DARTMOUTH, MASS. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of Big Value Plaza, an 85,000-square-foot retail center in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, approximately 30 miles southeast of Providence. Located at 718 Dartmouth St., the property is leased to tenants including Big Value Outlet Stores and Planet Fitness. Adam Cohen of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller and procured the buyer in the transaction. Both parties were private investors that requested anonymity. The sales price was also undisclosed.
BILLERICA, MASS. — Third party logistics (3PL) company Omni Logistics has signed a 115,822-square-foot industrial lease in Billerica, located approximately 20 miles northwest of Boston. The space is situated within Billerica Commerce Center, a 612,685-square-foot facility located at 90 Salem Road. The property was built in 1982, renovated in 2007 and features 38-foot clear heights, 17 loading docks and convenient access to Interstate 495. David Corkery, Steve Clancy and Rachel Marks of CBRE represented Omni Logistics in the lease negotiations. The team also represented the landlord, New York City-based Clarion Partners.
BOSTON — Locally based firm National Development has unveiled plans for a mixed-use project at 333 Dorchester Ave. in South Boston, pending approval from the City of Boston. The project will include 256 apartment units, 47,000 square feet of office space, 14,500 square feet of retail space and public green space. The project is part of a larger Dorchester Avenue redevelopment initiative spearheaded by National Development, which includes transformation of industrial buildings including 333 Dorchester Ave. into primarily residential and commercial properties.
BOSTON — Washington Square Ventures and Bedrock Real Estate Partners will develop The Brookliner, a $73 million multifamily project in the Brighton neighborhood of Boston. Located at 5 Washington St., the building will comprise 108 apartments and 12,150 square feet of retail space. CVS Pharmacy will occupy 90 percent of the retail space. Amenities will include a deck, fitness center and convenient access to two MBTA Green Line Subway stops. Stantec will serve as the project architect. Simon Butler, Biria St. John and Kyle Juszczyszyn secured financing from an institutional investor. Construction is slated to begin later this year and complete in 2021.
FALL RIVER, MASS. — CBRE has brokered the $13.7 million sale of two apartment buildings in Fall River, located approximately 20 miles southeast of Providence. Border City Mills, a former mill building located at 2 Weaver St., was completed in 1873 and converted to a residential use in 1988. The property comprises 107 units and offers a fitness center and pool. River Grove Apartments, located at 4516 North Main St., was built in 1987, comprises 48 units and sits adjacent to Fall River Country Club. Simon Butler and Biria St. John of CBRE represented the seller, First Merchants Group. The team also procured the buyer, Fren Management Co. Inc.
PLYMOUTH, MASS. — Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has brokered the sale of two retail spaces totaling 418,970-square-feet within the Colony Place mixed-use development in Plymouth, located approximately 40 miles southeast of Boston. Texas-based investor The Rainier Cos. acquired the assets which include two spaces within the 1 million-square-foot Colony Place development: The Plaza, which comprises 230,497 square feet; and The Village, which comprises 188,473 square feet. The seller, Saxon Partners, will continue its role of master developer of Colony Place and will move forward with additions including a 320-unit apartment complex and a hotel. Robert Griffin, Geoffrey Millerd, Justin Smith and Paul Penman of NKF represented Saxon Partners in the transaction. The team also procured The Rainier Cos. as the buyer.
The country’s largest commercial real estate services firm recently selected Boston as its choice for strongest U.S. gateway multifamily market performer for 2020, and with good reason. The Eastern Massachusetts economy gained momentum in 2019, propelled by its world class “Eds and Meds” cluster and resurgent high tech, R&D and financial management communities. Income growth and job creation ran ahead of national averages and apartment markets remained tight and rent growth robust regardless of elevated supply. Investor demand for metro apartment properties surged, especially after mid-year, while cap rates remained accessible by primary market standards, especially in the suburban Class B segment. Metro job creation trends fell into a bit of a funk in the fall and winter of 2018-2019 but rebounded vigorously in the second half. Payrolls increased at a brisk 31,200-job, 1.7 percent year-on-year pace after mid-year, representing the fastest growth recorded in three years. Sector leadership was provided by Boston’s top knowledge industry sectors, headed by higher education (8.5 percent), research and development (9.8 percent), software and computer network design (4.9 percent) and financial management (2.6 percent). Only softness in the consumer-driven side of the labor market – construction, retail trade, personal services and government – held …
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Montessori-inspired school Rock and Roll Daycare has signed a 3,500-square-foot retail lease in Cambridge. The school will be located in the retail space at The Rand, a 19-unit condominium adjacent to the Porter Square MBTA Red Line station at 1975 Massachusetts Ave. The school will provide high-end childcare to infant, toddler and preschool-aged children with a music-focused curriculum. Urban Spaces LLC completed The Rand using modular construction in 2017 and Prellwitz Chilinski Associates served as the architect of the project. A partnership of Urban Spaces LLC and StoneRiver Properties is the landlord of The Rand.
At this point, it sounds like the movie “Groundhog Day,” but 2019 was another impressive year of growth and success for the greater Boston life sciences real estate market — and that growth shows no signs of subsiding any time soon. Duncan Gratton, Cushman & Wakefield Strong levels of venture capital investment, big pharmaceutical partnerships and merger and acquisition activity continued to fuel unprecedented demand for life sciences space, not only in and around Cambridge but also in submarkets like the Seaport, Watertown and certain Route 128 corridors. Venture capital (VC) funding for life sciences, while not quite at 2018 levels, remained robust with nearly $6 billion invested through the end of November. Major funding deals that closed in 2019 include Ginkgo Bioworks ($290 million), ElevateBio ($150 million) and Beam Therapeutics Inc. ($135 million), which all committed to leasing lab space in existing buildings and new developments throughout the area. Supply-Demand Balance The urban Massachusetts life sciences market, which includes Boston, Cambridge, and the inner suburbs of Watertown, Lexington, Medford and Waltham, now enjoys an inventory of about 20 million square feet and ended 2019 with a vacancy rate of just over 4 percent. Successful speculative developments at Arsenal Yards …
BOSTON — Noodle concept TuruTonTan has opened a 5,000-square-foot restaurant in the Kenmore Square neighborhood of Boston. The two-story restaurant can accommodate 168 guests in the main dining room and also features patio seating for additional guests. Dining Innovation is TsuruTonTan’s parent company. Blank Design and American Construction Corp. designed and built out the space. Local investment firm Urban Meritage owns the building.