How Davis Is Like the Statue of Liberty
As Google has reminded us, today is the Statue of Liberty's birthday. Well, she and The Davis Cos have a similar philosophy: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses." The company is using its $414M fund to buy buildings that need work and development sites, managing director and head of investments Quentin Reynolds tells us. We're excited to hear from Quentin and other experts at Bisnow Boston's Emerging Markets event on June 24, starting at 7:30am at the Westin Waltham.
Davis focuses on value-add and opportunistic deals on the East Coast. In the Greater Boston market, fundamentals are strong: there’s good leasing, strong rents and few excesses on the leasing side, Quentin says. The commercial property market feels stable. Tenants are not taking a lot of growth space; they’re leasing space they know they need, and that is high-quality, efficient and economical. TDC uses an integrated approach on every deal. Involved from day one are: asset management, property management, finance and development, he explains.
In East Boston, Davis recently acquired from DeNormandie the old Hodge Boiler Works site, which sits right on the water at 99 to 111 Summer St. The views of downtown Boston are spectacular (above). This neighborhood, where prior development plans have been caught up in economic downturns, has T-access, shopping, restaurants and the potential for an array of water amenities. 88 residential units can be built on the 62k SF lot.
Quentin and his team (including: Zvi Gordon, Jodie Poirier, John Clark, Chad Russolillo and Chris Chandor) also purchased from The Community Builders a site on Telford Street in Allston where approximately 80 residential units can be developed. Davis hopes to deliver residences that will be a compelling value compared to other new product, Quentin tells us. The location—just off Western Ave near Soldiers Field Road—was once part of The Community Builder’s New Charlesview complex. It’s just a few blocks from Harvard Business School, which is planning a big expansion along Western Avenue. Across the street from the B School is Samuels’ Continuum, a mixed-use multifamily development soon to be completed. Not far from the Davis site is the $500M mixed-use project being built by New Balance, Boston Landing.
In Medford, near Assembly Square, Davis acquired One Cabot for $53M. It’s adjacent to the Wellington stop on the Orange Line. Nearby, National Development built Station Landing, a mixed-use community—and Federal Realty Trust is developing the $1.3B Assembly Row with retail, housing, offices and where Partners Healthcare is building a 1.1M SF office complex. The Davis Cos buys buildings that are quality construction and need some work. In this case, One Cabot has a good window line and ceiling heights but the lobby needs to be refurbished.
Davis closed on its $36M purchase of One Burlington Business Center—now The Center at Corporate Drive—in Q1. The 177k SF office building at 67 S Bedford Rd is well-located near the Burlington Mall and adjacent to Lahey Clinic. Quentin says that TDC likes the Boston suburbs and Burlington in particular. While some companies are doing relos into Boston and Cambridge, others are moving in. The Davis team is constantly watching tenants: who’s growing, who’s stable, who has a real business plan. What do they want and need? Join us at Bisnow Boston's Emerging Markets event on June 24, starting at 7:30am at the Westin Waltham. Sign up here.
