This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
The largest new office project to deliver in Boston this year officially opened its doors last week, and it is fully leased.
The HYM Investment Group CEO Tom O'Brien, Carr Properties CEO Oliver Carr and National Real Estate Advisors CEO Jeff Kanne hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday for the team's 600-foot-tall, 1M SF office tower.
“The delivery of One Congress marks our first development project in Boston. We could not be prouder of the partnership we have formed with National and HYM to bring the next generation of office to Boston,” Carr said in a statement.
The office building was 100% pre-leased by a number of major corporations. State Street signed a 510K SF lease in 2019, and InterSystems signed a 420K SF lease in 2022. Other tenants include law firm K&L Gates, Trillium Asset Management and Husch Blackwell.
The office building features a full floor of amenities, including a 7K SF fitness center, a marketplace, a cocktail bar and nearly 5K SF of meeting and conference space. The building also has a 15K SF outdoor terrace, which includes several open-air pavilions and an outdoor bar.
The office building is a part of the four-phase Bulfinch Crossing redevelopment that includes two multifamily projects and a life sciences building. The development group has already begun demolition of the Government Center Garage to make way for the new developments.
SALES
SC Alpha Inc. acquired a mixed-use property at 37-43 Temple Place in Boston for $20M, Cushman & Wakefield announced Friday. The 20K SF property has 16 residential units and retail tenants including The Crossing Wine & Spirits and Victoria's Jewelry. Cushman & Wakefield’s Bruce Lusa, Chris Sower, Jon Bryant, John Flaherty, Kevin Jones, Mary VanNatta and Julie Regan represented the seller, 3MJ Realty LLC.
LEASES
SalioGen Therapeutics signed a 42K SF lease at Greatland Partners and Singerman Real Estate's Lexington Labs campus at 10 Maguire Road. The four-building, 300K SF lab and office building is less than 50% occupied, with its tenants totaling 130K SF. Other tenants include Braskem USA, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Nikon Instruments, Olix Pharmaceuticals, Fapon Life Sciences and Daré Bioscience. JLL represented the landlords, and Cushman & Wakefield represented SalioGen.
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Tap 151 Bar and Grill signed for 6K SF at DivcoWest's Cambridge Crossing campus. The restaurant is expected to open in 2024 and will occupy space on the ground floor of the Park 151 multifamily development. The restaurant will have space for 233 seats with a total capacity of 300. The restaurant has other locations in Cambridge, Somerville and Northborough.
FINANCING
MassDevelopment awarded $2.2M in grants to 22 properties in nine gateway cities in an effort to revitalize their commercial corridors. The agency's Transformative Development Initiative Equity Investment program helps to rehabilitate and expand properties in an effort to spur economic activity. Eight of these properties were awarded grants funded by the Barr Foundation. The cities receiving awards are Attleboro, Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lynn, New Bedford, Pittsfield, Springfield and Taunton.
PERSONNEL
Marcus Partners hired Gwen Leurini as principal, chief financial officer and chief compliance officer. Leurini will also serve on the firm's management committee and as chair of the compliance and risk committee. Before joining Marcus Partners, Leurini served as AEW Capital Management's head of fund operations for 17 years, a role in which she was responsible for financial management and investor reporting.
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The Bulfinch Cos. hired two new members to its asset management team. Alexander Schultz and Charles Montemor were hired as director of asset management and senior asset manager, respectively. Before joining Bulfinch, Schultz acted as vice president of asset management and investments at The Davis Cos. for the past six years, overseeing asset performance of the company's life sciences and advanced manufacturing portfolio.
Montemor was previously vice president of asset management at Santerre Health Investors, where he oversaw management, leasing and financial reporting for the firm's portfolio of 1.9M SF of medical office buildings.
CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
The Boston Planning & Development Agency on Thursday approved the Dorchester Bay City Planned Development Area Master Plan, which includes 36 acres across four parcels on the Columbia Point peninsula. The $5B project will be split up into three phases consisting of 21 office, residential and life sciences buildings with more than 11 acres of public realm improvements and 1,957 units of housing.
The board also approved two new developments totaling 111K SF with 82 residential units, 48 of which would be designated as income-restricted. The agency approved 2 Ford St. and 970 Saratoga St. in East Boston and 1417 Blue Hill Ave. in Mattapan.
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Lendlease and Ivanhoé Cambridge topped off the structural steel framing of their 350K SF life sciences development in Boston Landing. The $545M project, branded as Forum, is expected to be delivered in 2024. The development offers 50K SF floor plates for one or multiple tenants.
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The Archdiocese of Boston's development arm, the Planning Office of Urban Affairs, and its partner St. Mary's Center for Women and Children filed plans to renovate three buildings at the center's 90 Cushing Ave. campus into supportive housing.
The first phase of the project would be the renovation of the east, main and chapel buildings, which make up the original St. Margaret's hospital and the hospital's later additions. The second phase would consist of the demolition of a parking garage and the construction of a new supportive housing building with 71 fully affordable two- and three-bedroom units.
