This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
Boston Properties signed a long-term air rights deal with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, allowing it to advance an office tower development that was approved in 2017.
The REIT, which trades as BXP, plans to build a 27-story office tower next to Back Bay Station, the Boston Globe reported. The 99-year lease gives the REIT control of the property in exchange for a base rent of $20M along with $37M in station improvements.
The developer plans to tear down the western portion of the Back Bay station garage at 171 Dartmouth St. to make way for a 660K SF office building, ground-floor retail and restaurant space and parking.
BXP didn't respond to Bisnow's request for comment.
This would be the first phase of a larger 1.3M SF project approved by the Boston Planning & Development Agency in 2017. BXP has spent $30M in renovations to ensure that the Massachusetts Turnpike tunnel under the garage can sustain the project.
The project is just one of a string of air rights projects taking shape over the Mass Pike, including Samuels & Associates' Lyrik development and IQHQ's Fenway Center life sciences project.
SALES
Alexandria Real Estate Equities acquired the site at 1200 Soldiers Field Road for $7M from Mount Vernon Co. The buyer will partner with National Development to develop the site. National Development and Mount Vernon received approval in December 2020 for a project that would demolish WBZ's television studio and build a mixed-use development, including 700K SF of office and lab space and an 85-unit apartment building.
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Comar Real Estate Trust acquired the 60-unit Hillside Residences multifamily project in Quincy for $25M. The property consists of studio, one-, two- and four-bedroom units. Amenities include a fitness center, roof deck, community areas and an underground parking garage.
The building is half a mile from the Quincy Center MBTA station. Cushman & Wakefield’s Chris Sower, Bruce Lusa, John Flaherty, Jonathan Bryant, Kevin Jones, Julie Regan and Mary VanNatta represented the seller, Boston Property Development.
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An affiliate of Toledo, Ohio-based REIT Welltower sold two parcels of land at 1102 and 1106 Washington St. in Braintree to Candour Management LLC for $22M, according to public records. The property at 1102 Washington St. is a 177-bed senior living facility and a healthcare facility occupied by Braintree Manor HealthCare and a therapist's office, according to Bldup.
LEASES
Capital Properties and Colliers secured 47K SF of new leases at the 540K SF, 11-story office building at 31 St. James Ave. The new tenants include Boston Integrated Health and Sugarman & Sugarman, and it signed lease extensions from P.C. Engineering firm HNTB, Hercules Capital, and retailer Vision Source. The building now has 67K SF of leases signed. Colliers' Tom Hynes, Kristin Blount, Joseph Capuano and Dan Carucci lead the building's leasing.
FINANCING
Mesa West Capital provided an $81M refinancing loan for Toll Brothers and Carlyle's Emblem 120 multifamily project in Woburn. The 289-unit building was developed and delivered in 2022 by Toll Brothers Apartment Living.
The development includes one-, two- and three-bedroom units as well as work-from-home spaces, a rooftop terrace and a multilevel fitness center. The financing was arranged by Newmark's Boston Debt & Structured Finance team led by David Douvadjian, Sr., Timothy O’Donnell and David Douvadjian, Jr.
PERSONNEL
Cummings Properties appointed Stephanie Aitchison and John Halsey to its executive committee. The 11-member committee serves as the governing body of the firm. Aitchison joined Cummings in 2004 as an executive trainee in the company's operations department. In 2016, she was appointed as associate general manager of the firm's 2.7M SF Beverly portfolio.
Halsey was hired as account manager at the firm in 2016, and he was tasked with developing the company's relationships with current tenants and cultivating new leasing projects. In 2021, he was named leasing manager of the firm's portfolio.
