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Berkeley Investments’ Exchange 200 Redevelopment in Malden now complete
Wicked LocalBoston-based real estate developer Berkeley Investments has confirmed that its comprehensive redevelopment of Exchange 200, a four-story, 310,000-plus square-foot mixed-use building in Malden Center, is now complete.
Working closely with the city of Malden, architectural firm Stantec and builder Dellbrook JKS, Berkeley has transformed the transit-oriented property, directly across from the Malden Center MBTA station, into a modern innovation hub that is ready to accommodate a wide variety of laboratories, research and development companies, flexible spaces and office users. In particular, this redevelopment positions the property to provide modern lab space to the life sciences sector, which continues to experience growing demand for space.
“The life sciences market in greater Boston continues to be one of our strongest sectors, and we continue to see demand for lab space that outweighs supply, especially in urban locations directly across the street from the T/commuter rail like Exchange 200,” says Molly Heath, managing director for JLL, which is serving as the exclusive leasing broker for the office, flex, and lab components of the project. “In addition, Malden has a young, educated population, many of whom already commute to East Cambridge or Boston for work.”
“I could not be more pleased with the exterior renovations of Exchange 200 and I thank Berkeley Investments for their vision and efforts. Our team continues to work hard to create employment opportunities in the life sciences for our residents and I have no doubt that some of the best companies in the region will be clamoring to lease space in this building,” said Malden mayor Gary Christenson.
Berkeley’s investment in the property, which previously served as a bank operations center, include a complete replacement of all systems with advanced new HVAC and mechanical infrastructure, a new façade of floor-to-ceiling glass, a new two-story atrium lobby and adding an assortment of new amenities including fitness center, locker rooms, showers and bike storage. In addition, Exchange 200 offers a number of features that will appeal to prospective life sciences and lab tenants, especially for a building that’s across the street from public transit, a short bike ride to Cambridge, and less than 15 minutes from downtown Boston. According to Dan McGrath, Berkeley’s senior vice president and director of asset management, other features include large, flexible floor plates; high-capacity power infrastructure; the option of having redundant power; high ceilings; heavy floor load capacities; and six loading docks with secure, private load-in.
McGrath also predicts that Exchange 200 will appeal to an assortment of other companies like technology start-ups, robotics, health care and nonprofit office tenants who are looking to engage with a transit-oriented workforce but who may have space and infrastructure requirements that are more typical of suburban locations.
“Exchange 200 provides these characteristics in close proximity to the urban core, with extensive transit options in the form of the Orange Line, commuter rail, and bus service, but at a significant value compared to the rents companies will face in Boston or Cambridge,” said McGrath. “We’re incredibly excited to launch the new Exchange 200 to the market. The building’s amenities and its desirable location across the street from the MBTA Orange Line will be a huge draw for forward-thinking, creative companies who crave a dynamic urban experience.”
The redevelopment of Exchange 200 also includes the creation of new street-level retail by replacing an uninviting brick façade with floor-to-ceiling glass storefronts, offering nearly 15,000 square feet of new retail space. To date, Berkeley has signed leases with European coffeehouse Caffè Nero, as well as restaurants 110 Grill and Evviva Trattoria, to occupy space on the ground floor, which will also include outdoor patio space. These retail spaces will serve not only as amenities for the building’s occupants but will also add to the dynamic urban environment that continues to grow in Malden Center.
Foundation Kitchen to Open at The Graphic Lofts on Sullivan Square
Charlestown Patriot-BridgeFoundation Kitchen, a shared culinary workspace, co-founded by husband and wife team, Ciaran Nagle and Tara Novak, has signed a 5,723 square-foot lease to open a new culinary production and dining destination at The Graphic Lofts on Sullivan Square.
This new location, located directly across the street from the Sullivan Square Station, will feature a café, wine bar, and food stalls which will be open to the public seven days a week. The space will also feature an ongoing roster of cooking classes, special events, and culinary pop-ups served from a shared kitchen. Foundation Kitchen is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2021 in a space on the ground floor of the building that has been unoccupied since The Graphic launched last year.
The lease for Foundation Kitchen was negotiated by Stephen Pleines from Eastern Land Company on behalf of the tenants, and Joe Wagner from Boston Reality Advisors on behalf of Berkeley Investments, which owns and developed The Graphic Lofts.
Berkeley has long recognized the value of placing innovative food and beverage concepts in rapidly growing neighborhoods. Young Park, president of Berkeley Investments, is credited with introducing Barbara Lynch to the Fort Point neighborhood in 2008 by offering the company’s FP3 residential building as home to Drink, Sportello and Menton.
“The addition of Foundation Kitchen to The Graphic Lofts and the community of Charlestown is a home-run for everyone involved,” said Park. “The concept is one that will appeal to multiple audiences who are essential to the neighborhood including residents, nearby workers and commuters. The unique concept meets a variety of needs in the market, and we know it will be incredibly popular when it opens.”
From a food and beverage standpoint, plans call for Foundation Kitchen to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner menu items, along with craft beers and wine, either to-go, or for in-restaurant dining through their cafe and wine bar. Owner Ciaran Nagle says the market and location are prime for this type of carry-out dining option, especially for those that reside above Foundation Kitchen in The Graphic Lofts, and those that live nearby in Hood Park and mainland Charlestown.
“The impacts of COVID-19 have put more focus on carry-out and at-home dining, and our business model was set-up perfectly for that well before the pandemic adversely impacted the restaurant community,” said Nagle. “Given this shift and increased demand for more healthy, local grab-and-go dining options, takeout and delivery have skyrocketed in popularity, as customers seek creative alternatives to cooking at home night after night.”
Nagle said Foundation Kitchen members will offer creative culinary packages like family-style meals, curated make-at-home meal kits, farmers’ market delivery services, and wine-and-food pairings.
Those who choose to dine in Foundation Kitchen’s Food Hall will experience indoor and outdoor spaces that take their design cues from the local neighborhood, “which is rich with creativity and innovation,” says Kevin Cromwell of Cromwell Consulting, a food service consulting firm that helped design and layout the space. “Our goal was to create an environment that allows quality culinary entrepreneurs a place to flourish.”
Rashmi Ramaswamy, lead architect of SHED Studio, and designer Jack Cochran, thought about the establishment’s namesake – a “foundational” kitchen – and created a space that celebrates the building’s architecture, while also connecting guests to the places and landscapes where food comes from.
“With abundant plantings, a warm, atmospheric mural, and exposed brick and massive wood beams, the marketplace will unite the public and global cuisines together to create a space that’s both transportive yet also very much part of the history and evolution of Charlestown,” they said.
All of the parties involved are committed to creating a space that follows COVID-19 CDC and State of Massachusetts health guidelines.
In addition, as a family-owned-and-operated business, Owner Tara Novak says Foundation Kitchen will fill a void by providing a space that’s inspiring to other small to mid-size food companies.
“We presently have one boutique shared commercial kitchen located in Union Square, Somerville and we’re excited about this new location opening in Charlestown,” she says. “This shared kitchen concept is licensed for shared-use food production, and multiple other businesses may operate from our new kitchen at The Graphic. All member companies working out of our space have their own licenses, insurance, and certification, and either work from their own designated studio space or from their own pre-scheduled space within the shared kitchen.”
Foundation Kitchen already has close to 20 members who cite multiple reasons for using shared kitchen space, including the lack of commercial kitchen space in the Boston metro area, the cost of incurring long-term leases, and the large overhead costs associated with a commercial kitchen facility. Adam Dziki of Wild Fox Pierogi, a Foundation Kitchen member since 2017, looks forward to being a part of the new space at The Graphic when it opens in early 2021.
