BOSTON, CAMBRIDGE & BRIGHTON, MASS. — KeyBank Real Estate Capital has secured $38.7 million in Fannie Mae financing for a four-property multifamily portfolio located in Massachusetts. A $20.7 million first mortgage loan was secured by Boylston Apartments, a 129-unit property built in 1927 in Boston; a $10.1 million first mortgage loan was secured by Cambridge Apartments, a 56-unit property built in 1880 in Cambridge; and a $7.9 million first mortgage loan was secured by Commonwealth & Lothian Apartments, two properties totaling 61-units built between 1925 and 1928 in Brighton. Hayley Suminski of KeyBank’s commercial mortgage group arranged the financing with 10-year terms, five years of interest-only payments and 30-year amortization schedules. The non-recourse loans were used to refinance existing debt.
HOPKINTON, MASS. — SVN | Parsons Commercial Group | Boston, in partnership with AIS Development, has brokered two office leases totaling 70,000 square feet at 35 Parkwood Dr. in Hopkinton. After acquiring the unoccupied 160,000-square-foot research and development property in November 2016, the partnership has begun a renovation and marketing plan. The building, which formerly served as EMC’s headquarters, has been vacant for more than 10 years. Located in the Elmwood Business Park, the property now boasts two tenants: Illinois Tool Works and PrismHR. Victor Galvani of SVN | Parsons Commercial Group | Boston is handling the leasing at the building.
BRIGHTON, MASS. — Transwestern Consulting Group (TCG) has arranged a construction and permanent financing loan on behalf of NB Development Group for 40 Guest St. in Brighton. According to public records, the loan amount was $76 million. TCG’s Chris Skeffington and Andrew Stone, along with NB Development’s Jim Halliday and Kevin Doyle, arranged the loan with East Boston Savings Bank. Part of the Boston Landing mixed-use development, 40 Guest St. is a planned 160,000-square-foot facility that will house the Boston Celtics’ new training and practice facility known as the Auerbach Center at New Balance World Headquarters. The project also includes two floors of Class A laboratory and office space totaling 83,500 square feet, plus 5,700 square feet of retail space. The project broke ground in November 2016, with completion expected in mid-2018. TCG provides leasing and property management services for Boston Landing.
BOSTON — After more than three years of ownership, Shorenstein Properties has sold Center Plaza, a 741,200-square-foot mixed-use asset in downtown Boston. Synergy Investments, a Boston-based real estate owner and investor, and GreenOak, an international real estate investment and lending firm, have jointly purchased Center Plaza for $365 million. Developed by Beacon Capital in phases in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Center Plaza consists of three interconnected, nine-story buildings comprising more than 600,000 square feet of office space, 77,000 square feet of street-level retail and a below-grade parking garage with 575 spaces. Situated at 1-3 Center Plaza, the retail and office development features nearly 875 feet of frontage along Cambridge Street. Center Plaza, which is currently 60 percent leased to 31 tenants, sits at the entrance to Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. The project is situated across the street from Boston’s City Hall. Shorenstein Properties purchased Center Plaza in January 2014 for $307 million, according to the Boston Business Journal. The media outlet also reported that Shorenstein’s planned $25 million overhaul of Center Plaza never took shape. The NGKF Capital Markets Boston team led by Robert Griffin, Edward Maher, Matthew Pullen and James Tribble represented Shorenstein Properties, which sold the …
BEDFORD, ANDOVER & BILLERICA, MASS. — Avison Young, as buyer representative for Atlantic Management, has arranged the purchase of three office/flex buildings in Massachusetts. Atlantic Management acquired the 211,377-square-foot portfolio from Wheelock-Novaya for $26.5 million. The assets are located at 15 Crosby Dr. in Bedford, 200 Bulfinch Dr. in Andover and 5 Federal St. in Billerica. Tenants at the properties include Ocular Therapeutix and Becton Dickinson. Scott Jamieson of Avison Young worked with Joe Zink and Steve Wyman of Atlantic Management on the buyer’s side, while Wheelock-Novaya was represented by Gary Kamin of Wheelock Street Capital and Scott Tully and Shawn Hawthorne of Novaya Real Estate Ventures.
