It isn’t easy to create a new neighborhood in a 400-year-old city, but New Balance has taken a giant leap toward doing just that with the opening of its new HQ later this month in its $500M Boston Landing mixed-use complex.

On Sept. 17, when New Balance holds the grand opening of its 250k SF HQ it will be a clear signal that this once outlier location in Brighton bordering Watertown is entering downtown’s commercial property orbit. Next year, construction should be completed on a rail station that will bring public transit to this development. At Boston Landing, New Balance Real Estate Group, HYM Investments and Elkus Manfredi Architects are creating four new city streets for a 14-acre campus that features the company HQ, offices, restaurants, a hotel and a 300k SF sport facility for everything from ice hockey to tennis.

Another transformative project is advancing with the approval last week by the Boston Civic Design Commission of the $3.5B Seaport Square’s next $700M phase: three 22-story condo and apartment towers with perhaps 1,100 residences, and 125k SF of retail bordered by Seaport Boulevard, Congress Street, B Street and East Service Road. Boston Global Investors CEO John Hynes (who we snapped when he was a panelist at a May Bisnow event) has been leading the project.

Cambridge, a city starved for low and moderate priced housing will get 20 new affordable units at 131 Harvard St now that developers Capstone Communities and Hope Real Estate Enterprises have secured financing from MassDevelopment, the state Department of Housing and Community Development, and various agencies within the City of Cambridge. In ‘98, the Needham–based Bulfinch Cos donated the vacant 10,000-square-foot lot for community-serving uses.

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The Town of Wayland, which wants more rental apartments, is releasing an RFP to sell River’s Edge Wayland, a town-owned 8.24-acre parcel on Boston Post Road. The site is zoned for 150-190 residential units in three four-story buildings.

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Construction is being completed in Chelsea on 305 microlofts at Admiral's Hill, nine new micro units with sale prices starting at $200k. Developer Kevin Saba plans to have the opening on Friday of the homes overlooking Chelsea Harbor.

Boston is on track to get its first net-zero neighborhood, a $20M, 20-unit condo project in West Roxbury being developed by the Wonder Group led by CEO Jacqueline Nunez. Seeking LEED Platinum, Net-Zero, Fortified Construction Certification, it will also feature landscaping with predominately native species, and lots of open space. It's now undergoing city review.

Leasing

Applied Genetic Technologies opened a new office in Cambridge. The office/lab facility at One Kendall Square, the second US location for the Gainesville-based company, will focus on business development, pharmacology and basic R&D.

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The John Flatley Co will lease  up to 5k SF of office and/or lab space in Nashua for a year for free and provide up to $10k in fit-up, connectivity and related costs. The package will go to the winner of the 4th Annual Flatley Challenge, which aims to give a start to entrepreneurs in IT, communications, data storage, mobile app design, clean tech, life sciences and other leading-edge technologies.

Assignments

Acentech is doing consulting and design work for Currier Museum of Art; the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art; the Museum of Fine Arts Boston (above), Museum of Science, Boston; University of Iowa Museum of Art; and the Yale Center for British Art, Yale University.

People

Cushman & Wakefield and DTZ closed their $2B merger and the new entity will carry the Cushman & Wakefield brand name. It has $5B in revenue, 43,000 employees, a $191B transaction value and at least 4.3B SF under management. The global chairman and CEO is Brett White, and the president is Tod Lickerman.

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Chris Devaux has joined WiredScore as director of business development for New England. The move comes after 20 years of experience with Insight Commercial Advisors, KS Partners and Parsons Commercial Group.