BOSTON — Madison Realty Capital has provided a $177.5 million loan to Scape, a London-based multifamily developer that opened its U.S. headquarters in Boston in 2018. The loan will refinance the $165 million construction loan for SCAPE Boylston, a 415-unit apartment development that opened earlier this month in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood.
The 226,700-square-foot property offers a mix of furnished studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments with Class A retail space on the ground floor. The apartments are already 95 percent occupied, and the retail space is 80 percent leased. Retail tenants include a global bank; Immersive Gamebox; Carbon Health; Dave’s Hot Chicken; Halal Guys; and a 10,000-square-foot, 156-seat, LGBTQ-focused black box theater.
Tenant amenities include a landscaped terrace, fitness center, yoga room, co-working space, lounge library and study. The site is located near prominent academic and medical institutions including Boston University and Northeastern University, as well as Fenway’s rapidly growing biotech and life sciences industries. The lights of Fenway Park, home of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox, are visible from the community, which is a block away from a Red Line MBTA train station.
“Fenway is a premier academic and employment hub within Boston with substantial demand for efficiently designed, value-oriented luxury rental options from a growing population,” says Josh Zegen, managing principal and co-founder of Madison Realty Capital.
Although project partners were not disclosed, the property is listed on the site of architecture firm Gensler.
Scape as a developer is largely focused on private student housing properties, which it cited as its reason for selecting Boston — famously a college town — as its U.S. headquarters. Gensler’s summary of SCAPE Boylston notes that, while it is not designed specifically for student housing, it can still serve that niche for nearby Boston University and Northeastern.
“[SCAPE Boylston] is a new paradigm for purpose-built, multi-unit housing,” the Gensler website reads. “From studios for young professionals to one- and two-bedroom apartments for new families and retirees, a mix of residential unit types aligns with the neighborhood’s diverse population.”
— Jeff Shaw