BILLERICA and MARLBOROUGH, MASS. — Colliers International has secured acquisition financing for a two-building portfolio purchase consisting of 734 Forest St. in Marlborough and 35 Dunham Road in Billerica. The 120,000-square-foot flex/industrial portfolio sold to a New England-based real estate investment firm. Colliers secured the acquisition financing from Belmont Savings. Adam Coppola, Tom Welch, John Poole and Tonia Jenkins of Colliers arranged financing.
Retail vacancy levels declined in 2012 and 2013 in Eastern Massachusetts following several years of rising vacancy rates during the Great Recession. But since 2013, vacancy rates have been on the rise as shopping habits continue to tilt toward online options. In 2016, retail inventory gained modestly, reaching 194.2 million square feet, an increase of 0.5 percent, although no major center opened during the year. The region added 488,800 square feet of vacant retail space, and the vacancy rate increased to 9 percent. Big box closings — notably Sam’s Club, JCPenney, and Kmart — and the departures of Citibank and City Sports, were the primary cause of increasing vacancy. Nonetheless, the region experienced positive absorption, netting 573,600 square feet. As reported in The KeyPoint Report: Eastern Massachusetts/Greater Boston, Boston and Cambridge ranked one and two in the list of top 10 towns by retail square footage. Abington tops the rankings for lowest vacancy rate. Eight of the top 10 towns with the highest vacancy rates are repeats from the previous year; new additions include Wrentham, site of the 135,000-square-foot Wrentham Crossing, which is vacant and currently for sale. The under-2,500-square-foot size classification remains the largest segment of the market, and …
QUINCY, MASS. — Hines is nearing completion of Meriel Marina Bay, a mixed-use development in the Boston suburb of Quincy. Located on a seaside peninsula, the property is situated near I-93 and offers a complimentary shuttle to the Red Line North Quincy MBTA station and a water ferry to downtown Boston. Meriel Marina Bay is a mixed-use development comprising two five-story buildings featuring 352 apartments with garage parking, plus 20,000 square feet of ground-level retail space. Layout options include studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes offering views of the Boston skyline, Boston Harbor and the Marina Bay boardwalk. Hines is now leasing the property, with rents ranging from approximately $2,100 to $4,600 per month. The Bozzuto Group will manage Meriel Marina Bay.
BOSTON — Following a long-term ground lease with the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), The Davis Companies (TDC) plans to significantly update 88 Black Falcon Avenue in Boston’s Seaport District. The property, which consists of two three-story interconnected buildings totaling 376,000 square feet, is located within the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park, which is also home to Cruiseport Boston and the 1.4 million-square-foot Innovation and Design Building. The location offers views of the Boston Harbor as well as direct access to Route 93 and the Massachusetts Turnpike, 550 onsite parking spaces, and its own Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Silver Line Stop. The buildings at 88 Black Falcon Ave. feature ceiling heights ranging from 14 to 20 feet, as well as efficient office and industrial/R&D infrastructure. Optimus Ride Inc., which develops autonomous vehicle technologies, occupies 19,000 square feet on the building’s first floor. As part of the property’s redevelopment, TDC will improve a portion of the Boston Harborwalk, a public promenade that follows the edge of piers, wharves, beaches, and the shoreline around the Harbor. Completion is scheduled for second quarter 2018. “We are undertaking a thorough re-envisioning of this highly flexible, high-quality historic asset as a premier mixed-use development that …
LOWELL, MASS. — Novaya in a joint venture with Hawk Properties entered into a $13.25 million recapitalization of 10 Technology Drive and 55 Technology Drive located in Lowell. The two assets total 146,696 square of office/R&D space. The portfolio, which was initially acquired in 2012, is 84 percent occupied. Tenants include Evoqua Water Technologies, Borrego Solar and Lowell General Hospital.