This Week's Boston Deal Sheet: Chinatown Tower Sells For $123M
A Denver-based apartment REIT acquired a downtown Boston multifamily building for 15% less than what it sold for seven years ago.
Apartment Income REIT acquired The Tower at One Greenway in Boston's Chinatown for $123.4M, according to public land records. It acquired the property from PGIM Real Estate, which purchased the property for $144.5M in 2017, the Boston Business Journal reported.
The 21-story building includes 217 market-rate apartments, plus income-restricted units that weren't part of the sale, the BBJ reported.
The deal is the latest in a string of large multifamily deals across the market. Multifamily sales volume totaled $1.4B in the third quarter, quadrupling that of the prior quarter and marking the highest level since the second quarter of 2022. Investors have been attracted to the Boston area due to its low supply pipeline and solid rent growth compared to growth markets.
AIR Communities owns another high-rise in Boston, the One Canal Apartments, and several other properties in Greater Boston, including Axiom Apartments in Cambridge, Charlesbank Apartment Homes in Watertown and Wexford Village Apartments in Worcester.
SALES
An affiliate of SMG Real Estate acquired the Shawomet Gardens apartment complex in Somerset for $36.5M, according to public records. The firm bought the 240-unit multifamily complex from Audubon Road Associates. The complex consists of 60 buildings spread across a 12-acre site. The acquisition was financed through Wells Fargo. Boston Realty Advisors' Kevin Benzinger led the team that represented the seller in the transaction.
LEASES
The Bulfinch Cos. secured a long-term lease extension from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America at its 95 Mount Auburn St. building in Cambridge. Fischer Corporate Real Estate acted as the broker for TIAA. The property is near Harvard Square and is three stories of office and retail space. It has 5K SF of retail space available.
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Berklee signed a 9K SF lease at 699 Boylston St. in the Back Bay to house a new dance studio and café called Melo. The retail space was once home to Tom Brady's TB12 store. Freudenheim Partners and Newmark's Ted Chryssicas worked on the deal.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
The Boston Planning Department approved 717K SF of new development, including 320 new residential units and three institutional master plans. Two of the IMPs include plans for a new 300-bed cancer hospital that will be built in partnership between Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Projects approved include Rhino Capital Advisors' conversion of an office building at 110 Canal St. in the West End into a new 82-room boutique hotel and Related Beal and Dream Development's first phase of the Boston Water and Sewer Commission parking lots in Roxbury.
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BXP proposed a new life sciences tower that would replace a seven-story building at 105 Broadway St. in Kendall Square, the Boston Business Journal reported. It is unclear how big the development would be, but the plans could include bringing some of the 400K SF approved for its planned 250 Binney St. project into the new project. The shift comes after Thermo Fisher Scientific announced its intentions to stay in the Binney Street facility through 2029.
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SGL Development filed plans for a 319-unit multifamily development in Lexington, Banker & Tradesman reported. The Cambridge-based development firm plans to acquire two parcels at 4 and 5 Militia Drive from Grace Chapel. The plan would include demolishing the two buildings, one of which houses outside tenants and the chapel's ministry, and replacing them with two residential buildings and 20K SF of commercial space. The proposal would include 47 permanently affordable units.
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Boston Real Estate Capital has proposed a 256-unit apartment complex near the MBTA's Green Street stop in Jamaica Plain, according to filings with the Boston Planning Department. The project would be developed at 3430 and 3440 Washington St. and include two structures: a 141-unit building and a 115-unit building, Banker & Tradesman first reported.
