This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
Los Angeles-based CIM Group is the latest to file office-to-residential conversion plans in the Back Bay.
The firm filed plans to convert a six-story, 107K SF office building at 95 Berkeley St. into 91 units of housing, the Boston Business Journal reported. The firm filed plans on Thursday through Mayor Michelle Wu's office-to-residential conversion incentive program.
The firm says it would need an additional 20K SF of new development to make the project work on the site. The project is estimated to cost $75M and is planned to be financed through debt, equity and public grants and subsidies.
The project marks the second largest of its kind in the city and the seventh conversion proposal to go through the program. KS Partners' 95-unit conversion project at 85 Devonshire St. won Boston Planning & Development Agency approval in April.
CIM acquired the Class-B property in 2016 for $43M from the Community Builders.
SALES
Rhino Capital Advisors acquired a 56K SF EMC office and data center property in Hopkinton with plans to convert it into life sciences space. The developer bought the property for $4.1M and received $8M in financing from Webster Five, Banker & Tradesman reported.
JLL's Investment Sales and Advisory team representing the seller was led by Mike Restivo and Scott Carpenter. The brokerage's Debt Advisory team representing the borrower was led by Brett Paulsrud and Tom Sullivan.
LEASES
Global retailer UNIQLO opened a store at the South Shore Plaza in Braintree on Friday. The 9K SF storefront marks the retailer's fourth location in the region. The Japanese clothing brand also has locations at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, The Shops at Chestnut Hill and 341 Newbury St. in the Back Bay.
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LifeTime Fitness plans to open a 59K SF location at Boston Properties' Prudential Center. The location would be the athletic club's sixth Greater Boston location, the Boston Business Journal reported. The other locations are in Burlington, Chestnut Hill, Framingham, Medford, Peabody and Westwood. The deal came after Harvard Book Store abandoned its plans to move into the space earlier this year.
FINANCING
Life sciences REIT Alexandria Real Estate Equities plans to create a "mega campus" in South Boston that could span 1M SF. The company said it would invest $155M through a new joint venture with National Development to transform properties at 285, 299, 307 and 345 Dorchester Ave. into the new campus, the Boston Business Journal reported.
The investment comes after the REIT acquired 307 Dorchester Ave. in January for $43M. Alexandria will have a 60% stake in the joint venture.
PERSONNEL
Suffolk Construction hired Peter Gasparini as executive vice president of national operations and Christopher Mills as executive vice president of business development. Gasparini will help drive the national operations team and will work out of Suffolk's headquarters in Boston.
Mills comes from a 31-year tenure at New York-based Plaza Construction. He will focus on national business development to expand the company's footprint and drive growth. He will be based out of Suffolk's New York office.
CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Rhino Capital Advisors submitted plans to convert a seven-story office building at 110 Canal St. in Bulfinch Triangle into an 82-room hotel, according to the BPDA. Rhino said the 58K SF building was perfect for a hotel because of the more than 200 annual events that take place in the nearby TD Garden. It also plans to bring 4K SF of ground floor retail. The developer bought the property in December for $14.6M.
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Shawmut Design and Construction, Hobbs Brooke Real Estate, and Payette broke ground on a 320K SF research and development facility in Norwood for FM Global. The project at 1165 Providence Highway is expected to be completed in 2026. It transforms an existing 1950s-era building into a 100% electric-powered facility. The facility will also include an over 930-space parking garage.
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The Michaels Organization, Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and MassHousing celebrated the completion of $17M in renovations at the 201-unit Bergen Circle housing community in Springfield. Michaels took over ownership and management of the eight-building housing community in 2021.
MassHousing provided Michaels with $13M in construction financing and an $8M repair loan for the renovations. The work consisted of envelope repairs, new window installations and other renovations to flooring, appliances, kitchen and bathrooms.
