Boston's Planning Department approved seven developments totaling 1.5M SF, including 378 residential units and institutional master plans for Boston University and Boston College.
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BU will renovate its Warren Towers dorms to include updated bathrooms, HVAC and repairs as part of its 10-year IMP, according to the city's planning department. The plan also included the development of a 12-story, 70K SF Pardee School of Global Studies building.
The department also approved two office-to-residential conversion projects at 615 Albany St. and 129 Portland St. in the South End and West End. Both projects are being developed by Greg McCarthy, the Boston Business Journal reported. The two projects will create 49 apartment units.
Other projects approved include 45-unit 1247 Massachusetts Ave. in Dorchester, 40-unit 819 Cummings Highway in Mattapan, 236-unit 295 W. First St. in South Boston and eight-unit 90 Allandale St. in West Roxbury. A 640K SF life sciences and office building at 500 Huntington Ave. was also approved.
SALES
Porter Square Galleria in Cambridge was sold to Crosspoint Associates for $20.1M. The 56K SF shopping center is 96% leased to six tenants, including anchor tenant Target, One Medical, Anna's Taqueria and Citizens Bank. The buyer bought the property from CBRE's investment arm. Newmark's Robert Griffin, Jonathan Martin, Paul Penman, David Douvadjian Jr., Conor Reenstierna and Casey O'Brien brokered the deal.
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An affiliate of Luxembourg-based JAJ Investment Group acquired the 100K SF 400 Atlantic Ave. for $30M from UBS. JAJ bought the property for $20M less than what UBS paid for it in 2014. The property was the former headquarters of law firm Goulston & Storrs, which moved to Morgan Stanley's One Post Office Square in the spring. JAJ's head of U.S. investment said the company doesn't plan on using the building for office.
LEASES
Culture Pop Soda signed a 6K SF lease at Berkeley Investments' 64 Pleasant St. development in Watertown. The 105K SF life sciences development was renovated in 2021 after the firm bought it from Saski. The soda startup joins Via Separations, which took on more than 50K SF at the development last year.
FINANCING
The city of Boston has dispersed $7M in American Rescue Plan Act funding for affordable housing and small businesses. The city plans on deploying its remaining ARPA funding through its SPACE grant program, acquiring market-rate properties to grow its affordable housing stock and helping first-time homebuyers through down payment assistance.
The city's Acquisition Opportunity Program supports the acquisition of multifamily buildings through private developers in an effort to grow the city's affordable housing stock and minimize the risk of displacement for residents. The new funding will leverage roughly $9M in financing to support these acquisitions.
PERSONNEL
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Boston Builders of Color Coalition named Kenn Turner, former CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, as the interim executive director. Turner entered the role as former executive director Colleen Fonseca stepped down to pursue an opportunity in the city of Boston's housing office. Fonseca held the position for the last three years and her departure will be effective as of Sept. 24.
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Skanska USA Commercial Development promoted Mike Caliva to vice president of development. He will oversee the development of 380 Stuart St. and part of the firm's Longwood Place development.
Caliva joined Skanska in 2018 as an associate to senior manager, according to LinkedIn. Before joining Skanska, he was a senior analyst at STAG Industrial, a partner at Candeur Group and vice president at Boston Financial Investment Management.
CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
The receiver for the 400K SF Solomon Pond shopping mall is in the early stages of marketing the property for sale, the BBJ reported. The receiver, an affiliate of E3 Advisors, was appointed in 2021 after Simon Property Group, the mall's owner, could not reach an agreement to modify its mortgage terms. The property was appraised at $30.4M last year, down from $200M.
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WinnCos. opened a $39M fossil fuel-free, 86-unit apartment community in Lawrence. The project is a redevelopment of a 179-year-old mill building that is expected to use 46% less energy and emit 33% fewer greenhouse gases than a typical gas-fired multifamily property. The apartment building consists of 58 apartments set aside for households earning 60% of the area median income, 11 apartments for those earning up to 30% AMI and 17 market-rate units.
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