“Wild Fox serves delicious cuisines inspired by our Polish and Portuguese heritages,” he said. “We’re also a family owned business and we look forward to offering lunch and dinner options that are packed with flavor, including our signature ‘Bigger than Babcia’s’ scratch-made pierogi, as well as soups, sandwiches, salads, and more.”
For Artisan’s Asylum, moving day is coming
The Harvard GazetteNonprofit collaborative will settle in at Harvard space in Allston
Harvard has announced that Artisan’s Asylum, a local nonprofit arts collaborative, will begin moving its facilities to Allston-Brighton later this year.
The move sets the stage for a significant long-term partnership between the University and Artisan’s, a nonprofit organization founded in 2010. It will allow Artisan’s, which is currently located in Somerville, to expand its new space and continue to grow its operations.
Plans call for transforming a warehouse at 55 Antwerp St. into a vibrant community center. Another project is planned at 176 Lincoln St., now under development by Berkeley Investments; that project is currently under community review.
“Harvard is thrilled to welcome the Artisan’s Asylum, and its cutting-edge, innovative maker space to the neighborhood. Their plans for the Allston space represent an exciting opportunity to strengthen the region’s creative economy and support community-wide creativity and collaboration,” said Harvard Executive Vice President Katie Lapp. “Artisan’s is a vital community resource that complements and widens our shared goals of nurturing creativity, collaboration, and economic impact.”
“We are delighted to begin our move to Allston-Brighton, and excited to make our new home in a neighborhood that is teeming with artistic innovation, ingenuity, and collaboration,” said Lars Hasselblad Torres, executive director of Artisan’s Asylum.
“All of us are grateful for the ongoing support from Harvard, and we look forward to our continued partnership in the months and years to come,” said Steve Derezinski, the group’s chair. “This is an exciting, transformative time for the organization.”
“An inclusive refuge for teaching, learning, and practice of fabrication,” Artisan’s maintains affordable studios and workspaces for craftspeople in a variety of specialties, including jewelry, 3D printing, woodworking, and robotics. It has more than 160 studios, 15 shops, and access to hundreds of tools, and has developed a range of educational programming for learners of all ages, including classes, featured speakers and special events.
Since its inception, Artisan’s Asylum has placed a heavy emphasis on local entrepreneurship, and has contributed more than $70 million in economic development impact. It leads the nation in development of innovative spaces and programs that support creative expression and entrepreneurship. By exchanging ideas and sharing skills, it has fostered startups such as
Atlas Devices, GeoOrbital, 3D Doodler, Unruly Studios, RailState, and Cantux Research, among many others. Over the years its investments have helped create more than 100 jobs and helped contribute to the livelihood of hundreds of independent creatives.
“We are excited to welcome Artisan’s Asylum to Boston and grateful to Harvard for this innovative partnership. We are looking forward to expanding on the work we did together [in 2020] on employment for returning citizens, and look forward to the additional partnerships that will be fostered as a result of this exciting new resource in Allston,” said Boston Mayor Marty Walsh.
Last summer, Harvard welcomed a satellite of Artisan’s to Allston, where its members and volunteers ramped up efforts to create personal protective equipment (PPE) gowns to be used in nonsurgical settings among a variety of users, including dentists, hospitals, and even child-care centers. In doing so, it worked with the Harvard Ed Portal, as well as the cities of Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville, and was able to hire and train new immigrants and formerly incarcerated workers.
Artisan’s plans to expand its programming and benefits in response to local community input. It also plans to work extensively with the community and Berkeley Investments on the intersection of innovation and arts in Allston-Brighton.
“Harvard is committed to ensuring that the arts remain central to the University’s campus in Allston,” said Marika Reuling, managing director of Harvard’s Allston Initiatives team. “One of the University’s top priorities remains continuing to engage in efforts to support the region’s robust artist community and to [continue] to bring a diverse mix of uses in the neighborhood. Through its ongoing support of local artists through programs such as the Allston-Brighton Winter Market, the Western Avenue Arts Walk, and Zone 3’s Pop-Up! Artist Shop, and more recently announced Window Shopping experience, the University is working steadfastly to ensure that the arts continue to thrive throughout the region.”
Artisan’s Asylum Expanding to Harvard Properties in Allston
Banker & TradesmanHarvard University’s latest development plans in Allston arrive at the perfect time for makerspace
Artisan’s Asylum, as it faces an expiring lease for its Somerville home.
By Steve Adams, Banker & Tradesman Staff Jan 12, 2021
Harvard University’s latest development plans in Allston arrive at the perfect time for makerspace
Artisan’s Asylum, as it faces an expiring lease for its Somerville home.
The university is leasing a combined 52,000 square feet at a pair of its Allston properties to the group
and reserving additional ground-floor space at Berkeley Investments’ proposed 176 Lincoln St.
development. With more room to operate at a pair of Harvard-owned buildings on Antwerp and Holton
streets, Artisan’s Asylum plans to expand its shared work and makerspaces and add new teaching
space and meeting areas, Executive Director Lars Hasselblad Torres said. The relocation is scheduled
to begin late this year.
A third location is proposed as part of the 176 Lincoln St. project, in which Boston-based Berkeley
Investments proposes 548,000 square feet of office and lab space and 314 apartments at a longdormant
development site that’s ground-leased from Harvard University. Artisan’s Asylum will occupy
approximately 10,000 square feet of ground-floor space, said Morgan Pierson, director of development
for Berkeley Investments.
While many office landlords have recently focused on attracting unique ground-floor tenants, the life
science development boom is just starting to embrace the strategy, he said.
“One of the things we’ve been talking about internally is watching how much office space has evolved to
have a much higher level of amenities, and life science has been left out,” Pierson said. “The old thinking
is the people who are in lab coats all day are not having the same needs, and that’s not correct.”
Low-cost studio space for artisans is disappearing in the urban core as industrial properties continue to
be acquired by developers of multifamily housing and distribution space. Artisan’s Asylum faced few
attractive options to replace its 42,000-square-foot Somerville location, but Harvard offered “highly
realistic terms,” Torres said in an email.
Berkeley Investments toured Artisan’s Asylum’s Somerville property two years ago and immediately
considered the group to be a desirable future tenant, Pierson said. Founded in 2010, the nonprofit
currently has 160 artist members who rent studios and have shared access to equipment including 3D
printing, woodworking and screen printing.
Artisan’s Asylum required a large and flexible space to accommodate its diverse mix of artisans and
makers, ranging from graphic artists to welders, making the former warehouse at 55 Antwerp St. a good
fit for the first phase of a mini-campus in Allston, Pierson said.
“Our team always wanted to include arts of all kinds within the project and make it more dynamic, so it
felt like a tremendous fit,” he said.
Editor’s note: This report has been updated to clarify that Berkeley Investments ground-leases the 176
Lincoln St. property from Harvard University.
An empty warehouse will become a ‘center of gravity’ in fast-changing Allston
The Boston GlobeA developer has filed plans to turn the site into a complex with 800,000 square feet of space for life science offices, housing, and parks.
By Tim Logan Globe Staff, Updated October 9, 2020, 3:46 p.m
The site of a long-empty warehouse along the Massachusetts Turnpike could soon be a new “center of gravity” for a part of Allston-Brighton that’s exploding with new development.
Berkeley Investments on Friday filed detailed plans with the city for a three-building campus of life science office space, housing, and parks on the site of an enormous warehouse that has sat empty on Lincoln Street since it was built two decades ago.
