This Week’s Boston Deal Sheet
Profound changes—and perhaps $4B in new development--will flow from yesterday’s official commitment by the federal government to pitch in nearly $1B to build new mass transit stations in Somerville and make other T upgrades.
In an era when an urban site that’s a quick walk from mass transit is every developer’s dream, the addition of six new T-stops in Somerville--and other planned developments--will transform the city, taking the number of residents with easy access to mass transit from 15% to 85%. An immediate beneficiary of the announcement made by Gov. Deval Patrick and U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, and applauded by Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, is the $1B overhaul just starting in Union Square.
Under the leadership of the master developer, Chicago-based Magellan/Mesirow Financial, and after years of planning and rezoning by the Curtatone Administration, this scruffy square will get new multifamily housing, retail and offices. Demolition and site remediation is underway and construction should start in '16, Somerville director of planning George Proakis tells us. Somerville will also get a new bicycle and pedestrian path. Other beneficiaries: Cambridge, where the Lechmere stop will be relocated, and Medford, which will get a new station.The transportation upgrade also calls for the purchase of 24 new light rail vehicles.
Sales
Carpenter & Co is poised to start construction on its $700M One Dalton project now that it’s closed on its purchase of the $65.6M site from the Christian Science Church. It will build a 58-story high-rise with a Four Seasons hotel and luxury condominiums on the site bordered by Belvidere, Dalton and Saint Germain streets. Next door, the Pritzker Group of Chicago is building a mid-rise apartment building.
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Wynn Resorts reportedly closed on its $35M purchase of land for the $1.6B casino it’s planning in Everett. On the Las Vegas company’s agenda is cleanup of the contaminated 33 acres on the Mystic River. The seller, The DeNunzio Group, bought the land for $8M five years ago.
The Roseview Group and Houston-based PM Realty Group paid Transatlantic Investment Management $41.5M for 100 Cambridge Park Dr in the Alewife district near the T-Stop. A value-add play, the five-story, 115k SF office building is 78% leased in a submarket with at least 1,500 multifamily units in development.
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CarVal and Nordblom bought Solomon Pond—495k SF on a 163-acre site—in Marlborough for $34M. Cushman & Wakefield’s capital markets team, led by Robert Griffin and Edward Maher, were the brokers.
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The Davis Cos said yesterday that it bought One Cabot Rd, a 309k SF office at the Wellington Circle T-stop in Medford that’s 90% leased. TDC will make improvements to position it as an alternative to Boston, Cambridge and the 'burbs. JLL’s Peter Bekarian and Tyler Spring are the leasing brokers. Margulies Peruzzi Architects will design the renovation.
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Calare Properties has picked up the 156k SF Norwood Business Center on Route 1 in Norwood, not far from the now-popular Legacy Place mixed-use project in Dedham. Calare CEO Bill Manley says the site could possibly be redeveloped for mixed-use. Now, with 65% occupancy, it’s a value-add deal. Transwestern|RBJ’s Roy Sandeman and Chris Skeffington repped Calare.
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MGM Springfield is assembling the site for the $800M casino it’s planning in the state capital, recently spending $16M to purchase several properties. They include the city’s first steel skyscraper at 85-95 State St from C&W Realty and its first movie theater at 1156-1178 Main St, "The Edisonia Theatre Block," from M&I Frost Realty. Casino construction is expected to begin later this year.
Leasing
In an expansion, LogMeIn is taking 117k SF at 333 Summer St in the Seaport District for 12 years with an option for another 10 years across from the company's current HQ at 320 Summer St.
Carbonite, a software/services firm, has a new HQ in Lafayette City Center in Downtown Crossing.The build-out team was: JLL, IA Interior Architects, WB Engineers+Consultants, Environments at Work and Columbia Construction. The landlord that repositioned what was once a cold, unwelcoming mall is the Abbey Group.
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MassPay will move into 7,300 SF at 500 Cummings Center in Beverly in March, a relo and expansion from its current HQ of 3k SF at 900 Cummings Center. The HR and payroll software and services firm was repped by Northbridge CRE Advisors’ Dean Atkins and Cummings’ Joe Martin.
Construction & Development
Lynnfield Initiatives for Elders is completing construction of the $15M, 115k SF Colonial Village on Market Street in Lynnfield. O’Sullivan Architects and Tocci Building Cos led the design and construction effort for the seven-building project with 12 townhomes, 35 garden-style units, underground parking and clubhouse.
By the Numbers
Last year, $4 B in new projects broke ground in Boston proper. 14.5 M SF—the equivalent of 12 Prudential Towers—was under construction by year’s end. The Walsh Administration expects this year to be even better.
