Prices at Macallen Building

October 17, 2007 By

We’ve received a number of requests from clients interested in pricing levels at the recently opened Macallen Building, the green LEED-certified 140-unit luxury development in South Boston.

There are currently 32 units that are available in the development, with pricing starting at $475,000 (approximately $600 per square foot). Units include very high-end amenities, and access to a host of services provided by the dual-access Macallen and Court Square Press buildings (gym, heated pool, screening room with kitchen and bath, garage parking, etc.).

For more information: Macallen Building Pricing Information (PDF)

For more information on any of the individual units at the 141 Dorchester Avenue Macallen Building, or to setup a showing, please contact us. Dig a little deeper and learn more about the history of the neighboring Court Square Press building, and where the Macallen Building got its name.

Macallen Building

Filed Under: South Boston Condos Tagged With: , ,

Providence on Newbury is Shaping Up

October 16, 2007 By

The Providence on Newbury photo immediately below was taken in the May 2007 timeframe, when heavy construction was still ongoing at the Providence on Newbury condominium development located at 294 Newbury Street in Boston’s Back Bay.

Providence on Newbury

Fast forward to the present, and you can see by the below exclusive photo that work has progressed nicely, along with newly planted grass, and the removal of the ugly construction fencing.

Providence on Newbury

The Providence on Newbury is a 7-unit high-end condo rehab project in the heart of Back Bay’s trendy shopping and restaurant row. The grand penthouse was never available due to it being held by a family member of the development team, however, the remaining units have gone somewhat quickly, and a single two-bedroom two-bathroom 1,550 square foot unit remains. Priced at $1,430,000, the unit comes with parking, direct elevator access, subzero/wolf kitchens with an indoor grill, oak floors, marble baths, laundry in unit, central heating and air conditioning, an open floorplan, great condo association with strong initial reserve. and 9 windows on Newbury Street.

Previously sold units in the boutique development are commanding strong sales to list price ratios with Unit 3A, a one-bedroom listing for $565,000 and selling at $569,000, and Unit 2A, a two-bedroom two and a half-bathroom listing for $1,425,000 and selling at $1,400,000.

Condo fees for the remaining two-bedroom unit in this 1885 original construction building are $616. For more information, or to setup a showing, please contact us.

Below are several photos of the very tastefully done Unit 2B, note that the Providence on Newbury has indeed received their Certificate of Occupancy, so this one remaining unit is move-in ready.

Providence on Newbury

Providence on Newbury

Filed Under: Back Bay Condos Tagged With: , , ,

1330 Boylston Mixed-Use Rental Development

October 15, 2007 By

Boylston Street is seeing a lot of development this year, with the Boston Mandarin Oriental, and now, the Samuel & Associates mixed-use development at 1330 Boylston.

1330 Boylston is a 200+ unit upscale rental development, which will also offer commercial and retail space. Leasing of units at 1330 Boylston will begin in April 2008, and the tentative move-in date for the 200+ apartments is August 2008. We have confirmed with Samuel & Associates that the entire development will be rental, no condos for sale.

1330 Boylston will feature a Fitness Center, Club Room, WIFI, Concierge services, garage parking, and spectacular skyline views. Rental units will boast stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, in-unit washers & dryers, walk-in closets, and individually controlled heat and central air.

Something interesting that 1330 Boylston has done is provide a live construction cam to see up-to-the-minute development progress from a neighboring building. Condo developments (rather than rentals) should take note of this unique feature moving forward – some developments (Battery Wharf, and FP3 Boston for instance) have picked up on this as something that potential buyers want to see, as well as buyers who have already made reservations for units, but it needs to be leveraged more going forward as buyers want access to real time high-quality information.

Filed Under: Fenway Condos Tagged With: ,

D4 Police Station Condos Featured Open House

October 14, 2007 By

As we recently reported the D4 Condos located at 7 Warren Avenue in the South End have received their Certificate of Occupancy, and they are celebrating by holding our Featured Open House of the week.

The D4 team have molded the old and the new, restoring one of the landmark properties of the South End. The former U-shaped police station was fitted with a glass and steel enclosure during redevelopment along Gray Street (picture immediately below), in order to create an enclosed Winter Garden and exquisite lobby area, which will have greenery climbing the walls.

D4 South End Condos

Philippe Starck, and his Yoo Ltd. team, played a critical role in the design of the redevelopment efforts, from the one-way mirrored windows overlooking the courtyard (a play on the police station interrogation room theme) to the sleek and bold interiors.

Eight Seven condos remain for sale at the development ranging in size from 798 to 3,571 square feet, and in price from $669,000 to $3,200,000.

D4, aside from standing for the former District 4 Boston Police Station, means Design, Detail, Drama, and Destination as it relates to the new condo development. The exclusive photos below display the completed redevelopment of the former D4 Police Station on Warren Avenue (the condo development), and the new D4 Police Station on Harrison Avenue (the actual new police station).

