BPD OKs Longwood, Charlestown Housing Projects: The Boston Deal Sheet
The Boston Planning Department approved four development projects at a Thursday night board meeting, clearing the way for roughly 1.7M SF of new construction.
The most notable projects approved include the first phase of Skanska and Simmons University's Longwood Place project and New England Development's 240-unit Charlestown development at 201 Rutherford Ave.
The 1M SF Longwood project includes 227 housing units, 9K SF of commercial space and 2 acres of open space. The project is part of a 1.7M SF development overhaul in partnership with Simmons. The university broke ground on a 1,100-bed tower.
The Charlestown project would replace a 99 Restaurant with a six-story multifamily building at 201 Rutherford Ave. New England Development plans to add three more buildings, including a future grocery store, in later phases to eventually replace the Bunker Hill Mall.
Harvard University's ERC District and Greenway Plan, which provides planning guides for the university's 30-acre Enterprise Research Campus in Allston, also advanced during the meeting.
The BPDA also signed off on a 28-unit multifamily building at 4487 Washington St. in West Roxbury and the conversion of a former bank into a courthouse and new apartments at 460 W. Broadway St. in South Boston.
SALES
Jeremy Seeger purchased a 10-unit multifamily asset at 23-25 Hammond St. in Cambridge for $6.5M, the first time the property — across the street from Harvard University — has sold in more than a century. It spans more than 13K SF and includes five off-street parking spots. Marcus & Millichap's Evan Griffith and Tony Pepdjonovic marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Cafasso Properties, and procured the buyer.
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Reclamation Partners acquired a 33K SF industrial building at 1023 Turnpike St. in Stoughton. The property is 100% leased to Fabreeka International. Reclamation worked with JLL to acquire the property.
LEASES
Wealth management company Focus Partners Wealth signed an 8K SF lease at Cummings Properties’ 40 Shattuck Road, a 120K SF office building in Andover. Cummings' Mike Truesdale and Newmark's Bill Motley worked on the deal.
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North Andover-based VMD Cos. secured two leases totaling more than 180K SF of build-to-suit development at The Campus at Canopy Drive in Middleborough. Industrial equipment supplier Rexa plans to develop a 110K SF manufacturing facility on Lot 2 of the campus, and paving contractor Indus is planning to develop a 70K SF facility on Lot 4.
CBRE's Rob Byrne, Danielle Frisch, Steve Clancy, Kendall Lynch and Brendan McKenzie represented VMD in the deals.
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Artificial intelligence company Lovable signed a 6K SF lease at DivcoWest's One Lincoln. The company will occupy space on the 25th floor. Lovable joins tenants including private markets firm HarbourVest, Sherin & Lodgen and WeWork in the Financial District tower.
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Hunneman locked down two leases in the Lowell area totaling 37K SF. Fisher Auto Parts will open its first Lowell location at 205 Industrial Ave. E., and Sevita Health will expand at 22 Old Canal Drive. Hunneman's Patrick Grady, Henry Birmingham and Tyler Ewing represented the tenants.
FINANCING
The city of Boston awarded Rogerson Communities $3M toward its affordable housing and memory care redevelopment in Jamaica Plain. The Rogerson House project would include 41 affordable housing units and 66 memory care units that would replace an existing campus. The new six-story building would also include a memory care social day program and 20K SF of outdoor space.
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Samuels & Associates and its partner Jiaming Investment America Inc. secured a $360M CMBS loan for the Lyrik office tower in Back Bay. The loan will be used to refinance the partnership's $323M in construction debt, landlord obligations, closing costs and return $17M of equity to the sponsor. The office tower is 93.4% leased to tenants including CarGurus and Lego.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Atlanta-based developer Pulte won approval for a 150-unit apartment project in Lexington, the Boston Business Journal reported. The development, known as Fieldside at Lexington, won Lexington Planning Board approval on Thursday. The project would redevelop the Lexington Tennis Club at 475 Bedford St. The club will be displaced as soon as its lease expires at the end of May.
