by Michael Barnes
At our recent meeting Dan Antonellis of Suffolk Construction eluded to a story that was about to break but he couldn’t say what it was yet. Dan Antonellis was recently promoted to the Northeast team’s VP of Marketing & Communications for Suffolk. We received the story a week or so later, when it was confirmed that Suffolk’s Berry Division would manage the $100Million expansion of the Maine Medical Center. Berry has managed much of the preconstruction and subsequent work of MMC’s prior five-stage expansion.
I was pleased when Dan told me that John Fish reads our publication. John was one of our first interviews when we were first getting started. “Hi John, you are an inspiration to many of us.”
In fact there seems to be alot of stories out there that are too early to announce but in the works. We have notice more restarts and rehires in the stories coming to us now.
Revised Project to Bring Boutique Hotel to Fort Point Channel
The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) approved the 368 Congress Street project, which will transform an existing underutilized building in the Fort Point Channel neighborhood into a 120-room extended stay hotel with two ground floor retail/restaurant spaces. The existing six-story building is known as the “Stillings Building” and was built in 1901. The project was previously approved in 2007 as an office and ground-floor retail project.
Total project cost is estimated at $45 million.The development team expects to begin the restoration work in April 2011.
The development team consists of Norwich Partners of Boston, LLC as the proponent; Colliers Meredith & Grew as the development manager; Group One Partners, Inc. as the project architect; McCarter & English and Brennan, Dain, Le Ray, Wiest, Torpy & Garner as legal counsel; Howard Stein Hudson as transportation consultants; and Lee Kennedy & Company as construction managers.
The BRA approved the 800 Huntington Avenue project which will renovate and expand the existing building to accommodate a new state-of-the-art medical office building with an outpatient medical clinic to be operated by the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Total project cost is estimated at $60 million. The developer plans to begin construction in the first quarter of 2011. The development team includes The Beal Companies, LLP, as the owner/developer; Tsoi/Kobus & Associates as the project architect; GEI Consultants Inc. as the geotechnical and environmental engineer; Harry R. Feldman, Inc. as the surveyor and Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates, Inc. as the transportation engineer.
100 Arlington Street to Bring 128 New Residential Units to Bay Village
The BRA approved the 100 Arlington Street project, which will transform an existing building into a 128-unit residential building in Bay Village. No significant changes to the exterior of the existing building will occur. In addition to the rental residential units, the project also includes approximately 10,250sf of retail space along Arlington and Stuart Street.
The development team includes The Congress Group, Inc. as developer; Elkus/Manfredi Architects as project architect.
Total project cost is estimated at $65 million. Construction is expected to start in spring 2011.
City & State Break Ground on Yawkey Station Project
Mayor Thomas M. Menino joined Governor Deval Patrick recently to break ground on the $13.5 million Yawkey Commuter Rail Station reconstruction project, a key public transportation component of the $450 million Fenway Center development. Separately, the new station signifies the beginning of the larger Fenway Center project, which will significantly transform the public realm between Kenmore Square, Fenway and the Audubon Circle with the creation of a number of new amenities including retail space, housing, and new green space.
According to the Boston Business Journal Boylston Properties has asked the Boston Redevelopment Authority for permission to scratch its initial plans to build a research and office facility in the heart of the city’s Fenway neighborhood and instead put up a “limited service/extended stay” 183-room hotel.
The Boston-based developer said changes in tenant demands — office and lab space is down, hotel properties are up — prompted its decision to seek BRA approval to revise its plans. The new hotel, as planned, would be eight stories in height.
Boylston has retained Group One Partners Inc. as the project’s architect and John Moriarty & Associates as its general contractor.
This is our Year In Review issue. Next year the Year in Review will be moved to January subsequently moving our Forecast issue back to December. We would like to hear from you to help forecast 2011. We only ask that you present your area of expertise in a narrow perspective to share what’s new or what’s the same within your niche within the broad industry. By presenting an array of articles the general forecast will emerge. I hope to hear from you before the holidays.