The D4 Condo Open House, located at 7 Warren Avenue will take place Sunday, October 14, 2007 from Noon to 4:00 PM. Please let the Listing Agent know that Boston Condo Guy sent you. If you would like Buyer representation on the purchase of one of the 8 7 remaining units, please contact us.

D4 South End Condos

New D4 Police Station

Filed Under: Boston Open Houses Tagged With: , , ,

Prices Slashed at Meads of Commonwealth

October 13, 2007 By

All eight of the remaining units at the ultra luxury Meads of Commonwealth have undergone a price reduction over the past month, the most recent move saw 6 of the 8 units cut in price by as much as $200,000.

Remaining 2-bedroom 2.5-bathroom units are approximately 1,800 square feet, and range in price from $1,699,000 to $1,950,000. 3-bedroom 2.5-bathroom units are approximately 2,400 to 3,100 square feet, and are priced from $2,550,00 to $2,615,000. The 3,800 square foot 3-bedroom 3.5-bathroom grand penthouse with vast outdoor space is priced at $5,500,000.

For more information, or to setup a showing, feel free to contact us.

Meads of Commonwealth

Filed Under: Back Bay Condos Tagged With: ,

D4 Condos Receive Certificate of Occupancy

October 12, 2007 By

It was scheduled for June 2007, but the D4 Police Station Condo Development has recently received its Certificate of Occupancy. As of 4:30pm today, both Titan and Ryder moving vans were out front, the newly appointed concierge was standing at attention, and the furniture at the base of the Winter Garden was in place.

An open house will take place from 12-4pm on both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Stop by the units, and if you need Buyer representation for a purchase, don’t hesitate to contact Boston Condo Guy.

8 units are still active, 2 units are under agreement, and 7 units show sold (all based on MLS data). Residents will begin moving in immediately. A good selection of units still remain, contact us for more details.

D4 Condos

Filed Under: South End Condos Tagged With: , , ,

Boston banQ Restaurant Seeks New Chef

October 12, 2007 By

As we reported back in July, the boutique luxury Penny Savings Bank condo development in the South End will house a new restaurant called banQ – what an appropriate play on words. The restaurant is moving towards a grand opening, and they are on the lookout for a new chef.

Boston Chefs recently reported the following:

banQ Restaurant is currently seeking a dynamic, creative and energetic sous chef for a start up restaurant team. The ideal candidate will be actively involved in menu development, training and staff education. The qualified applicant will have five years restaurant experience, understanding of food and labor costs. They seek someone who is as passionate about food and service as they are. They offer a competitive salary, benefits and the opportunity to grow with a new company.

The banQ Restaurant, along with a new Citibank branch will round out the commercial ground floor spaces below the 23 luxury condos at the Penny Savings Bank.

Filed Under: Boston Restaurants Tagged With: ,

I was Evicted, But It's Not My Fault

October 12, 2007 By

There is a large, and growing group of people who are crying foul, that is, renters. It was only a matter of time before the economic tsunami of the “credit crunch” overwhelmed innocent victims, and we give Kelly Evans of the Wall Street Journal kudos for breaking the story.

Our Caution: We are highlighting, and commenting upon, a very well written piece of work by the Journal, however, we maintain that Boston city-center foreclosure rates are extremely low, and that the Boston downtown real estate market is strong, there are statistics to prove this. This piece is more a look at a pan-US situation (major downtown city-center areas excluded), and should not be looked at as speaking specifically to the Boston market itself.

Essentially, we’re dealing with two main threads that combine to be a potent force that is impacting renters in a housing and mortgage market that they chose (or rather attempted) to avoid.

  1. Many single- and multi-family homes held by investors that were rented out are being foreclosed,
  2. Homeowners falling behind on their mortgage payments are returning to the rental market, increasing competition for units.

What we end up with is a situation where renters are being evicted because the apartment or homes that they are renting are foreclosed because owner investors cannot keep up with the mortgage payments.

Often, the tenants’ first inkling of trouble occurs when they get a letter from the bank directing them to leave the premises.

“They just don’t know what to do — they leave town, move in with their mothers, end up in shelters,” says Janet Merrill, an attorney with the Massachusetts Justice Project, a Worcester legal-services agency that runs a hotline for low-income people.

Ms. Merrill’s group gets four to five calls a day from renters facing eviction resulting from foreclosure. One caller recently received a letter from a bank saying her six-unit apartment building had gone into foreclosure and ordering her to vacate her unit by October 31st.

In many cases, the homes and apartments entering foreclosure are owned by investors who got low-rate teaser mortgages and intended to hold the buildings for a few years and then sell them at a profit — before their mortgage rates rose. Now, with the housing market badly depressed in many markets, the owners can’t sell the homes or afford the higher mortgage payments. Many are defaulting.

In an ideal world, you’d like to see the market correct the situation on its own, but what we have here is a situation where rents that are needed to sustain a mortgage (one with terms that an owner investor cannot support) cannot economically be absorbed by the renter market. Pure economic supply and demand cannot properly adjust, at least in the short term, for such mistakes caused by the lack of foresight on the owner investor’s part, and the carelessness of a lender to finance such a situation where too much is dependent on the future, which is by nature, uncertain (i.e. the lender, nor the owner investor, could have accurately predicted that markets would soften, days on market would increase, and it would be difficult to sell a home with no loss.).

