This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
Most US presidents have them, as do many marine vessels. They’re timepieces made by Chelsea Clock, which recently relocated from the plant it’s occupied in Chelsea for its entire 118-year history. The opening of any new manufacturing plant in Massachusetts is news; when it’s a once-in-a-century move, that’s an event.
Gov. Charlie Baker (left) and state secretary of housing and economic development Jay Ash (the former Chelsea city manager, third from left) came by to celebrate the clockmakers move to 102 Second St from Everett Avenue with CEO JK Nicholas and master clockmaker Bhupat Patel. Simboli Properties developed the new plant. For JK, staying in this city a stone's throw from Boston means keeping his staff of skilled craftspeople together and preserving the company’s history.
For developer Anthony Simboli, the project cost more than planned but he absorbed the expense as a way to repay the city for the 30 good years that his family has spent developing there. Chelsea Clock's new HQ is another old factory, and as one would expect, there were lots of unexpected challenges: preserving bricks and beams, reinforcing the foundation to hold machinery that weighs nearly 14,000 pounds, and replacing flooring with 3.5-inch thick yellow pine planks. Looking for a Chelsea clock? Check out Tiffany & Co, Ralph Lauren, Shreve Crump & Low and ChelseaClock.com.
Construction & Development
JW Capital filed a plan with the city to build a $260M, 277-key luxury hotel on Lewis Wharf downtown with parking and outdoor public green space. Some North End residents are voicing their opposition to more commercial activity in the neighborhood. If the developer gets a green light from the city, initial site work could start in Q2 '17 followed by 36 months of construction.
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The Cambridge School of Weston at 45 Georgian Rd in Weston plans to build a two-story, 40k SF health & fitness center and demolish an existing in-ground pool with help from a $9M tax-exempt bond issued by MassDevelopment and purchased by Century Bank & Trust Co.
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Last Thursday, The Davis Co won BRA approval on its amended plan for the final phase of the New Charlesview Residences. The $35M plan designed by architects from Cube 3 Studio calls for up to 88 home ownership units at 180 Telford Ave in Allston-Brighton. It’s the latest phase in a long-term plan to build 340 homes to replace the old Charlesview public housing project on a corner adjacent to the Harvard Business School campus.
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The Community Builders won BRA approval to build the $12M Clarion, a 38 unit multifamily rental building and a two family home along Blue Hill Avenue in Roxbury designed by architecture firm Stull and Lee. TCB hopes for a fall construction start with completion slated for winter 2016.
Harbinger Development won tentative designation to develop a 405-room hotel, 6,500 SF of restaurant/ retail space, a 4k SF function space and an indoor pool at the Boston Marine Industrial Park. Harbinger is in talks with Hilton Worldwide to operate the hotel. Perkins+Will is the project architect. Harbinger has developed the Aloft and Element across from the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, and is planning on a 70-year ground lease with EDIC for its new project.
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The Cecil Group was selected to conduct a place-making study for the always traffic-snarled I-90 Allston interchange that unloads next to the Harvard Business School campus. Cecil Group will work with the BRA, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Boston Transportation Department on the study for the project that might unlock the redevelopment potential of a former rail yard that Harvard now owns.
Sales
Cole Office & Industrial REIT paid nearly $120M to The Gutierrez Co for the nearly 151k SF office/R&D building in Burlington leased to Keurig Green Mountain. Cushman & Wakefield's Rob Griffin, Ed Maher, Matt Pullen and Mike Frisoli led the team that repped the seller. VEREIT repped the buyer.
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Paradigm Properties of Boston paid $113M to acquire the tallest, best performing office building in Hartford, the 884k SF UnitedHealthcare Center at CityPlace. The 38-story building that achieves the city’s highest office rents is 98% leased.
Winhall Cos paid $28.5M to a real estate investment subsidiary of BNY Mellon for Two Liberty Square, a Class-B office at the corner of Milk and Kilby streets downtown near Post Office Square. The Mellon unit purchased the property for $18M in 2013. HFF arranged the sale and financing for the seller through SunLife. The property is 82% occupied by tenants including Zipcar, Humana, Arthur J Gallagher, Copyright Clearance Center and Brill. The HFF investment sales team was led by Coleman Benedict and Ben Sayles; the debt placement team by Lauren O’Neil.
Financing
A JV of King Street Properties and an affiliate of Carlyle Realty Partners VII secured $74M in first mortgage financing from Wells Fargo for 830 Winter St, a fully leased, 182k SF lab building on I-95 in Waltham. An HFF team led by Greg LaBine repped the borrower.
Leasing
AbbVie has signed up for a 43k SF, seven-year lease at BioMed’s 200 Sydney St, formerly occupied by Vertex, at what’s now known as the Sidney Research Center. This is the initial presence in Cambridge of the big Chicago-based pharma firm.
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Breuer & Co, an information technology and services firm, has leased 24k SF from Hobbs Brook Management at 401 Edgewater Dr in Wakefield for 10 years. Robert Borgman of Wyman Street Advisors worked with the tenant and landlord.
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Forever 21 of LA has leased about 20k SF at 449 Washington St downtown, repped by BRE/Grossman Retail Advisors.
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Selvita, the largest drug discovery company in Central and Eastern Europe, is establishing its first US office in Cambridge at 485 Massachusetts Ave to be closer to its partners and clients.
People
Cresa, which exclusively reps tenants, named Jim Underhill strategic adviser to the board of directors. Jim will work closely with Cresa’s executive committee to enhance the brand and take the firm to the next level. From 2010 to 2014, Jim was Cushman & Wakefield's CEO of the Americas based in DC. He was also the founder and president of Staubach Co – Northeast.
