This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
Spending $250M on a bunch of old buildings—as Multi-Employer Property Trust (advised by Bentall Kennedy) just did—may sound extravagant. But these assets in the Seaport and South End require your long-term goggles.
The 650k SF acquisition shakes out to about $385/SF, which seems like a downright bargain compared to the sale of one nearby office complex (with a segment built in the 19th century) that surpassed $1k/SF, a 3.8% cap rate. Some of MEPT’s newly acquired Seaport buildings have been renovated to highlight the brick and beam structure prized by the neighborhood’s growing cadre of young workers. Both the Seaport and South End are being transformed by a wave of new commercial property investments bringing in more housing and retail.
Rather than focus on today’s metrics, MEPT and Bentall are looking at the buy as a long-term core investor, HFF senior managing director Riaz Cassum tells us. The Boston economy is on the right track for the next 10 or 15 years, with its concentration in knowledge-based sectors: technology, life science and creative media. The region is overflowing with venture capital; it boasts a high quality of life and good transportation; and is benefiting from the global urbanization trend, he says.
FINANCING
Broadway Real Estate Fund III secured a $95M refi for 116 Huntington Ave from RBC Real Estate Capital Partners. HFF arranged the refi for a maturing first mortgage and mezz loans.
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NorthMarq Capital has finalized a $10.3M refi of Quarry Place II in Milford, a 55k SF retail property in which Sports Authority is the anchor tenant.
CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
The Fallon Co topped off Goodwin Procter’s new digs—the 516k SF office going up at 100 Northern Ave on Fan Pier. The law firm is taking 350k SF of the 17-story glass tower, slated for spring 2016 completion.
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PEG Properties & Design will transform 38 S Russell St on Beacon Hill—a building once owned by the Museum of African American History—into six condominiums. It bought the vacant nine-unit apartment property for $3.5M.
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Wentworth Institute of Technology will build a $30M, 110k SF athletic complex on its Mission Hill campus with a turf field for soccer, lacrosse, softball and flag football. It’s slated for completion in fall 2016; CDM Smith is the architect.
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For $14M, CubeSmart will build and operate a new 154k SF self-storage facility in West Roxbury adjacent to Millennium Park. CubeSmart manages 600 US self-storage facilities.
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RTP Washington Street, with Studio 47 Architects, will transform an old restaurant building at 3383-3389 Washington St in Jamaica Plain into a 21-unit residential/retail building. The $3.5M project will include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units and include four affordable units.
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Moawed Properties plans to build 13 condominiums at 57 L St in South Boston for $7M. It will include two affordable units, parking and an enclosed bicycle rack. The developer will contribute $10k to the city’s Fund for Parks earmarked for nearby Christopher Lee Playground. It was designed by Roche Christopher Architects.
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Messina Enterprises is converting an empty former nursing home in the main square overlooking Sunset Lake at 20 Pond St in Braintree into 27 luxury residences. The project team is Integrated Builders, architects Habeeb & Associates, structural engineers Amolins Structural Consultants, MEP engineers South Shore Construction Consultants and civil engineers Strategic Technology Solutions.
PEOPLE
Ami Fatula is the new chief financial officer for Northland Investment. She’ll focus on improving the company’s compliance and reporting functions based on her strong prior experience in transactions, private and public company reporting, and investor relations. She comes via AEW Partners Funds, Ernst & Young and is a UMass Isenberg School grad.
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Rosanne Foley is the new executive director of the Boston Landmarks Commission appointed by Mayor Walsh. She’ll oversee the Boston Landmarks Commission and nine Historic Districts Commissions, which as developers and landlords know, can sometimes determine the fate of a development project.
