This Week's Boston Deal Sheet: PwC Renews, Shrinks Seaport Lease
Accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has extended its lease in the Seaport District while slightly reducing its footprint.
The firm renewed its lease at 101 Seaport Blvd. for 335K SF, down from 360K SF, the Boston Business Journal reported. The firm occupies most of the 17-story office building developed by Skanska USA. The renewal is through 2036.
PwC moved into the building from the Financial District in 2015 and has more than 3,200 employees active in the region. The building is now owned by Frankfurt, Germany-based Union Investment Real Estate.
The firm has a flexible work policy that expects hybrid employees to be in the office at least 50% of the time and other virtual employees to come into the office at least three times a month.
In the third quarter, the Seaport saw a vacancy rate of 17%, just below the city average of 17.8%.
The lease marks another win for the Boston office market, which has seen several big renewals this year, including Vertex Pharmaceuticals' 1.1M SF renewal at The RMR Group's Fan Pier in the Seaport and Bain Capital's 378K SF renewal at BXP's 200 Clarendon St. in the Back Bay.
SALES
Nonprofit organization Breaktime Boston, which helps homeless young adults, acquired the 34K SF office building at 63 Franklin St. for $6.3M, The Boston Globe reported. The nonprofit bought the building when its lease at a Portland Street location was almost over. The organization began moving into the new property on Friday.
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Winstanley Enterprises and Surrey Equities acquired the Chelmsford Mall for $28M, according to a press release. The joint venture acquired the 225K SF property from the mall's owner and original developer, TRS Carex Realty Trust. Liberty Bank provided $16.8M in mortgage financing, Banker & Tradesman reported. Winstanley also owns the 41K SF Chelmsford Town Center Property.
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An affiliate of Oliver Street Capital bought a commercial property at 71 Topeka St. in Boston's Newmarket neighborhood for $9.1M from Core Investments, the Boston Business Journal reported. The property is home to the Sunbelt Rentals store, with which Core had signed a lease. Core bought the property in 2020 for $5.5M.
FINANCING
Boston formed the Boston Acquisition Fund, which will act as a public-private partnership to support developers in acquiring multifamily housing in the city. The fund will be administered by the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. and aims to support the acquisition of 500 homes in the first five years and help more than 1,500 residents.
The city has invested $5M in grant funding and has secured $8M from prominent local institutions and organizations, including Mass General Brigham, Boston Medical Center, The Boston Foundation and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The city aims to raise $25M for the fund.
PERSONNEL
Real estate operator Helge Capital hired Glen Seidlitz as managing director of capital markets. Seidlitz will be responsible for raising and structuring institutional capital for the company's assets and other areas of oversight. Seidlitz brings 25 years of experience to the role. Before this position, Seidlitz worked as senior vice president at Bozzuto and was the founder of Washington, D.C.-based Six23.
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Atlanta-based H.J. Russell & Co. hired Josh Russell as its new director of operations for its Boston office's construction group. Russell will oversee the growth of the group. Russell has more than 22 years of experience in the New England market, including work on the Four Seasons Hotel & Residences at One Dalton, the Mandarin Oriental Boston and Logan Airport terminal renovations.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
The Noannet Group proposed a mixed-use development at 1-11 Harvard Ave. and 382-390 Cambridge St. in Allston. The developer plans to build a new 300-seat music venue, a bar and 139 residential units. The 105-foot-tall, 95K SF project would include an acoustical barrier between the venues and the residential units on top. The project wouldn't include parking but would have "ample" bike parking and three on-site car-sharing spaces operated by a third party.
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Newton-based Dinosaur Capital Partners has signed an agreement to acquire 31 Milk St., an 11-story downtown building, to turn the top 10 floors into a 110-unit residential property, the Boston Business Journal reported. The developer applied for the city tax break program. An affiliate of New York-based Aegean Capital, the former owner of the property, transferred the deed to Liberty Bank for $100 in October.
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The Boston Planning Department approved seven new developments consisting of 347K SF and 278 residential units, including 44 income-restricted units. Notable projects include Adam Burns' 259-267 Summer St. office-to-residential conversion project in Fort Point and Nan Fung Life Sciences' Two Financial Center lab conversion project in the Leather District.
The department also approved the Boston Design Vision, which will help create a "heterogeneous vision of the design of the built environment" across the city, and it approved the accessory dwelling unit guidebook.
