The commercial real estate market in the Greater Boston area continued its torrid pace in the first half of 2017. All sections of the commercial real estate market inside Route 128 are white hot, especially after the announcement that General Electric will move its corporate headquarters to the Seaport District. Recent data indicates that Boston has one of the hottest economies in the United States and ranks as one of the top economies in the world. The 2017 Investment Intensity Index ranks Boston as the fourth market in the U.S. and 14th in the world for commercial real estate investment. In the industrial sector, which includes warehouse/distribution and flex/R&D product, vacancies are at the lowest point seen in decades. At the end of the first quarter the vacancy rate decreased to 5.7 percent. Net absorption totaled 2.24 million square feet for the quarter. The fact that the urban industrial market is continually shrinking as aging industrial properties are redeveloped into “higher and better uses” has caused a tremendous displacement of companies from inside Route 128 to areas outside the coveted Route 95 corridor. A dearth of available institutional-quality industrial product exists in today’s market with just over 13 percent of …
CHARLESTOWN, MASS. — Callahan Construction Managers has completed the construction of Cambridge College’s campus relocation project. Located in Hood Business Park in Charlestown, the project comprises a 108,000-square-foot tenant fit-out with modern classrooms, laboratories, meeting rooms, offices, administrative areas, studies and lounges. Designed by Wilson Architects, the facility features state-of-the-art audio/visual communications and teaching technologies, as well as ancillary support spaces for the college.
HAVERHILL, MASS. — CBRE/New England has brokered the sale of The Bixby, an apartment property located in Haverhill. A partnership between an affiliate of Boston Andes Capital and William Braucher sold the property to Blackfin Real Estate Investors in a joint venture with True North Management Group for $22.5 million. The 12-story apartment building features 128 units in a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom layouts. Community amenities include a resident lounge with entertainment kitchen, smart televisions, a pool and shuffle board tables, an outdoor riverfront deck, a game room, a fitness center and a landscaped courtyard. Between 2016 and 2017, Boston Andes Capital implemented $4 million in capital improvements at the property. Simon Butler and Biria St. John of CBRE/NE represented the seller and procured the buyer in the deal.
HOLBROOK, DORCHESTER AND WEYMOUTH, MASS. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has provided $82 million in 223(f) FHA financing to the Corcoran, Mullins and Jennison group for the refinancing of a five-property mixed-income and age-restricted housing portfolio in Massachusetts. The properties are Savin Hills Apartments, an age-restricted, affordable housing asset with a project-based Housing Assistance Payments contract in Dorchester; Ramblewood in Holbrook; and a property in Weymouth. Together the properties total 574 units. Dirk Falardeau, Todd Goulet and Matthew Purcell of KeyBank’s Income Property and Commercial Mortgage Groups originated the loan for the sponsors, Corcoran, Mullins and Jennison Inc. and Corcoran Jennison Co.
CANTON, MASS. — Calare Properties has purchased an industrial property, located at 15-21 University Road in Canton, for an undisclosed price in an off-market transaction. Situated on 17 acres, the 103,200-square-foot property was vacant at the time of sale. The property features 14 loading docks, six drive-in docks, more than 300 parking spaces and flexible floor plans. The name of the seller was not released.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Twinning Properties has broken ground on Mass+Main, a multifamily property located in Cambridge’s Central Square. The 308,000-square-foot property will feature 308 mixed-income apartments and 17,000 square feet of retail space overlooking Lafayette Square. The project will offer 248 market-rate and 60 affordable apartments in three buildings: a tower, a six-story building with studios and roommate units, and a four-story building designed for families. Designed by CBT Architects to LEED Gold standards, Mass+Main will be a sustainable green community with green roof terraces, energy tracking, wind energy and smoke-free apartments. The $190 million development is a joint venture between Twinning Properties and its capital partner Mass PRIM. Construction of the three buildings will be completed in phases from fall 2018 through mid-2020.
Despite the maturing commercial real estate cycle, Boston’s thriving economy continues to generate positive momentum for the metro’s multifamily property marketplace. Over the 12-month period ending June 30, 2017, area employers added 55,700 positions, growing the employment base by 2.1 percent. Job creation was driven by the typically high-wage healthcare and professional fields, and more than 30 percent of the new roles created were in office-using sectors. This healthy growth has supported a surge in household formation, which — along with the high cost of homeownership — is sustaining substantial demand for rental units. The significant affordability gap between renting and homeownership favors renting over homeownership by $591 per month. This, in combination with rising office-using employment, continues to boost apartment demand, which will support this year’s robust construction pipeline. Developers are on track to deliver more than 9,500 units to the marketplace in 2017, marking the highest point of the current cycle. Builders have focused their efforts in the urban core, particularly in the Fenway, Brookline and Brighton submarkets, and in first-ring suburbs. Nearly two-thirds of incoming units will be inside the city limits or in the closest suburban markets like Cambridge and Revere. The two largest deliveries each …
BOSTON — Newmark Knight Frank has arranged the sale of an office building located at 55 Seaport Blvd. in Boston’s Seaport District. Boston Global Investors sold the property to a member company of Zurich North America for $23.5 million. Constructed in 2016, the 13,500-square-foot office and retail building is fully leased to Boston Global Investors. Robert Griffin, Edward Maher, Matthew Pullen, Justin Smith, James Tribble, Samantha Hallowell, David Martel and Jonathan Martin of Newmark Knight Frank represented the seller, while Roy Rosenbaum and Sean Bannon of Zurich Alternative Asset Management advised the buyer in the transaction.
WATERTOWN, MASS. — LCB Senior Living and Washington Capital Management have received a $45 million loan for the recapitalization of The Residence at Watertown Square, located at 20 Summer St. in Watertown. Built in 2014, the property features 90 independent living, assisted living and memory care units. Rick Swartz, Jay Wagner, Jim Dooley and Caryn Donahue of Cushman & Wakefield arranged the financing for the borrower. LCB will continue to operate the community.
BOSTON — Related Beal has placed the final beam in the redevelopment of 40 Water Street, which formerly served as the Fidelity Investment headquarters. The redeveloped property, called Congress Square, will create a 24-hour mixed-use environment connecting Government Center, Faneuil Hall, Post Office Square and Downtown Crossing. The building features a glass curtainwall addition on top of the more than 320,000-square-foot office building. The redevelopment also includes preserving the landmarked property’s efficient and versatile floor plates, active rooftops and retail and restaurant space on the lower and ground floor. The redevelopment plan for the building includes office, residential, hospitality and more than 43,000 square feet of retail space, as well as the transformation of Quaker Lane into a pedestrian-oriented food and beverage destination with boutiques and cafés. Related Beal Construction and Consigli Construction Co. are general contractors for the project and Arrowstreet is serving as architect. Congress Square is slated to open in 2018.