Home Depot acquired part of a development site in Watertown that is home to one of its stores.
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The home improvement store acquired a chunk of 615 Arsenal St. in Watertown for $72M, the Boston Business Journal reported. The site is part of Boylston Properties' Arsenal Yards mixed-use development.
Boylston Properties didn't respond to Bisnow's request for comment.
The developer has retained control over a corner of the tract where it has proposed a six-story, 175K SF lab building known as 300 Forge. Boylston and JPMorgan Chase acquired the parcel in 2022 for $96M.
The developer won approval from the city's Planning Board to amend Arsenal Yards' master plan to include the new site and needs to receive final approval before the lab begins construction, the BBJ reported.
Watertown was a hotbed for life sciences activity during the peak of the biotech boom because it offered a cheaper accessible market compared to the high rents and ultralow vacancy in the Seaport and Kendall Square. The 250K SF mixed-use campus scored several major lab leases, including fully leasing out 100 Forge.
LEASES
Duffy Insurance signed a 2K SF lease at Cummings Properties' 50 Dunham Ridge in Beverly. Cummings' Justin D'Aveta and Herrick Lutts Realty Partners' Rich Vincent worked on the deal with Duffy. The insurance company has acquired 10 regional agencies and operates out of nine communities in the state.
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Life sciences company CytoTronics signed a 14K SF lease at the 59K SF Genesis 12 Farnsworth in the Seaport District. The life sciences building is owned by Phase 3 Real Estate Partners. The transaction was brokered by CBRE.
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A basketball training and development company signed a 30K SF lease at 24 Industrial Road in Walpole, New England Real Estate Journal reported. The company, Team White Mamba, is run by former Boston Celtic Brian Scalabrine. Greater Boston Commercial Properties' Tyler DeWolfe brokered the deal.
FINANCING
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MPZ Development and Capstone Communities closed on more than $2.7M in financing for the Baldwinville School Apartments redevelopment project in Templeton. The development would convert a former school into 54 rental units, including 49 affordable homes. The development team secured the financing through public and private lending sources.
PERSONNEL
Cushman & Wakefield hired Heather Brown and Robert Borden as vice chairs of the firm's capital markets team. Both brokers will focus on debt and structured financing. Brown was most recently at CBRE as executive vice president of debt and structured finance. Borden also worked for CBRE as a senior vice president. The duo collectively bring more than 40 years of experience in the industry and have executed more than $17B in financing transactions.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
John B. Cruz Construction was selected to redevelop an old vacant retail storefront for local grocery store chain Vicente's Supermarket in Roxbury. The project will be the supermarket chain's fifth location.
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BioMed proposed an office-to-lab conversion of a Cambridge building at 350 Massachusetts Ave., the BBJ reported. The 118K SF office building is mostly vacant, according to BioMed. The project would convert 60% of the property into lab space. The company acquired the property near Central Square in 2021 from Brookfield Asset Management.
