AvalonBay Tower (Jacob Wirth's) | 45 Stuart Street | Downtown

Re: Jacob Wirth's

This project only makes sense if he has a tenant lined up in his back pocket. I would guess Tufts Medical or one of the local universities. My guess is there's a handshake agreement that this guy does the heavy lifting, gets the thing permitted and then the institutional user will move in. So instead of perhaps a Suffolk getting bad press and beaten up over this, they sit quietly on the sidelines and then sign a lease (or purchase agreement) once building is permitted.

It's too ugly, too institutional-looking, and too random of a location for a developer to propose a serious high-rise. Something's up.
 
Re: Jacob Wirth's

Hmm. Does Emerson want to expand any further? I think they already have their hands full with the Paramount project.
 
Re: Jacob Wirth's

Emerson always wants to expand. They've got their hands full at the moment with the L.A. campus and Paramount center, so I'm not sure if they're in the mood to take on another project just yet.
 
Re: Jacob Wirth's

Well, this is just my hypothesis - but it would make sense that an institutional user would want to step back and not worry about the endless community meetings, the bribery, the glad-handing, and the mayoral butt-kissing. They just sit back, let the developer do the dirty work, and then upon full project approval they step forward and sign a full-building, long-term lease. Again, just my theory. I have no idea - but if I had to guess, I would bet on Tufts Medical being behind this, not Suffolk or Emerson.
 
Re: Jacob Wirth's

I know a person who was very close to the 110 Providence project. Eamon O'Marah is doing almost an exact repeat of the 110 project at the Jacob Wirth site. He convinces a seed investor to pay for the soft costs and then will attempt to get an institutional investor (Money management firms who manage millions of pension dollars)to fund 25 to 40% of the project and then finally a bank to finance the rest. Eamon O'Marah will have little or no money invested in the deal but he will collect a handsome salary during the whole process and appear to the city as a white knight. The problem is that his main incentive is to keep the deal going even if the project is being launched in a poor economic environment or sub par location. He would like the deal to be successful for a upside bonus but it does not have to be for him to earn a salary and pad his resume. In Providence, O'Connor Capital Partners fired O'Marah and threatened to sue his company (Blue Chip Properties) O'Marah still managed to use the Providence project as a resume builder even though millions of dollars were lost because of developer mismanagement. Mark my words, this development will never get off the ground with Eastat.
kz1000ps said:
Keeping an eye on him

Real Estate Roundup
By Michelle Hillman
Friday, August 8, 2008

The one thing you didn?t read about Eamon O?Marah of Eastat Realty Capital LLC last week was where he?s been for the past year or two.

O?Marah made headlines after he filed a notice with the Boston Redevelopment Authority to redevelop the parking lot next to the Theater District mainstay Jacob Wirth Co. restaurant into a 24-story office tower. Before returning to Boston, O?Marah was a partner in a residential and hotel project in downtown Providence, R.I. The project, which originally included plans for a W Hotel and as many as 75 condos, has since been taken over by O?Connor Capital Partners of New York and is being redesigned from the original configuration. O?Marah previously led a development company called BlueChip Properties LLC.

O?Marah declined to discuss his previous real estate deals but said he ?gave back shares? in the Rhode Island project known as One Ten Westminster. O?Marah is also a partner in the redevelopment of the Ames Building in Boston with Normandy Real Estate Partners.

O?Marah is the second developer in recent years to put forward a proposal for the Theater District site. The previous developer, Weston Associates, planned to buy the property and build a 108-room hotel, 181 residential units and 219 parking spaces, but never closed on the purchase.

Link
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Re: Jacob Wirth's

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Re: Jacob Wirth's

many would say "character" and would fight at all costs to save it.
 
Re: Jacob Wirth's

Wirth's is magnificent and must be preserved at all costs. The parking lot is an abomination, and I'm sure you don't think it deserves equal protection. The ensemble is ragged, and the parking lot makes it so.
 
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What was there before the parking lot, and what happened to it, when?
 
