The Boston Planning & Development Agency approved three new projects that would add roughly 1M SF of real estate, including over 100 new residential units, to the city.

The largest of the approved projects was Samuels & Associates' 550K SF, $600M lab building on Boylston Street near Fenway Park. The 11-story building would be developed at 1400 Boylston St., a former Star Market, the Boston Business Journal reported.

Samuels principal Peter Sougarides said at a Thursday BPDA board meeting that they are still confident in leasing that lab space despite the slowdown in the life sciences sector.

“There are pockets of demand, and again, we are looking at this over the long-term and not necessarily the short-term,” he said.

The project would also support 48 off-site, income-restricted homeownership opportunities and provide $5.8M in linkage fees to support the development of affordable housing.

Other projects the BPDA approved Thursday were the renovation of 51 shelter units and the construction of 71 new residences at 90 Cushing Ave. in Dorchester, as well as a new 30-unit development at 358 Chestnut Hill Ave. Of those 152 housing units, 127 of them would be income-restricted.

SALES

Chicago-based REIT Ventas acquired the 80-unit The Residences at Orchard Grove for $36M from Blue Moon Capital Partners, Banker & Tradesman reported. The three-story, 75K SF building at 258 Walnut St. opened its doors in October 2017. JLL's Jay Wagner, Aaron Rosenzweig, Rick Swartz and Jim Dooley represented the buyer and procured the seller.

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Crosspoint Associates acquired the Brookside Shops shopping center in Acton for $21M from Clarion Partners, the Boston Business Journal reported. The 76K SF plaza, anchored by a Trader Joe's, includes Staples, Talbots and X-Golf. The center was built in 2002 and is less than two miles from Route 2.

LEASES

Intelligence solutions company Sick Inc. signed a 32K SF lease at Jumbo Capital Management's 150 Royall St. in Canton. The company plans to move its headquarters from 800 Technology Center Drive in Stoughton to  Jumbo's 262K SF office property. Other tenants at the Canton building include Aqueduct Technologies and Computershare Investors Services. Cushman & Wakefield's George O’Connor represented the tenant, and C&W's Pete Whoriskey and Rachel Igoe represented the landlord.

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The Museum of Illusions signed a 9K SF lease at Gazit Horizons' Marketplace Center, next to Faneuil Hall, and expects to open later this year. The museum will feature a series of exhibits it markets as "Instagrammable," with immersive illusions and educational programming. Gazit acquired the 62K SF retail building in 2019 for $82M.

FINANCING

MassDevelopment issued a $6.3M bond to Helfrich Brothers Boiler Works Inc. to buy and renovate a 41K SF building in Lawrence. The building at 41 Merrimack St. is next to the company's 100K SF headquarters and will help it expand its business. Brookline Bank purchased the bond.

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MassDevelopment issued a $6.9M bond for LEO Inc. to renovate its headquarters in Lynn to expand its childcare options. The three-story building will be converted into a preschool that will house 270 students. The renovations will include the expansion of two playgrounds and will make the building ADA-accessible. Eastern Bank purchased the bond.

PERSONNEL

Brannan Knott has joined CBRE's capital markets team as executive vice president. Knott will join Chris Bodnar, Zack Holderman, Cole Reethof, Trent Jemmett, Jesse Greshin and Jaime Vantsa on CBRE’s U.S. healthcare capital markets team. Throughout his more than 15 years of experience, Knott has executed more than $10B in healthcare real estate deals.

He joins the firm after his most recent role as managing director of healthcare in JLL's capital markets group. Knott also held positions at Realterm Global and LaSalle Investment Management.