This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
The Boston Planning & Development Agency approved six new development projects and the agency's new planning and zoning initiative at its monthly meeting on Thursday.
Of these six development projects, there would be approximately 2.6M SF of new development, including 147 new residential units, 95% of which would be designated income-restricted.
The largest approval was Flatley Co.'s planned development area for its 425 Medford St. project. The project would encompass roughly 1.8M SF, including 500 residential units and three office and lab buildings. The project also aligns with the PLAN: Charlestown planning guide and has significant waterfront flooding mitigation plans including a resiliency barrier on the Mystic River waterfront.
Other projects include Boston Pinnacle Properties' 15-unit 281 Franklin St. office-to-residential conversion project, Northeastern University's 1,400-bed 840 Columbus Ave. dorm project, and Asian Community Development Corp.'s 132-unit 290 Tremont St. affordable housing project.
The agency also approved its Squares + Streets Zoning Districts initiative, which will amend its zoning code to add new mixed-use zoning districts. These districts will encourage mixed-use activity in neighborhood centers across the city. The amendment still needs to be approved by the Zoning Commission.
SALES
Alexandria Real Estate Equities sold the properties at 40 W. Third St. and 18 W. Third St. in South Boston for $13.3M. The properties were bought by an entity linked to digital marketing firm Verndale. Before the sale, Alexandria, in partnership with Anchor Line Partners, planned to transform the site into a 210K SF lab building at 99 A St. Anchor Line had acquired the properties for a combined $31.1M in 2018 and sold its stake to Alexandria in 2021.
LEASES
ADA Forsyth Institute signed a 76K SF lease at 100 Chestnut St. in Somerville. The 15-year lease is for the oral health institute's headquarters after the Forsyth Institute and the American Dental Association Science and Research Institute merged to become this new institute. The company is moving from its current headquarters at 245 First St. in Kendall Square.
FINANCING
The federal government has awarded $335M for the state's Allston Multimodal Project, which will restructure part of the Massachusetts Turnpike. The state is working with the city, Harvard University, Boston University and other local partners on the project.
In August, Boston University pledged $10M, and Harvard committed $90M toward the project. The city pledged $100M in direct funding and $100M from revenue generated from land developed by Harvard. Harvard owns roughly 360 acres in the Allston neighborhood, including Beacon Yard Park, a 100-acre former rail yard that could potentially be redeveloped.
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Gov. Maura Healey announced she will be starting a new $1M fund aimed at supporting office-to-residential conversions across the state. The program will help developers outside of Boston who are looking to convert vacant or underutilized office buildings. It will be run by the quasi-public agency MassHousing, according to the release.
Synergy Investment has already partnered with the state through this initiative for its Chestnut Place conversion project in Worcester. The project would convert a 250K SF two-building office complex into 220 units of housing.
PERSONNEL
Cushman & Wakefield hired Michael Gill as senior director of New England client services. In this role, Gill will oversee engineering and maintenance operations in the region and will lead client partnerships across key accounts. Gill has more than three decades of experience in operations, conservation and sustainability, and facility engineering. He has held several positions in the field with the most recent as director of operations for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
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Ryan McDonough was named Marcus Partners' chief investment officer and will lead the firm's acquisition team. McDonough joined Marcus Partners in 2017 as principal and worked his way up to his most recent role as co-chief investment officer alongside Bill McAvoy. McAvoy will continue as managing director of investments for the firm.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Political leaders and housing officials celebrated the groundbreaking for the Franklin Cummings Tech campus in Roxbury's Nubian Square neighborhood. The development will include a 68K SF, three-story building which the college will relocate to from the South End. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll and Mayor Michelle Wu were in attendance.
The development is part of a bigger transformation of the area as the city's "Education Innovation District." The campus and building were designed by Studio G Architects.
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2Life Communities hosted a groundbreaking for its redevelopment of the John J. Carroll Apartment community in Brighton. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Driscoll and Wu were in attendance at the groundbreaking.
The development group was selected by the Boston Housing Authority to modernize and redevelop 64 units of public housing into 142 new affordable senior apartments. The development will also include an 11K SF all-inclusive care for the elderly center, WBZ reported.
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Bozzuto's 165-unit residential building in Allston Yards has begun pre-leasing. The development located at 301 Guest St. is set to deliver in the spring and will also be managed by Bozzuto.
The residential project sits on top of a 67K SF Stop & Shop, which will replace a former location at 60 Everett St. The development includes a fitness center, a secured package room, an outdoor deck with a fire pit and a library. This is the first residential development completed by Bozzuto Development Co. in Boston and the third in the state.
