Harvard's New Neighbor
Transforming Barry’s Corner in Allston from a strip of automotive shops and drive-throughs might be daunting for some developers. But for Samuels partner Leslie Cohen, building a $160M mixed-use project in the neighborhood is a case of "been there, done that." (If you've moved one rusty muffler, you've moved them all.)
In some ways, Allston resembles the Fenway of 15 years ago, before Samuels and its partners invested $2.3B to replace parking lots with apartments, retail, and restaurants, she says. But Barry’s Corner isn’t just any corner. It abuts Harvard’s business school and sports stadium. (So odds are that Conan O'Brien stood there at some point.) Indeed, Samuels is leasing the project’s 2.5-acre site from the university on a 99-year ground lease. Harvard’s long-held vision of developing an Allston campus activated by lots of public ground-floor uses “was a natural fit for us,” she says.
The new Residential and Retail Commons at Barry's Corner will have 325 rental apartments (including 15% that will be affordable) in two buildings—five and seven stories—over a 35k SF retail podium with parking for 180 cars. 60% of the apartments will be 500 SF studios and one-bedrooms; the rest, two- and three-bedrooms. Samuels and JV partner Weiner Ventures brought in American Realty Advisers as their equity partner. Northwest Mutual Insurance is the construction lender. All apartments will be market leases; no units are reserved by Harvard for its staff or students. But Leslie says the public retail creates a chance for the university and its neighbors to mix.
In 2013, Harvard designated Samuels as developer of this parcel through a public RFP process. Timing was fortuitous; capital was starting to flow as the recession ebbed. After 18 months of permitting and design, construction started in January, aiming for phase one to open August ’15 and phase two in November ‘15. Leslie expects tenants—probably Millennials and young professionals—to be drawn by the urban life style and rents lower than those in downtown Boston.
The lure of the Harvard brand will be beneficial. The university, which has big plans for its property in the neighborhood, will build a basketball arena with ground-floor retail where the low-rise green building now stands (above). As with any project, there are challenges—a tight construction schedule (partly due to a complex closing process) and rising construction costs are significant factors, with the overall project budget "very different" from initial projections, she says. But Leslie says that the project design and the promise of Barry's Corner is a great opportunity to add vitality to the neighborhood.