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ablarc said:
Wirth's is magnificent and must be preserved at all costs. The parking lot is an abomination, and I'm sure you don't think it deserves equal protection. The ensemble is ragged, and the parking lot makes it so.
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Come on ablarc, use another word other than magnificient to describe Jacob Wirth's. Sagrada Familiar, the Taj Mahal, and the Parthenon are magnificent! Diamond in the rough, a gem, etc...surely apply to Wirth's.
 
Re: Jacob Wirth's

OK: "gem." Thanks for correcting me.

Seemed you thought I didn't care about saving Wirth's, so I reached for a little hyperbole to [over]correct the impression. Guess there's never an excuse for exaggeration. Temperance in all that's uttered.

Have you seen the bar inside? Now, that's magnificent.
 
Re: Jacob Wirth's

On further reflection, on revisiting photos, and on consulting my memory, I'm inclined to re-declare Wirth's magnificence --particularly in the context of its dreary surroundings.

Btw, I'd also apply that word to the Union Oyster House, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the Copley station eastbound headhouse and the Apple Store: they're all emblematic of a time in history and they all went well beyond the call of duty even for their times.

(And btw, the name of Gaudi's famous church lacks a final "r". ;))
 
Re: Jacob Wirth's

ablarc said:
OK: "gem." Thanks for correcting me.

Seemed you thought I didn't care about saving Wirth's, so I reached for a little hyperbole to [over]correct the impression.
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I absolutely knew you'd care about Wirth's. I figured you were referring to the parking lot and those two purple/bluish buildings to the left of the parking lot.

(And btw, the name of Gaudi's famous church lacks a final "r". )

I taught school 30 years...I hated typo's then, and I hate them now! And there was always a smart-ass kid who'd take great pleasure in pointing them out, always in front of the whole class! LOL Always said as a response.." I"ll have to can that secretary one of these days."
 
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Re: Jacob Wirth's

^ OK.

Now we're both explained out (whew). :)
 
Re: Jacob Wirth's

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino wants to require developers of large projects to obtain financing before they win permission to dig up the city.

His call follows financial problems for two high-profile developments that have already begun construction in Boston: the $650 million redevelopment of the Filene's building in Downtown Crossing and the $800 million Columbus Center complex over the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Menino is having city planners devise a regulation that would delay approvals for developers who cannot show adequate financial backing to proceed with construction. The regulation is an attempt to prevent city streets from being at the mercy of credit markets that can suddenly stall or upend projects.
 
Re: Jacob Wirth's

georgebaker said:
Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino wants to require developers of large projects to obtain financing before they win permission to dig up the city.

His call follows financial problems for two high-profile developments that have already begun construction in Boston: the $650 million redevelopment of the Filene's building in Downtown Crossing and the $800 million Columbus Center complex over the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Menino is having city planners devise a regulation that would delay approvals for developers who cannot show adequate financial backing to proceed with construction. The regulation is an attempt to prevent city streets from being at the mercy of credit markets that can suddenly stall or upend projects.
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Will that mean that we won't end up with more sandy areas in the middle of the city like we did with the Kensington? I bet the Glass Slipper is happy to market itself as beachfront entertainment.

It would have been nice if the mayor had thought of this before he let developers raze existing buildings in the city in preparation of new development, only to lose financing due to market turbulence. And now we're stuck with empty lots. At least this regulation is a good start to correct that, but will it make it even harder to build in Boston?
 
Re: Jacob Wirth's

el raval said:
I bet the Glass Slipper is happy to market itself as beachfront entertainment.
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Put up a high fence, some bleachers, and a volleyball net. Convention-goers will love it!
 
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el raval said:
Will that mean that we won't end up with more sandy areas in the middle of the city like we did with the Kensington?
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That is likely the case, but the possible trade off could be that fewer developers want to come into Boston and propose large projects. If I'm a developer, I would be a little wary of a city that had legislation like that, knowing that if I don't secure X amount of dollars by a certain date, my entire project could be shot.

I think that there are pluses and minuses to this idea.
 
Re: Jacob Wirth's

Tim Jackson's concern is commendible. While the proposal may be a step in the right direction, I afraid it's like killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

While checking on the site for the Filene's development, I was assured by a hardhat that steel would be rising in six months. I was told there is a lot more site preparation and foundation work yet to do before that can happen. There was excavation work going on as we spoke.
 
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