| Newbury Street, one of the city’s top retail districts, can often move through the decades without new construction or a major development project. But now, there's a new building going up and several historic ones that are being upgraded for retail uses.Centremark Properties is building a new 49k SF mixed-use project on the exclusive first block (above) that will house a three-story Chanel store (we can all just stop in there on our way to work and we'll never need to buy perfume anymore) and six residences. Across the street, C Talanian Realty, the largest landlord with 250k SF in 22 Newbury Street properties, is redeveloping two buildings (including a basement) on spec to create 8,000 SF of retail space, up from 4,000 SF. |
| A few blocks down the street SR Weiner Associates is doing a gut renovation of the old Louis’ building that’s scheduled for completion this coming winter when Restoration Hardware will move in. All of this activity has been spurred by the peak performance of the area’s retail and office properties. BRA deputy director for development Randi Lathrop says Newbury Street’s retail vacancy rate is about 3.5%, bouncing back from its sluggishness during the recession. Offices in the surrounding Back Bay neighborhood, meanwhile, were 4.7% vacant at mid-year, JLL reports. Building sale prices are back to the ’07 peak and cap rates are as low as 4%, says Cushman & Wakefield New England prez Rob Griffin. |
| A new landlord, Jamestown, which a year ago paid $226M for 28 buildings (23 on Newbury Street and five around the corner on Boylston Street) totalling 130k SF is doing several renovation projects on Newbury valued at $4.7M. The largest for the Atlanta-based real estate company is this 10-month spec gut rehab at 234-236 Newbury Street. Jamestown COO Michael Phillips says he aims to hold this portfolio for 10 to 12 years; improve the buildings and bring in a mix of local, regional, and national stores. He likes the challenge of upgrading this unique historic street after having worked similarly distinctive retail locations in Manhattan, DC, and San Francisco. |
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