Berkeley says the project — encompassing just over 800,000 square feet — would transform a long-forlorn pocket of the neighborhood, and serve as a connection between the Boston Landing complex across the Pike and the rapidly developing Western Avenue corridor to the north.
“This project can really be a center of gravity connecting all of Allston’s Harvard-driven development and everything going on around Boston Landing and then Longwood Medical Area,” said Berkeley president Young Park.
The warehousehas mostly been vacant since it was built as the Boston Tech Center, during the late 1990′s tech bubble. It was intended for a telecom company that went bust before it was finished. Harvard University purchased the building as part of its expansion into Allston in 2006, but has done little there since a land swap with the Boston Skating Club fell through. The university sought partners to redevelop it, and last year announced a long-term lease with Berkeley, a veteran Boston developer whose projects include much of Channel Center in Fort Point, the Waltham Watch Factory, and a new mixed-use development in Malden Center.
On Lincoln Street, Park says, it sees a big opportunity for life science companies looking to locate relatively near to both Harvard’s Allston campus and Longwood Medical Area. Several life science companies have already moved to Boston Landing, and nearby parts of Watertown and the Fenway, seeking more space and lower rents than they can find in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. And although the COVID-19 pandemic has dampened apartment rents and crunched demand for urban office space, the market for life science real estate remains strong.
“We really feel Allston will gradually take on a much bigger role in the region’s life science industry,” Park said.
In all, Berkeley’s project would include 548,000 square feet of lab or office space in two buildings, a third building with 314 residential units, and 20,000 square feet of ground-level retail. About two acres of the 5.2-acre site will be open space, and Berkeley is hoping to create an artsy vibe with “maker” space and 10 live/work units geared toward artists. The project will be designed to open up the site — which today is a large blocky warehouse — with through streets and open space, and planners, in a nod to pandemic outdoor dining, are aiming to provide generous outdoor seating and space for restaurants and retail.
Friday’s filing launches formal review at the Boston Planning & Development Agency, which Berkeley expects could take a year at least. Construction could take three years after that.
Many in the neighborhood have long wanted to see something happen at the old warehouse. Now they’ll be able to debate the details.
One point of contention could be traffic. The project would include 946 underground parking spaces, in an area not easily accessible from major highways. Park said those spaces are needed to serve both the office and residential buildings, but added that Berkeley will improve bike and pedestrian connections, and links to both to the nearby Boston Landing Commuter Rail stop and the Western Avenue bus lanes connecting into Harvard Square. Longer term, he sees the proposed realignment of the Massachusetts Turnpike, and eventual West Station transit hub, as a boon that will open up the the entire area.
There’s a lot going on in Allston-Brighton these days, he said. And this site, long unused, is right in the middle of it.
“It’s truly exciting when you take a step back and look at a map,” he said. “We’re in a pretty good place.”
Tim Logan can be reached at timothy.logan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @bytimlogan.
Berkeley Investments’ Exchange 200 in Malden Center Welcomes Two New Restaurants
Boston Real Estate TimesBOSTON- Boston-based real estate developer Berkeley Investments announced that two new popular restaurants with solid footing in the Northeast – 110 Grill and Evviva Trattoria – will occupy two ground-floor retail spaces at Exchange 200, a four-story, 300,000+ square-foot mixed-use building being redeveloped for lab/life-sciences, R&D, and creative office uses.
Both establishments are expected to open in mid-2021 at this transit-oriented property located in the heart of Malden Center. 110 Grill and Evviva Trattoria join Caffè Nero, the premium European coffee house, which has also leased space on the building’s ground floor.
110 Grill, which offers upscale casual American cuisine, is expected to occupy 6,470 square feet of space across five main seating areas: main dining room with open kitchen, a large horseshoe-shaped bar, lounge with high-top seating, a private dining room and an outdoor patio with fire pit. Evviva Trattoria will occupy 5,830 square feet including an outdoor patio as well and features modern Italian food served in a comfortable and relaxed atmosphere.
110 Grill’s new Malden location will add to the restaurant’s growing presence across the Northeast. Based in Westford, Massachusetts with locations throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York, the group also plans to expand to Rhode Island and Connecticut this year and will soon reach 40 locations.
Ryan Dion, Chief Operating Officer for 110 Grill, says “the menu in Malden will be similar to other locations and will feature our twist modern American cuisine.” He adds, “100% of our core menu is either naturally gluten free or can be modified to be gluten free and we have a very strong commitment to allergy awareness, including a recent award from AllergyEats as the 2nd most allergy-friendly restaurant brand in the United States.”
Some of the dishes featured on a 110 Grill dinner menu include Chimichurri Steak, Sesame Ginger Salmon, Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese, Steak Tips and Chicken Caprese. Appetizers include Crab Rangoon Dip, Spinach Dip Bread Bowl, Firecracker Shrimp and BBQ Chicken Nachos.
Evviva Trattoria, with locations presently in Wrentham, Westford, Marlborough and Maynard, features modern Italian food served in a casual setting. Evviva is known to take beloved Italian and American classics like Parmigiana, Picatta, Lasagna, Bolognese and more, and add their own culinary personal touches. Evviva’s core menu, designed by its Director of Culinary and Operations, Anthony DePalma, includes gluten-free options and offers primi / zuppa (appetizers), insalatas, paninis, secondi (entrees) and pizzas / build your own pizzas. Evviva’s Montanara pizzas made with fried crust are a popular option with guests. Catering will also be available for tenants of Exchange 200 and nearby companies.
Marcie Day, Chief Operating Officer for Evviva Trattoria adds, “We are looking forward to bringing the Evviva brand with its Italian inspired, locally made cuisine, to the Malden area. Guests will enjoy our comfortable, family-style atmosphere, friendly service and delicious food, as well as our great loyalty program.”
Malden Mayor Gary Christenson is also excited by the news, saying, ”I am very happy that we will be able to add these two highly-regarded destinations to our diverse dining scene in Malden. With upscale American cuisine and now a modern Italian kitchen in Malden Center, this only underscores one of my favorite sayings: Dine in Malden, Taste the World!”
“Offering both 110 Grill and Evviva Trattoria to prospective tenants and local residents is a real draw for Exchange 200,” says Young Park, President of Berkeley Investments. “Both restaurants perfectly complement the new breweries, other eateries, and exciting entertainment and gaming options that have emerged in Malden Center over the last several years. With the imminent completion of the Exchange 200 project, along with recent large-scale investments such as the new J Malden Apartments and new City Hall, Malden Center is in the midst of an exciting transformation that cements the city as one of the most dynamic, diverse city centers in Greater Boston. These new restaurants will add two exciting new destinations for the local workforce, visitors, and residents who call Malden Center home.”
Ryan Dion says they chose Exchange 200 because Malden Center will offer them the perfect customer demographic. “You can come in in a business suit and enjoy a rib-eye steak and a nice bottle of Cabernet. Or you can also come in with jeans and sneakers and have a burger and fries and a beer at the bar. Either way you’re guaranteed to fit in at both locations. We’re confident our restaurants will be highly successful here in Malden Center.”
Exchange 200 offers large, flexible floorplates, high-capacity power infrastructure, high ceilings, heavy floor loads, and six loading docks, all features that are unique in the market for a building with such immediate public transit access and a travel time of under 15 minutes to downtown Boston . Berkeley expects these features to be attractive to life-science and other creative economy tenants who may have R&D requirements that often can only be accommodated in more suburban locations. Park adds that Exchange 200 will also appeal to a wide assortment of prospective tenants beyond R&D and life science, including tech-start-ups, robotics, health-care and non-profit office tenants who are looking to tap into a talented, transit-oriented workforce but who may be looking for space at a significant discount to rents in places like Boston and Cambridge. Exchange 200 expects to open in Fall 2020.
