The Deal Sheet; Seaport Construction Boom
The Fallon Co just started construction of the $300M 100 Northern Ave at Fan Pier--Goodwin Proctor’s new HQ. It's among the top new projects coming out of the ground in the Seaport. That's why we designed a major event on the subject, 8am tomorrow, featuring its key players and projects at the Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel (register here).
At the recent groundbreaking, Goodwin Procter’s Regina Pisa (with Cornerstone CEO David Reilly and Fallon Co CEO Joe Fallon) said that her firm is excited to be moving into this vibrant, growing part of our 400-year-old city. Joe and his nine-building Fan Pier project have been helped turn the waterfront from dreary to hip. A decade ago, some companies dreaded going to the then-isolated, barren area. (It's the Matthew McConaughey of submarkets.) Fan Pier is a JV of The Fallon Co and Mass Mutual (as advised by Cornerstone).
ONE Marina Park Dr was the first new Fan Pier building to open in 2010 but it’s the Vertex move into its 1.1M SF complex this year that has made the waterfront’s transformation clear. The pharmaceutical company is bringing 1,800 new highly paid workers, cranking up the level of activity, Joe tells us. In 30 to 60 days, he expects his sale of the complex for nearly $700 SF to a Newton REIT to close; a deal that is making investors around the country and world take notice, RCA managing director Dan Fasulo says. The price is “top of the market” and that sends a bullish signal to the real estate community. (We're working on a Bat Signal-esque light-in-the-sky signal for high sale prices, but we haven't come up with a good one yet.)
Given the area’s new found popularity, Joe isn’t worried about attracting tenants; nor is he bothered by the prospect of rising construction costs or sea level surge at 100 Northern Ave—a 17-story, 515k SF office building with 15k SF of ground-floor retail designed by HOK. The cost of construction materials is stabilizing and “manageable” compared to four years ago when Fallon started to build the two-building Vertex office/lab complex. Also, rents and asset sale prices have increased enough to keep pace with extra construction costs. Joe’s team addressed climate change and sea surge issues early by placing 100 Northern Ave’s electrical vault on an elevated ground floor instead of in the basement.
The Fallon Co has four more Fan Pier buildings to develop--a 111-unit luxury condo high-rise now under construction, two other residential buildings and a fourth residential building likely to include a hotel, Joe says. He’s also looking at possible projects in New York and elsewhere in the Boston market. One area of interest is Union Square in Somerville where his company plans to respond to the city’s request for development proposals to reshape that key area that’s accessible to Central Square and Porter Square in Cambridge.
The Deal Sheet
Development & Construction
The Excel Academy Charter Schools, with Studio G Architects, is developing a new $25M, 70K SF school at 413 Bremen St in East Boston. The Excel Academy East Boston Middle/High School for 896 students will replace a parking lot and three vacant buildings and include: 35 classrooms, community rooms, a cafeteria, gymnasium, office space, and support space.
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The YMCA of Greater Boston is planning the $10M renovation of the existing West Roxbury YMCA at 15 Bellevue St that will incorporate a 24k SF expansion designed by LINEA 5. The project will better accommodate existing programs and allow for new ones: a new aquatic center, teen fitness center, expanded child care, senior programming, water therapy, handicapped access, youth sports, and programming for special needs children.
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The city’s Economic Development Industrial Corp is seeking a developer to do a project at Parcel V-1-a 105k SF site at the Boston Marine Industrial Park zoned Maritime Dependent. The site is being used for truck and commercial vehicle parking.
The Wallace Co is wrapping up the renovation of a 48-unit apartment building at 5-15 Victory Rd in Dorchester. Wallace started the upgrades last summer, when it closed on its $3.5M purchase from the Mayo Group. They include renovations of the kitchens, bathrooms, new flooring and upgrades of common areas.
Daly Natick is completing a $2.3M renovation at Clock Tower Place business park in Natick Village. The project team for the three-building 52k SF office complex at 17-19 Willow St: KSID Architecture & Interior Design, Nauset Construction and NAI Hunneman Management as owner’s rep.
Sales
ABC Commercial Realty paid $3.8M to The Heritage Companies for the seven-year-old, 25k SF retail/office building 140 Franklin St in Holbrook. Denenberg Realty Advisors’ Neil Denenberg and Jonathan Blacker were the brokers on the sale.
Leasing
The Cambridge Innovation Center, CIC, has taken 70kSF at 50 Milk St in the Financial District where next month it plans to launch CIC Boston. It will house staff from other co-working companies including: Space with a Soul. Impact Hub Boston, an affiliate of CIC and part of the global Impact Hub network will also relo into the Milk Street office, which will open in phases starting next month.
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ABC Supply has agreed to lease 11k SF at 25 Sycamore Ave in Medford, expanding into the entire 43K SF industrial building with showroom space where they were already located. Colliers’ Austin Smith repped ABC; Burgess Properties’ Phil Burgess repped the landlord, Sycamore Montrose.
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In an expansion, Perillon Software leased 3,300 SF at 40 Nagog Park in Acton and in a relo from Cambridge, Brainloop took nearly 3,000 SF. Parsons Commercial Group’s Marci Alvarado and Jake Parsons repped landlord Key Alliance. Colliers’ John Caroll III and Kevin Brawley repped Brainloop.
People
The BRA appointed Heather Campisano as chief of staff for the BRA and EDIC. Heather started as an intern at the BRA 14 years ago and worked her way up in the development review department from project assistant to assistant project manager to project manager to senior project manager. In 2006, she was named deputy director for development review.
