lab project from Bulfinch Cos.