Pat Paladino, Senior Managing Director of Newmark Knight Frank, represented Berkeley Investments in these transactions while Jeff White of Aries Commercial Real Estate, LLC, represented the restaurant tenants.
Developer plans to turn a huge vacant building along the Mass. Pike into an ‘innovation village’
The Boston GlobeThe Brighton warehouse would house apartments, offices, and lab space
By Tim Logan
It has been a “tech center.” It has been a warehouse. It has sat unused for more than a decade. Now it could become an “innovation village.”
The developer Berkeley Investments on Tuesday filed plans with the city to turn a long-empty warehouse on Lincoln Street in Brighton into a three-building campus of apartments, offices, and laboratory space. The five-acre site, overlooking the Massachusetts Turnpike, has been largely vacant since it was built in the early 2000s to house a telecom company that went bust before it even opened, but it sits in a corridor of Allston-Brighton that is now booming with development.
Since 2006, the building has been owned by Harvard University, which last year reached a deal with Berkeley, a veteran Boston-area builder, to partner on a project there. Financial terms have not been made public. But in an initial filing with the Boston Planning & Development Agency on Tuesday, Berkeley took the wraps off what it has planned.
The developer would knock down the giant warehouse and replace it with three buildings. Two would be commercial — a mix of office and lab space — with about 548,000 square feet in all. The third would be for 314 housing units. There would be 20,000 square feet of retail space, below-ground parking, and about one acre of publicly accessible open space.
The idea, said Berkeley’s president, Young Park, is to create an “innovation village” that would help connect the fast-growing Boston Landing complex just south of the Pike with the rapidly developing corridor along Western Avenue, which like the innovation village’s site is north of the highway.
“Boston is at its best when people with different talents, interests and ideas come together,” Park said in a statement. “With life sciences as its anchor, 176 Lincoln is envisioned as an ecosystem of different uses that is more than the sum of its parts — home to potential medical breakthroughs alongside creative works, all with a community feel that is welcoming to everyone.”
Tuesday’s filing is preliminary. More details are likely in a few weeks, followed by rounds of public meetings and community reviews.
Neighborhood groups in Allston-Brighton have in recent years pushed for more homeownership opportunities in the largely rental neighborhoods, as well as more affordable housing and transportation improvements. It wasn’t immediately clear if Berkeley envisions apartments or condos, or how much of the housing might be set aside at below-market prices.
Still, the project looks like it would bring a variety of long-needed improvements to the area, from pedestrian enhancements to open space, said Anthony D’Isadoro, president of the Allston Civic Association.
“This seems like it’s a very well thought out design,” said D’Isadoro, who Berkeley briefed on the project ahead of filing. “I think when people see it, they’ll be pleasantly relieved.”
It’s also one of the first large development proposals to be filed with BPDA since the coronavirus pandemic struck. The development agency has mostly been closed to new projects since March and has held just a handful of virtual public meetings to discuss projects on its docket.
But it appears the city’s development process is starting to rumble back to life. Another developer, Related Beal, filed plans Monday to convert the soon-to-close campus of Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology on Berkeley Street in the South End into senior housing and office space. That, too, will start moving through community review in the coming months.
Tim Logan can be reached at timothy.logan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @bytimlogan.
Harvard taps Berkeley to redevelop Allston’s long-vacant Boston Tech Center
Boston Business JournalW. MARC BERNSAU
For nearly two decades, amid an historically large building boom and an historically tight commercial real estate market, one white elephant has sat on the Massachusetts Turnpike.
But the Boston Tech Center — a sprawling one-story warehouse that once was to be home to Globix Corp. before its bankruptcy — could finally be seeing new life.
Harvard University has tapped Berkeley Investments as a partner to redevelop 176 Lincoln St., a vacant property spanning nearly half a million square feet, that Harvard has owned since 2006.
“Harvard is incredibly excited to partner with Berkeley Investments on the exciting redevelopment opportunity at 176 Lincoln Street, and looks forward to working closely with them about how to creatively activate an area that has been vacant for many years,” a university spokesperson said in a statement. “The University continues to envision an exciting mixed-use project that takes full advantage of the intersections of various opportunities in and around the neighborhood, and that will resonate with people wanting to move into, and stay, in the area.”
It’s the latest step in Harvard’s foray into commercial real estate development. The university last week held a meeting with myriad members of Boston’s real-estate development community regarding the future Enterprise Research Campus, a 14-acre parcel on Western Avenue that’s approved for 900,000 square feet of new property.
It’s unclear what Berkeley’s plans are for the Boston Tech Center — whether the Boston-based real estate company intends to raze the property and build something new, or repurpose the property in some way. The company has completed a broad array of projects in the region, from loft apartments in Boston’s Seaport and Somerville, to commercial projects in Waltham and downtown Boston, and retail/restaurant projects, including Row 34 and Flour Bakery in Boston’s Fort Point Channel.
Young Park, president of Berkeley Investments, said in a statement that the company would likely file a letter of intent later this summer to kick off the city’s development review process.
“We at Berkeley are tremendously excited about the opportunity to transform and revitalize a site which had stood vacant for so many years,” Park said in an email to the Business Journal. “We look forward to working cooperatively with local residents and neighborhood associations, the BPDA and State representatives on realizing our vision for this important mixed-use development.”
Boston-based real-estate development firm Cabot, Cabot & Forbes originally developed the 176 Lincoln St. for internet company Globix Corp., which went bankrupt in the dot-com bust of the early 2000s and was later acquired by RCN Corp. Globix had leased the full facility prior to filing bankruptcy and never occupied the building.
Cabot then repurposed the project for biotech use, but failed to land a tenant. Rumors flew about the property, including that Target Corp. had made an offer, and that Eastern Real Estate reportedly discussed using the site for parking, storage and administrative space for Boston Children’s Hospital.
The Boston Skating Club five years ago proposed a $50 million facility at the 176 Lincoln St. site, but residents balked, and the project never got off the ground. (The club recently broke ground on a $37 million facility in Norwood.) As the Boston Tech Center stayed vacant, development exploded across the area. Indeed, just across the Pike from the Boston Tech Center, New Balance’s 15-acre Boston Landing mixed-use campus has seen great success. The campus now hosts practice facilities for the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins, the world headquarters of New Balance Athletics, apartments, retail and more.
Developers have also flocked to the area surrounding the new Boston Landing MBTA Commuter Rail station as well, proposing a number of housing projects. And New England Development also plans a nearly 2 million-square-foot mixed-use project at the Stop & Shop site immediately adjacent to Boston Landing.
The 5.2-acre parcel at 176 Lincoln St. has an assessed value of $21.4 million, according to city data. Harvard acquired the property in 2006 for $16 million from Cabot, Cabot & Forbes.
Tamara Small, CEO of real estate development group NAIOP Massachusetts, said the Boston Tech Center was always plagued with issues of bad timing. But now, she said, “it’s all coming together at the right time.”
Foundation Kitchen Leases 5,723 SF at The Graphic Lofts in Charlestown
Boston Real Estate TimesCharlestown, Mass. – Foundation Kitchen, a shared culinary workspace, co-founded by husband and wife team, Ciaran Nagle and Tara Novak, has signed a 5,723 square-foot lease to open a new culinary production and dining destination at The Graphic Lofts in Charlestown MA.