Much of the recoiling and tightening of mortgage standards, essentially the hoops that you have to jump through in order to get home financing at present, will continue to be adjusted as lenders recognize their carelessness and implement systems and mechanisms that should have been in place from the beginning.

Filed Under: Mortgage Information

Beacon Halls Boston Cleaning Service

October 11, 2007 By

We had the chance to sit down with the Founder of Beacon Halls Cleaning Service, a locally owned and operated condominium cleaning company based out of Beacon Hill. We speak with Developers, Sellers, and Buyers every day, and it’s clear that the cleanliness of common areas is high on the priority list. Here’s how our conversation went with Beacon Halls:

The Boston Condo Blog: Tell us a little bit about Beacon Halls Cleaning Service?

Beacon Halls Cleaning Service: When we started Beacon Halls, we really saw a need for a conscientious full-service cleaning company in the metro Boston area. With a property management background, we were often disappointed with the reliability and customer service from other cleaning services. We apply our business and management skills and provide a truly reliable professional cleaning staff with guaranteed results.

The Boston Condo Blog: When did you start cleaning your first common area and what part of town was it in?

Beacon Halls Cleaning Service: While Beacon Halls is a new company, we have years of management experience. We started on Beacon Hill and are growing the business throughout Metro Boston.

The Boston Condo Blog: What do you think separates you from other cleaning services in Boston?

Beacon Halls Cleaning Service: At the end of the day, our clients want to unwind and enjoy their lives. It is amazing how much a clean home helps you to relax and de-stress. Since many Bostonians live in condo developments and apartment buildings, the common area is the first impression of their home for visitors and guests. We take pride in our work. We make sure that when our clients walk through their sparkling lobby after a tough day they are even happier to be home.

The Boston Condo Blog: How are you going about gaining new customers?

Beacon Halls Cleaning Service: While we do advertise on the net and around local businesses, we’ve found our best advertising to be word of mouth from our current clients. We work with various Property Managers who prefer working with us as we provide competitive pricing and do a reliable job. Our clients love that we are reliable and hassle-free and surprisingly that is difficult for them to find, so they pass the word along.

The Boston Condo Blog: What are some of the things that you have done in order to grow and meet the demands of new customers?

Beacon Halls Cleaning Service: Beacon Halls tailors a cleaning program for each individual building or home. Each building has its own care program. For example, while most of our buildings are cleaned weekly, some of our buildings contain mainly second homes, so they can afford to be more economical and clean every other week. On the other hand, some of our buildings experience heavy foot traffic and they may be cleaned more than once a week. We keep the building’s needs in mind when designing a program so the end result is a consistently beautiful building.

The Boston Condo Blog: Do you specialize in a particular size of condo complex?

Beacon Halls Cleaning Service: We service buildings that range from single-family homes to double digit condo associations. We have the man power to really tackle any sized cleaning project in the city. So, we really do it all.

The Boston Condo Blog: All this sounds good, we’d like to try out Beacon Halls, how do we contact you?

Beacon Halls Cleaning Service: We will happily come to your building for a complimentary consultation. You can call us at 617-888-1173 to learn more or setup an appointment. We look forward to working with you.

Filed Under: Boston Condos

Luxury Boston Condos

October 9, 2007 By

There has been a swath of luxury Boston condos that hit the market over the Holiday weekend. These units are trend-setters as we move into the final quarter of 2007. The numbers don’t lie, high-end million dollar + properties in Boston are selling in force this year, and with a selection like the below, there’s no question as to why.

Starting at just under a million dollars, there is a new Boston Ritz Carlton condo at 1 Avery Street that hit the market for $995,000. The unit is a two-bedroom two-bathroom 1,085 square foot high-end full-service living experience. This is a corner unit with multiple-exposures, and a 270 degree view of the Financial District.

In the exclusive Folio Boston development, an 1,880 square foot three-bedroom two-bathroom penthouse unit is now available. With 12-foot floor-to-ceiling windows and multiple exposures of the Harbor and the Greenway. Valet parking included for $2,120,000. The Folio is located on Broad Street, which is turning into a very hot niche of the Financial District, with the recently sold out 65 Broad Street development, and the upcoming completion of the delayed Broadluxe project.

Folio Boston Penthouse

Folio Boston Penthouse

And perhaps the grand-daddy of them all is the recently announced 2,589 square foot developer’s (yes, Pappas himself) unit at Court Square Press in South Boston. The unit features two deeded garage parking spaces, four bedrooms and four bathrooms, and is listed at $2,495,000, including a $200,000 home theater system. This home was featured in Metropolitan Home magazine.

Court Square Press Penthouse

Court Square Press Penthouse

Court Square Press Penthouse

For further information on any of these condos, or any of the other million dollar Boston condo listings, please contact us.

Filed Under: Boston Condos Tagged With: , ,
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