This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
The Boston Planning & Development Agency approved nearly 900 new units of housing, including 148 income-restricted units, at its meeting Thursday.
The board approved 11 new projects totaling 1.1M SF and 876 residential units, and it passed a planning guide for Newmarket and released a request for proposals for the Western Avenue Transitway, according to a press release.
The biggest projects to be approved are Redgate's 220-unit proposal at 1141 Bennington St. in East Boston and Hines and Benenson Capital Partners' 206-unit project at 1270 Commonwealth Ave. in Allston. Both projects would include income-restricted units.
Other approved projects include 165 Park Drive in Fenway, 500 Western Ave. in Brighton and Dighton Gardens in Brighton.
The board also adopted PLAN: Newmarket, which lays out planning and design visions for the city's key industrial center. The zone overlaps the Dorchester, Roxbury, South Boston and South End neighborhoods. The BPDA released a final draft of the zoning needed to implement the plan and expects to vote on it next month.
"The plan lays out a vision and the tools for Newmarket to serve as a key center of industrial activity and employment for Boston residents, and an area primed to attract the industries of tomorrow," the BPDA's release said.
SALES
Alpha Management Corp. bought two properties in Greater Boston for nearly $25M. Alpha bought 80 Gardner St. in Allston and 175 Adams St. in Newton for $13.5M and $11.2M, respectively. The property in Newton is a four-story, 34K SF apartment building with 31 units.
With over 140 properties and 2,000 units across Greater Boston, Alpha is one of the region's largest off-campus student housing providers. It has faced controversy around how it manages properties and was referred to as "Boston's most infamous landlord" in a 2021 Boston Magazine article.
Marcus & Millichap's Evan Griffith and Tony Pepdjonovic, along with Frame Residential's Matthew Petty, represented the seller, a private family, and procured the buyer.
LEASES
The Bulfinch Cos. announced four new leases, including three life sciences companies, at its Chapel Bridge Park campus in Newton. Sparkling water company Spindrift renewed and expanded its headquarters to over 20K SF, Neuropsychology & Education Services for Children & Adolescents signed a lease renewal for 8,500 SF, GlycoEra AG signed a lease for 4K SF, and Auron Therapeutics signed a sublease.
Chapel Bridge Park is an eight-building, 250K SF life sciences campus. Other tenants include LabShares, BioSensics LLC, Inflammasome Therapeutics Inc. and Paytronix.
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Cambridge-based gene therapy company Voyager Therapeutics announced plans to expand its lease at 75 Hayden Ave. in Lexington, taking an additional 61K SF. The company already leases 32K SF of office and lab space in the building, owned by King Street Properties and Healthpeak Properties. The lease is expected to begin Feb. 1, 2024.
In the same building, Frequency Therapeutics said it plans to terminate its 61K SF lease on Jan. 31, 2024, and terminate a sublease agreement it had with SalioGen Therapeutics for 30K SF.
PERSONNEL
Beacon Communities hired Tim Sullivan as chief administrative officer. In his new role, Sullivan will be responsible for the company's financial strategy and will oversee its information technology, human resources, accounting and finance. Sullivan worked for UBS as managing director for five years and at MassHousing in multiple roles for 15 years.
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Kingbird Investment Management appointed Mark Pasierb as president. In this role, Pasierb will manage the strategic direction of the firm's portfolio, manage its operational and financial performance, and oversee its mainland U.S. and Puerto Rico operations. Before joining Kingbird, Pasierb was CEO of Pitcairn Properties for 18 years.
CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Nuveen chose proptech company Cove as its technology operator to help strengthen its portfolio and office tenant offerings. The platform will roll out in eight markets, including Boston, and will consolidate tenant experience, operations, flex office and performance into one system. The partnership comes after Cove secured an investment from Blackstone and a strategic relationship with Cushman & Wakefield for its tenant experience program.