This new location, located directly across the street from the MBTA’s Orange Line Sullivan Square Station, will feature a café, wine bar, and food stalls which will be open to the public seven days a week. The space will also feature an ongoing roster of cooking classes, special events, and culinary pop-ups served from a shared kitchen. Foundation Kitchen is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2021.
The lease for Foundation Kitchen was negotiated by Stephen Pleines from Eastern Land Company on behalf of the tenants, and Joe Wagner from Boston Reality Advisors on behalf of Berkeley Investments, which owns and developed The Graphic Lofts.
Berkeley has long recognized the value of placing innovative food and beverage concepts in rapidly growing neighborhoods. Young Park, president of Berkeley Investments, is credited with introducing Barbara Lynch to the Fort Point neighborhood in 2008 by offering the company’s FP3 residential building as home to Drink, Sportello and Menton. Likewise, Park persuaded the award-winning culinary team of Row34 to bring their seafood restaurant to Berkeley’s loft rental project at 381 Congress Street in the same neighborhood. Park says, “The addition of Foundation Kitchen to The Graphic Lofts and the community of Charlestown is a home-run for everyone involved. The concept is one that will appeal to multiple audiences who are essential to the neighborhood including residents, nearby workers and commuters. The unique concept meets a variety of needs in the market, and we know it will be incredibly popular when it opens.”
Kevin Longo, Berkeley’s Asset Manager, also adds that the Foundation Kitchen model is a well-suited amenity for the building and its residents: “It will bring the community together by offering a unique hyper-local food and beverage experience with ever changing options from a diverse group of talented small businesses. It’s the type of concept that excites our residents and community members, and perfectly supports their urban lifestyle.”
From a food and beverage standpoint, plans call for Foundation Kitchen to offer breakfast, lunch and dinner menu items, along with craft beers and wine, either to-go, or for in-restaurant dining through their cafe and wine bar. Owner Ciaran Nagle says the market and location are prime for this type of carry-out dining option, especially for those that reside above Foundation Kitchen in The Graphic Lofts, and those that live nearby in Hood Park and Charlestown. He says, “The impacts of COVID-19 have put more focus on carry-out and at-home dining, and our business model was set-up perfectly for that well before the pandemic adversely impacted the restaurant community. Given this shift and increased demand for more healthy, local grab-and-go dining options, takeout and delivery have skyrocketed in popularity, as customers seek creative alternatives to cooking at home night after night.” Nagle says Foundation Kitchen members will offer creative culinary packages like family-style meals, curated make-at-home meal kits, farmers’ market delivery services, and wine-and-food pairings.
Those who choose to dine in Foundation Kitchen’s Food Hall will experience indoor and outdoor spaces that take their design cues from the local neighborhood, “which is rich with creativity and innovation,” says Kevin Cromwell of Cromwell Consulting, a food service consulting firm that helped design and layout the space. “Our goal was to create an environment that allows quality culinary entrepreneurs a place to flourish.”
Likewise, Rashmi Ramaswamy, lead architect of SHED Studio, and designer Jack Cochran, were inspired by The Graphic’s industrial elements and the important work that Ciaran and Tara are doing to support diverse, local entrepreneurs. They both thought about the establishment’s namesake – a “foundational” kitchen – and created a space that celebrates the building’s architecture, while also connecting guests to the places and landscapes where food comes from. Ramaswamy and Cochran agree: “With abundant plantings, a warm, atmospheric mural, and exposed brick and massive wood beams, the marketplace will unite the public and global cuisines together to create a space that’s both transportive yet also very much part of the history and evolution of Charlestown.” All of the parties involved are committed to creating a space that follows COVID-19 CDC and State of Massachusetts health guidelines.
In addition, as a family-owned-and-operated business, Owner Tara Novak says Foundation Kitchen will fill a void by providing a space that’s inspiring to other small to mid-size food companies. “We presently have one boutique shared commercial kitchen located in Union Square, Somerville and we’re excited about this new location opening in Charlestown,” she says. “This shared kitchen concept is licensed for shared-use food production, and multiple other businesses may operate from our new kitchen at The Graphic. All member companies working out of our space have their own licenses, insurance, and certification, and either work from their own designated studio space or from their own pre-scheduled space within the shared kitchen.”
Foundation Kitchen already has close to twenty members who cite multiple reasons for using shared kitchen space including the lack of commercial kitchen space in the Boston metro area, the cost of incurring long-term leases, and the large overhead costs associated with a commercial kitchen facility. Novak adds, “We take care of all of those elements by providing a facility where companies can come in and focus on their core business – making and selling food that customers enjoy and appreciate. We also work very hard to curate a community of like-minded businesses within our facilities, creating a place where owners and employees can network, while supporting, mentoring, and motivating each other.”
Adam Dziki of Wild Fox Pierogi, a Foundation Kitchen member since 2017, looks forward to being a part of the new space at The Graphic when it opens in early 2021. Dziki says, “Wild Fox serves delicious cuisines inspired by our Polish and Portuguese heritages. We’re also a family owned business and we look forward to offering lunch and dinner options that are packed with flavor, including our signature ‘Bigger than Babcia’s’ scratch-made pierogi, as well as soups, sandwiches, salads, and more.”
Berkeley Investments pushes forth with modular construction on The Graphic in Charlestown
Boston Real Estate TimesCHARLESTOWN, MA- Things are stacking up at The Graphic in Charlestown, MA as 129 modular boxes arrived at the site and will soon be craned into place to construct this new contemporary luxury apartment building.
Each modular box is 60-65 feet in length, weighs approximately 30,000 – 35,000 pounds, and requires approximately 20 minutes to be lifted into position.
On average, 14 boxes can be placed daily, which means a new building of this size will be erected in approximately one month. The modular box pictured here contains elements of three units at The Graphic, including sections of a two-bedroom, a studio and a one-bedroom apartment. Now under construction, The Graphic is currently the largest modular project in Boston.
With a contemporary design that celebrates Sullivan Square’s industrial heritage, Berkeley Investments’ latest transit-oriented project will bring to Charlestown a total of 171 apartments (spanning two buildings), approximately 4,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space and 113 parking spaces.
The redevelopment includes the adaptive reuse of the Graphic Arts Finishers Building featuring loft-style apartments, and will offer residents a lounge, club room, game room, and bike storage facilities, as well as onsite management offices. A new four-story podium(being constructed with the modular boxes above) will comprise approximately 125 apartments above 97 parking spaces.
This new construction, which will seek LEED Gold certification, will offer fitness and yoga facilities, a private courtyard for residents and a roof deck with skyline views of Charlestown and Boston. The Graphic, located across the street from the MBTA Sullivan Square Orange Line Station and a short distance to I-93, is expected to welcome residents by October 2018.
The Graphic is located at 32 Cambridge Street in Charlestown, MA. Berkeley Investments is The Graphic’s developer; ICON Architecture, Inc. is the architect and Tocci Building Corporation is the general contractor. RCM Group is the manufacturer of the modular boxes.
Read the full news story here.
Berkeley links tech tenants in outer-Boston to the urban core with Exchange 200 redevelopment in Malden
The Boston GlobeUrban core’s high rents, suburbs’ lack of transit have developers picking in-between places
By Tim Logan
For decades, the Boston-area office market has largely been split in two. Companies could be in the heart of the city, or out on Route 128.
Now, a growing number of developers are betting that at least some companies would like to be somewhere in the middle.
A wave of office projects are planned or are underway in the outer reaches of Boston and its immediate neighbors. They’re transit-oriented, with rents that are cheaper than downtown’s and access to urban-dwelling young workers. And they’re aimed squarely at companies that need room to grow in a crowded city but don’t want to decamp for the suburbs.
