Construction is Imminent at the Former Boston Herald Site

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

One year after Newton-based National Development unveiled plans to convert the former Boston Herald headquarters into a mixed-use complex, work is about to begin at the 6.6-acre site at the corner of Herald Street and Harrison Avenue.

The Boston Herald reports that an official groundbreaking ceremony was set for April 11, when Mayor Thomas M. Menino will remove a symbolic brick from the building and memories of the paper’s home for over 50 years in the South End neighborhood will be shared by Herald columnist Joe Fitzgerald. The newspaper moved its offices to a new headquarters building in the growing Innovation District in Boston’s Seaport Center in 2012, when the property known as One Herald Square was shuttered.

Ink Block, as it has been named to reflect the newspaper’s presence at the site, was designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects. National Development—which acquired the site in 2007 from Herald publisher and owner Patrick J. Purcell—will invest $200 million in transforming the property into almost 550,000 square feet of housing and retail space. The project will create 250 to 450 construction jobs and almost 70 permanent jobs.

The development project calls for the demolition of most of the former Herald building and the construction of four new buildings of four to nine stories that will add 471 housing units to Boston’s rental market. The complex will also feature 411 parking spaces, as well as 85,000 square feet of street level retail space anchored by a Whole Foods store, restaurants and other shops meant to improve the pedestrian experience in the area.

As already reported by CityPages, Ink Block will also feature a fitness center, rooftop swimming pool, cyber lounge, bicycle storage, a shared-car service and electric-car charging stations. It is estimated that 15 percent of the units will be designed as affordable.

Rendering courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects

Boston’s Housing Inventory to Grow by 30,000 Units by 2020

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

In a speech delivered on March 25 before the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, Mayor Thomas M. Menino unveiled an ambitious plan to add 30,000 new housing units in the city by the year 2020. According to city figures quoted by The Boston Globe, nearly 24,500 new residential units designed for low-income families, college graduates, seniors, students, and homeless were permitted by the city between 1999 and 2012—most of them privately financed and valued at a combined $8.4 billion.

The “Housing Boston 2020” initiative aims to continue this positive development trend and create more housing options to attract and retain multiple demographics, especially young professionals in the 20-34 age bracket who choose to work and live in Boston.

Menino’s housing plan will involve experts inside and outside of government to work on finding the best development alternatives for a city whose housing supply has grown faster than at any time in the last five decades.

According to a recent market report by Marcus & Millichap, the past two years showed positive employment trends and above-average rents in the Boston Metro area, which paved the way for new privately financed construction projects. The report estimates that developers will complete over 4,500 apartments in 2013, more than twice the number of units completed in 2012.

Chart courtesy of Marcus & Millichap

IKEA to Expand Existing Boston-Area Store

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

Swedish furniture giant IKEA is planning to expand its Stoughton, MA self-serve store by nearly 59,000 square feet, the company announced last week.

Opened on November 9, 2005 on a 27-acre parcel along Route 24 near Central Street, the Stoughton location is IKEA’s only Boston-area retail store/warehouse. With its almost 37,000 square feet of green rooftop featuring solar panels and a computer-controlled energy management system in place, the $50 million facility became IKEA’s first U.S. store to receive LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

According to ikeafans.com, during 2006–2009 the Swedish retailer aimed to reclaim 90 percent of store waste at its U.S. locations, which meant that all new stores had to be built to a certified green building standard.

The Stoughton store currently includes 50 room-settings, three model home interiors, supervised children’s play areas, a restaurant with 350 seats and below-grade parking space. Under the company’s plans, the Stoughton facility will reach approximately 416,000 square feet. The store’s warehouse is set to increase from 111,442 square feet to 170,000 square feet, while the Self-Serve Furniture Area, the Furniture Pick-Up Area and the Home Delivery Area will also be expanded and upgraded to improve the shopping experience.

Construction at the Stoughton store will start this fall and is estimated to be completed in fall 2014 with minimal disruption during the expansion process.

Rendering of the expanded IKEA Stoughton store via BusinessWire

K-8 Public School to Replace Mitt Romney’s Former HQs in Boston

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

In an effort to respond the demand for more schools in Boston’s Downtown area and allow more children to attend schools closer to their homes, city officials unveiled plans to purchase the former national headquarters for the Mitt Romney presidential campaign and transform it into a public elementary school (or a “K-8 Public School”)

The currently vacant three-story building located at 585 Commercial Street in the North End section was previously occupied by a retail showroom of Roche Bobois Furniture, according to the Boston Business Journal. Built in the early 1960s for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration—a federal aid program— the 42,000-square-foot facility was Mitt Romney’s headquarters for six years, between 2006 and November 2012.

Mayor Thomas Menino still needs the green light from the City Council to spend $12.85 million to buy the property from CrossHarbor Capital Partners and permission from the School Committee to open a new school in the area, reports the Boston Globe.

If the transaction is approved, the building would initially house several students enrolled with the Eliot K-8 School until this institution’s expansion project is completed. Renovation at the new K-8 public school within the 585 Commercial Street building is set to begin only after the Eliot K-8 School is operational at the second campus which is under construction at the North Bennet Street School. The renovated facility is expected to open by September 2006 to accommodate around 500 students in kindergarten through Grade 8 will, notes the Globe.

A final decision on the matter is expected to be announced by City Council representatives by the end of the week.

Image courtesy of LoopNet

Facebook Hunting for Office Space, Plans a Return to Boston

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

Commercial real estate brokerage Newmark Knight Frank is on a mission to find around 7,000 square feet of office space for Facebook, the Menlo Park, CA-based social media giant. Founded nine years ago by then Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, the $66 billion social media giant is looking to return to the Kendall Square area of Cambridge and be near the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other major tech companies such as Microsoft, Google and Nokia.

According to an exclusive story in the Boston Business Journal, the company spent some time on Stuart Street in 2005, then leased space for a year or so on Summer Street in South Boston before relocating operations to California.

Facebook has now only four employees in Boston—in a co-working facility located at 711 Atlantic Ave in the Financial District—but the company is planning to hire up to 40 new software engineers this year. With Harvard around the corner, the company’s recruiters will have immediate access to a larger talent pool of graduates for the upcoming office.

The Menlo Park campus has been the company’s headquarters since 2011; a year later Facebook announced plans to build the largest open plan office in the world on the same site, according to officebroker.com. In 2008 the company opened a shared service center in Dublin, and in 2012 the employees in London moved to a larger office in Covent Garden.

Image via Facebook