One of the biggest of these projects, Nordblom Co.’s redevelopment of the former Boston Globe headquarters on Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester, cleared a key hurdle Thursday, when the Boston Planning & Development Agency approved plans to convert the old newspaper plant into a campus for creative office space and light industry.
The 695,000-square-foot building is large enough to house thousands of workers, with huge floor plates that Nordblom is repurposing for technology firms and other companies that like to spread out. Because it’s an existing building — Nordblom bought it from the Globe for $81 million in December — rents can be lower than they are in new buildings.
“It’s a value alternative in a market where new space would cost a lot more,” said Og Hunnewell, executive vice president at Nordblom. “We’re trying to respond to growing companies that can’t find space in the city.”
Likewise, the Boston developer Berkeley Investments is converting an old Bank of America building in Malden Center into Exchange 200, a 315,000-square-foot office building and data center that’s designed for creative-industry and tech tenants. Heavy-duty floors and extra-high ceilings make the building ideal for manufacturing or research and development, said Dan McGrath, a vice president at Berkeley, while its location, steps from the MBTA’s Malden Center Station on the Orange Line, could appeal to companies whose coommuters need good access to transportation.
“These are pretty unique buildings,” McGrath said, referring to 200 Exchange and Nordblom’s Dorchester project. “They’re in the urban ring, on transit, with high ceilings and big floors. That has resulted in a lot of interest.”
They come on the heels of several other “outer-urban” office projects that have landed major tenants.
New Balance’s Boston Landing campus has lured life-science companies that have been priced out of Cambridge, as well as suburban companies that want a presence in the city.
Partners Healthcare chose Assembly Row in Somerville to consolidate into one large office.
The roadside assistance operator Agero recently signed a lease to fill a building under construction in the Wellington section of Medford.
And other projects are in the works in East Boston, the Alewife area of Cambridge, and along the planned Green Line Extension in Somerville.
These locations make a lot of sense, said David Townsend, executive managing director at Newmark Knight Frank, a real estate firm. These days, proximity to a workforce is key, and these are the sort of neighborhoods where Boston’s smart young workforce increasingly lives.
“If you’re a PhD or a postdoc, you probably can’t afford to live in Back Bay, or even South Boston,” Townsend said, as he discussed outer-urban projects at a recent panel talk on the office market. “These neighborhoods are where the employees are, and where companies are going to be near the talent.”
And rents are substantially more reasonable than in downtown. Even for new high-end space, office rents in so-called streetcar suburbs like Brighton, Dorchester, and Somerville are two-thirds, on average, of what they are in the Seaport and a little more than half of the going rate in Kendall Square, according to data from Perry Research.
The combination of talent, space, and lower rents is driving a lot of interest in 200 Exchange, said Carolyn Zern, Berkeley’s vice president for development. The firm is talking with companies ranging from robotics developers to co-working operators and hopes to sign leases before opening early next year.
“We’re thinking this place will be a blend,” Zern said.
Hunnewell is thinking the same for the former Globe site, at 135 Morrissey Blvd. — a mix of companies large and small, across a variety of industries. He believes projects like his are in a sweet spot at a moment when Boston’s office market is changing. Marketing is scheduled to begin soon, with the complex opening in fall 2019.
“We’ve got companies coming in from Route 128, and being pushed out of downtown,” Hunnewell said. “We need to be thinking about it both ways.”
Tim Logan can be reached at tim.logan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @bytimlogan.
Read the full news story here.
Boston’s largest modular housing development well on its way in Charlestown
Curbd BostonBy Tom Acitelli
In early May, the first 129 modular boxes arrived at the construction site of the Graphic, an apartment complex slated for 32 Cambridge Street in Charlestown.
The two-building project will include a four-story one constructed from such boxes, stacked and engineered to form 125 apartments above 97 parking spaces. It represents the largest example of modular housing in Boston.
Each box clocks in at 30,000 to 35,000 pounds, and is 60 to 65 feet long. It takes about 20 minutes to lift each into position, and workers can arrange 14 boxes a day.
A redevelopment of the former Graphic Arts Finishers Building is providing the other property in the two-building project. That building will have 46 apartments.
All totaled, the Graphic will host 171 loft-like apartments; 113 parking spots; 4,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space; and amenities such as a club room, a game room, bike storage, a fitness center with yoga facilities; a private courtyard; and a roof deck.
And it’s all just across from the Sullivan Square stop of the Orange Line. Now that the stacking is well underway, the Graphic is expected to welcome its first tenants in October.
Berkeley Investments is its developer; ICON Architecture its architect and Tocci Building Corp. its general contractor. RCM Group manufactured the boxes.
Read the full news story here.
Berkeley Investments shares redevelopment plans for Exchange 200 in Malden Center
A new mixed-use innovation hub steps from the Orange Line and just minutes from downtown Boston is planned
Boston, MA – February 6, 2018 – Boston-based real estate developer Berkeley Investments has announced plans for its latest commercial project, Exchange 200, a four-story, 315,000+ square-foot building in Malden, Massachusetts. The developer intends to transform the building into a mixed-use innovation hub located in the heart of Malden Center in order to cater to a wide assortment of companies ranging from R&D and office tenants to data center and ground floor restaurant and retail uses. Malden Center is a rapidly growing residential and commercial community six miles north of Boston and just steps from the MBTA Orange Line, providing direct access to Assembly Row, downtown Boston and beyond.
Originally constructed as a bank operations center and most recently occupied by Bank of America, Exchange 200 offers a number of unique assets for a building less than 15 minutes from downtown Boston: large, flexible floorplates, redundant high-capacity power infrastructure, high ceilings, and heavy floor loads. According to Young Park, President, Berkeley Investments, “the redevelopment of Exchange 200 will preserve this infrastructure while installing new, efficient building systems and incorporating modern design features to enhance the interior and exterior of the property.” Improvements will include adding a two-story light well in the center of the building capped by a large skylight, as well as floor-to-ceiling glass on the exterior at key locations to increase natural daylighting to the interior spaces; a new two-story lobby to create a welcoming and dynamic entrance; and adding amenities that will appeal to today’s employers and employees including a fitness center, networking spaces and bike storage.
The masterplan is to turn the building into a vibrant mixed-use innovation center with street level retail, a state-of-the art data center, and more than 200,000 square feet of creative office, R&D, and flex space. Carolyn Zern, Development Vice President, Berkeley Investments, adds, “we couldn’t ask for a better partner than the City of Malden. The City has fully supported our efforts to create a transit-oriented development across the street from the Malden Center T stop targeting forward-thinking, creative tenants who crave the amenities and transportation options of an urban location at a great value.”
Plans also include leveraging the building’s existing infrastructure by dedicating part of the space for data center usage. Due to its original use, the building currently has the power and network redundancies necessary for data center tenants that are cost prohibitive to install on a speculative basis. JLL is marketing the new building’s 60,000 square feet of energy efficient data center availability including 25,000 square feet of critical operation space.
Gabe Cole, Managing Director, Data Center Solutions, JLL, says: “Exchange 200 represents the future of data centers in New England. Built when ‘banks were banks,’ it is one of a handful of buildings in Massachusetts that are truly served by two separate substations – Malden and Melrose in this case. Its location adjacent to the MBTA easements and proximity to the GTT cable landing station in Lynn make it a fiber hub providing connectivity to all of New England, Eastern Canada, Western Europe, and beyond.”
Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has been retained by Berkeley to lease and market the remainder of the building, some 200,000 square feet of flexible commercial space ideal for office and innovative tech tenants looking to capitalize on Exchange 200’s extensive infrastructure and convenient transit access, a rare combination in today’s competitive market. “Berkeley’s intent is to create vibrant innovation space that will appeal to forward-thinking creative tenants who are price-sensitive but crave the amenities and direct-to transportation package of an urban location,” says Phil Giunta, Executive Managing Director, Corporate Advisory Group, NKF.
Giunta also points out that one of the many other attractors for this building is that it offers a built-in, millennial workforce; a talented employee pool who already lives nearby given the dynamic live-work-play environment and transit flexibility that Malden Center offers. “When it comes to employee talent,” explains Giunta, “they’re already here. That’s a huge plus for prospective tenants.”
Additionally, the redevelopment of Exchange 200 will transform the pedestrian experience of the building by replacing much of the ground floor with over 16,000 square feet of dynamic ground floor restaurant and retail space, using glass storefronts to create a vibrant, interactive experience at the street level. NKF is also leasing the retail space and is targeting restaurant, café, and service retail users, amenities that will benefit the building’s other tenants and surrounding community. “For those who presently work nearby, and for the many residents who now live in this area, the new building will add positive value for many reasons,” concludes Giunta.
About Berkeley Investments, Inc.
Berkeley Investments, Inc. is a Boston-based full service real estate investment and development company with a focus on urban residential, commercial and mixed-use properties. Founded in 1991, Berkeley has established a track record of successful investment management and value creation through a diverse award-winning, commercial and residential portfolio which includes properties in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
About JLL
JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. A Fortune 500 company, JLL helps real estate owners, occupiers and investors achieve their business ambitions. In 2016, JLL had revenue of $6.8 billion and fee revenue of $5.8 billion and, on behalf of clients, managed 4.4 billion square feet, or 409 million square meters, and completed sales acquisitions and finance transactions of approximately $145 billion. At the end of the third quarter of 2017, JLL had nearly 300 corporate offices, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of over 80,000. As of September 30, 2017, LaSalle Investment Management had $59.0 billion of real estate under asset management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.
About Newmark Knight Frank
Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) is one of the world’s leading commercial real estate advisory firms. We provide a fully integrated platform of services to prominent multinational corporations and institutional investors across the globe, as well as to occupiers, owners and developers of real estate on a local, regional and national level. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NKF’s 15,000 professionals operate from more than 400 offices in established and emerging property markets on six continents. For more information, visit www.ngkf.com
WITH OVER 66,000 SF LEASED, BERKELEY INVESTMENTS AND CBRE/NE SUCCESSFULLY REPOSITION BALLARDVALE PORTFOLIO
CBRE/New EnglandWITH OVER 66,000 SF LEASED, BERKELEY INVESTMENTS AND CBRE/NE
SUCCESSFULLY REPOSITION BALLARDVALE PORTFOLIO
Four leases signed at Wilmington office park in last three months
Boston – November 14, 2017 – On behalf of Berkeley Investments, CBRE/New England
today announced that four leases totaling over 66,000 SF of office and R&D/flex space
have been executed at the Ballardvale Portfolio in Wilmington, Massachusetts over the
past three months. Combined with significant upgrades made at the buildings by
Berkeley, this leasing activity further advances the comprehensive repositioning of the
properties as a premier office and R&D portfolio north of Boston.
At 300 Ballardvale Street, Berkeley signed three office leases including the New England
regional headquarters for HUB International, one of the largest insurance brokers in the
world, for 37,592 SF; NorthBay Solutions, a leading software development company,
for 3,398 SF; and Microlabs Scientific, a consulting and analytics firm focused on
testing services for the electronics, semiconductor, optics and related industries, for
2,042 SF. Monogram Foods, a rapidly growing North American manufacturer and
distributor of food products, leased 23,206 SF at 301 Ballardvale Street as an
advanced food production facility, which represents an expansion from Monogram’s
existing production plant nearby at 330 Ballardvale Street.
CBRE/NE’s Jason Levendusky, Mark Reardon and Jake Borden are the exclusive leasing
agents for the park.
Berkeley Investments, a Boston-based full-service real estate investment and
development company, purchased the three-building park in early 2016. These recent
deals, combined with over 55,000 SF of transactions that were completed at the end of
2016 (Locus Robotics for 45,872 SF at 301 Ballardvale Street, as well as Bright Star
Engineering for 5,318 SF and Infranor for 3,972 SF at 299 Ballardvale Street), have
resulted in Berkeley leasing over 121,000 SF in less than two years of ownership.
“With our purchase of the Ballardvale Portfolio, Berkeley was able to acquire properties at an attractive basis that offer significant opportunities for additional value creation through our repositioning efforts,” said Dan McGrath, Vice President and Director of Asset Management for Berkeley Investments. “With rents increasing throughout the Boston market, these properties are well positioned to offer the region’s innovative tenants high-quality flex, light manufacturing and office space at a lower price point than other suburban markets, while still offering easy commuting access and an attractive work environment for today’s workforce.”
“Berkeley’s strong team and expertise has allowed us to successfully execute our strategy of reintroducing the park to the market as best-in-class office/flex product within the North suburban market,” said CBRE/NE’s Levendusky. “We are excited to welcome these new tenants to Wilmington.”
The three-building, 310,000 SF Ballardvale Portfolio consists of 299 Ballardvale and 301 Ballardvale Street, two single-story flex properties, and 300 Ballardvale Street, a two-story office building. As evidenced by the tenants who signed new leases at the properties, the Ballardvale Portfolio is emerging as a nexus for highly innovative companies across industries including robotics, aerospace, optics and advanced manufacturing, in addition to core office industries such as insurance.
Berkeley Investments is also currently completing a series of significant capital improvements to reposition the portfolio. Completed improvements include new roofs on all three buildings, HVAC replacements, upgraded bathrooms and lobby atriums, all new landscaping throughout the park, a new on-site fitness center with shower/locker facilities, and a new café/collaboration area.
The Ballardvale Portfolio location provides easy access on and off Interstate 93, and is located within proximity to numerous restaurants, hotels and retail amenities. Just 10 miles from the New Hampshire border and 20 minutes from downtown Boston and Logan Airport, this location offers easy commuting access to a highly skilled labor force stretching from New Hampshire to Boston, and from Boston’s North Shore to its western suburbs.
Berkeley Investments plans loft-style apartment buildings in Charlestown
Boston Business JournalBerkeley Investments Inc. has plans to partner with the owners of a Charlestown graphic design company to develop 171 apartments near the Sullivan Square MBTA station.
Berkeley’s plans include an adaptive reuse of a three-story industrial building at 32 Cambridge St. — currently the home of Graphic Arts Finishers Inc. — into 52 apartments and 2,500-square-feet of ground-floor retail space. The project also includes demolishing an adjacent one-story building at 572 Rutherford Ave. and building a four-story, 119-unit apartment building in its place.
Graphic Arts Finishers is on the lookout for a new home, said Eric Ekman, vice president and project manager with Berkeley Investments Inc.
“The facility has become outdated for their current needs,” Ekman said. “It’s inefficient, they’re not using all of the space, and it needs significant capital repair. It makes more sense for them to relocate and find a more efficient facility.”
Ekman said Berkeley found the area around Sullivan Square appealing for apartment development because of its proximity to the MBTA’s Orange Line “and the fact that it just seemed to be in a growth corridor.” And with 14-foot ceilings and large window bays, the Graphic Arts building was a solid candidate to become loft-style apartments, Ekman said.
A letter of intent filed with the Boston Redevelopment Authority says buildings will be linked via a third-story connection and include features such as a courtyard, dog run and landscaped areas. The community will also have 16 surface parking spaces and 97 below-grade spaces.
Studio rents will start at just less than $2,000 per month, Ekman said, with one-bedroom units ranging from $2,400 to $2,800, two-bedroom units averaging $3,000 per months and three-bedroom units averaging up to $3,400 per month. Berkeley will partner with a third-party company for leasing and property management assistance.
Boston-based Icon Architecture Inc. is the project’s architect, while Woburn-based Tocci Building Cos. will be general contractor. The project aims to meet LEED Gold certifiability and is slated to cost $60 million when fully built out by late spring 2017.
Read the full news story here.
Egleston Square apartment complex construction near Orange Line
CurbedDeveloper Berkeley Investments has started construction on 3200 Washington in Egleston Square in the Jamaica Plain-Roxbury borderlands.
The 76-unit housing complex will include 73 apartments—19 studios, 11 one-bedrooms, 34 two-bedrooms, and nine three-bedrooms—with nine of those apartments as affordable.
It will also include a new triple-decker with a trio of three-bedroom condos for households earning 65 percent of the area’s median income. There will also be 3,800 square feet of ground-floor commercial space along Washington Street.
The RODE-designed complex is going up on the site of the old Economy Plumbing & Heating Supply Co., and is about a 10-minute jaunt from the Stony Brook stop on the Orange Line.
As for rents, market-rate units are expected to run from $2,000 to $3,950 monthly. Berkeley says that 3200 Washington is scheduled to open in early autumn 2018.
Read the full news story here.
Berkeley Investments Gives $25K Donation to Improve Charlestown Little League Field
Charlestown Patriot-Bridge‘Graphic Arts Building Developer Gives $25K Donation to Improve Little League Field’
By Patriot-Bridge Staff
As development progresses on Berkeley Investments’ The Graphic in Charlestown (also known as the Graphic Arts building), the company celebrated the construction’s headway by making a substantial $25,000 donation to the Fund for Parks & Recreation in Boston last Thursday, Oct. 26, at the Charlestown Little League Banquet.
The fund, managed by Boston Parks & Recreation, has earmarked the donation specifically for the Ryan Playground, which is just blocks away from the Graphic, and used heavily by the Little League.
Cathy Reese, president of the Charlestown Little League, which exclusively uses the Ryan Playground, accepted the donation at the annual end of season banquet, where she said, “the League is incredibly grateful for this donation which will improve the field and baseball diamond. On behalf of the 200 Little Leaguers in Charlestown, we extend our gratitude to Berkeley Investments and Boston Parks & Recreation for enhancing the community we live and play in.”
With a contemporary design that celebrates Sullivan Square’s industrial heritage, Berkeley Investments’ latest transit-oriented project – The Graphic – will bring to Charlestown a total of 171 apartment units, approximately 5,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space and 113 parking spaces. The project is an adaptive reuse of the Graphic Arts Finishers Building and will feature loft-style apartments, and will also offer residents a lounge, club room, game room, and bike storage facilities, as well as onsite management offices. A new, four-story building will replace the building currently at 572 Rutherford Ave. and comprise approximately 125 of the apartments above 97 parking spaces.
The project will seek LEED Gold certification, will offer fitness facilities, a private courtyard for residents and a roof deck with stunning skyline views of Charlestown and Boston.
The Graphic is expected to welcome residents by the end of 2018.
Berkeley Investments begins construction of 3200 Washington
New England Real Estate JournalJamaica Plain, MA Young Park, president of Berkeley Investments, Inc., has confirmed that construction for 3200 Washington, a new 76-unit mixed-use development in Egleston Sq., is underway as demolition at the site nears completion.
The residential project will occupy the former site of the Economy Plumbing & Heating Supply Co. and will consist of a six-story residential and commercial mixed-use building with 73 residential apartments and on-site parking for 41 vehicles. The unit mix will include 19 studios, 11 one-bedrooms, 34 two-bedrooms and 9 three-bedrooms, with a total of 9 units designated as affordable rental units for households at 70% and 100% AMI.
A separate triple-decker consisting of 3 affordable three-bedroom condominiums for households at 65% AMI will also be constructed at the site for a total of 76 units. The project will also provide 3,800 s/f of new ground floor commercial space on Washington St., adding to Egleston Sq.’s boutique retail offerings.
Egleston Sq. Main Street’s executive director Luis Edgardo Cotto said his group “was proud to support this development project. Not only will it add new businesses to the area’s commercial mix, but it also incorporates affordable rental and home ownership options while activating a site that’s been vacant for years.”
3200 Washington is designed by RODE Architects. Richard Burck Associates is the project’s landscape architecture firm. Stoltze Design is managing the project’s branding and visual identity. Reynolds Construction Services, Inc. will oversee the project’s buildout. Interior design for all common spaces and staging for model units will be conceptualized by Anja Park Design. Princeton Properties will serve as the property manager for the project. Financing is provided by Santander.
The project will seek LEED Silver certification or higher when it begins welcoming residents in the fall of 2018.
Esther Byun, Berkeley’s Development project manager overseeing this project, said, “We’re glad to see 3200 Washington gain momentum. It’s exciting to be a part of the energy here on Washington Street and we look forward to working with community leaders to enrich this neighborhood.”
Regarding the project, Park says he’s “thrilled that 3200 Washington is part of such an exciting neighborhood.”
He adds that the project’s location is incredibly appealing. “Access to the MBTA Orange Line and the Southwest Corridor Park for biking, walking and running make this a highly desirable location for renters who want a tremendous value so close to the city of Boston, in a neighborhood that’s becoming more vibrant each day with new restaurants, stores and cafes. We’re delighted that our future retail spaces will add to this growing synergy.”
The project’s name and visual identity honor both the building’s street address and roots in Jamaica Plain, and the dynamic community in which it’s located. Says Clif Stoltze of Stoltze Design, the Boston-based design firm tapped to spearhead the project’s graphic identity, “the diversity of the neighborhood, the industrial history of the area, the colorful, artsy personality of JP, and the project’s unique integration of outdoor green space were all elements that influenced our design exploration for 3200 Washington.”
Berkeley Investments, Inc. is a Boston-based full service real estate investment and development company with a focus on urban residential, commercial and mixed-use properties. Founded in 1991, Berkeley has established a track record of successful investment management and value creation through a diverse award-winning, residential portfolio which includes the award-winning FP3 in Fort Point, Watch Factory in Waltham, and 625 McGrath and Millbrook Lofts, both in Somerville.
Graphic Arts Building Construction Progressing
Ground broke quietly last September on the Graphic Arts building project, a pioneering project of 171 residential units in two buildings fronting Sullivan Square and Rutherford Avenue. It wasn’t a place that many would have wanted to live when Eric Ekman and Berkeley Investments started looking at the site for what they believed would be a great transit-oriented development.
Now, that has changed, and plans around the site have ratcheted up seemingly with every scoop of dirt removed for the new building or every nail hammered in the old Graphic Arts building. Read the full news story here
HFF closes $21.686 million sale of 200 Exchange Street in Malden, MA
Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF)Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) announced today that it has closed the $21.686 million sale of 200 Exchange Street, a 314,176-square-foot office building located in the heart of Malden, Massachusetts, immediately across from the MBTA’s Malden Center “T” station.
HFF exclusively represented the seller, an affiliate of KBS Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc., in the transaction, and procured the buyer, Berkeley Investments, Inc. Gramercy Property Trust, as asset manager, advised KBS on the transaction.
Berkeley Investments Inc.- 125 High Street - Suite #531
- Boston, MA 02110
- 617.439.0088
