Boston Conservatory of Music | 132 Ipswich St | Fenway

Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

thanks
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

kz1000ps said:
The constant stream of kids coming and going all day and night instantly makes this preferable to the garage. Maybe you were hoping for a standout facade and a ground floor cafe or something but the program from day one was classrooms and rehearsal spaces, therefore I'm not surprised by what I see here. And for a teeny tiny school like BoCo (750 kids and a paltry ~$10mm endowment) I think they put up what they needed to put up.
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Totally agree that a performance space from BoCo is better than a garage. But compare this to what's Samuels is doing on Boylston. I know, "BoCo can't afford to compete with Samuels!" Great, then have BoCo trade this space for 4x as much space on the outskirts of Fenway. If BoCo can't afford a positive development, then don't try to build, literally, adjacent to Fenway Park.
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

AmericanFolkLegend said:
Totally agree that a performance space from BoCo is better than a garage. But compare this to what's Samuels is doing on Boylston. I know, "BoCo can't afford to compete with Samuels!" Great, then have BoCo trade this space for 4x as much space on the outskirts of Fenway. If BoCo can't afford a positive development, then don't try to build, literally, adjacent to Fenway Park.
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132 Ipswich is less than a five minute walk from the 'main campus', such as it is. Why would Boston Conservatory need four times as much space?

132 Ipswich allows the Conservatory to own a building that will house special-purpose type functions currently located in leased space, the leases soon to expire.
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

It looks like a box, even despite the curve. Very institutional if not a bit cheap. It's too bad; this location and use would seem to have called for more of a statement.
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

Not really, this always felt like more of an alley way than a major thoroughfare. This building is fine. They could have screwed it up by trying to add crazy asymmetrical windows like every other box-o-crap around here but they went simple and it works. Besides don't judge it until you see the inside and hear the acoustics.
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

I think it's pretty nice. Restrained with a bit of flair. Not pretending to be clever.
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

It actually adds to the neighborhood. If we think about the Fenway "beyond the park," then this fits nicely.

The high school? Now THAT needs a major overhaul like three decades ago.
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

.....but, omigod - - that one blank side with the external staircase and corrugated roof covering??????????
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

shmessy said:
.....but, omigod - - that one blank side with the external staircase and corrugated roof covering??????????
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They obviously anticipate adjacent redevelopment of that parking lot. I'd rather a blank wall than windows that preclude something getting built there because of "loss of views".
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

I can't believe people on this board are celebrating a 3-storey building virtually adjacent to what Samuels is putting up.
If Suffolk or Northeastern were doing the same people on this board would be lighting torches and gathering pitch forks.
That lot deserves a 5-7 story building minimum. If BoCo doesn't need a 5-7 story building than they should:
1. Flip the land for something further afield (pun not intended but totally intended), or
2. Build a taller building in this space and rent out the extra space, or
3. Sell the land to a developer with a long-term lease for BoCo's space.
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

AmericanFolkLegend said:
I can't believe people on this board are celebrating a 3-storey building virtually adjacent to what Samuels is putting up.
If Suffolk or Northeastern were doing the same people on this board would be lighting torches and gathering pitch forks.
That lot deserves a 5-7 story building minimum. If BoCo doesn't need a 5-7 story building than they should:
1. Flip the land for something further afield (pun not intended but totally intended), or
2. Build a taller building in this space and rent out the extra space, or
3. Sell the land to a developer with a long-term lease for BoCo's space.
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or,
4. Close the school.

IIRC, this building was built to get BCM out of leased space further afield. BCM's endowment is about $8 million. Its a decent-looking building for the amount of money that BCM has in its coffers.

As BCM seeks to pay for it out of a capital campaign, then leasing or bonding expenses aren't tacked on to annual operating expenses, which in BCM's case, are paid nearly entirely by student tuition and fees.
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

Stellar, do you agree that a private developer would have put up something bigger in this location?
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

AmericanFolkLegend said:
Stellar, do you agree that a private developer would have put up something bigger in this location?
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Probably, but that's not the point. BCM was looking for land nearer its other buildings (the few they have). There are not many empty parcels lying fallow near the Fenway.

BCM is the third most expensive school in the country, in terms of net price.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-nations-most-expensive-colleges/

So BCM and its students are walking a financial tightrope. I suspect the amount of student loan debt is very high, and music majors don't typically gravitate to hedge funds for big financial scores.
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

stellarfun said:
So BCM and its students are walking a financial tightrope. I suspect the amount of student loan debt is very high, and music majors don't typically gravitate to hedge funds for big financial scores.
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Right. So build a larger building and rent out the extra space (the added revenue can offset tuition). Or if the school is too risk averse to do that, sell the land to a 3rd party developer and sign a 99 year lease. Or if that's too scary, condo the building and presell all the excess space to a third party.
My point is, if a private developer would have built something much larger here (and I think we can agree he/she would have), then BoCo is incurring an opportunity cost by not going bigger.
They're forgoing revenue by not going bigger or partnering with a third party. Yet their still holding onto all the risk by developing the building themselves.
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

AmericanFolkLegend said:
Right. So build a larger building and rent out the extra space (the added revenue can offset tuition). Or if the school is too risk averse to do that, sell the land to a 3rd party developer and sign a 99 year lease. Or if that's too scary, condo the building and presell all the excess space to a third party.
My point is, if a private developer would have built something much larger here (and I think we can agree he/she would have), then BoCo is incurring an opportunity cost by not going bigger.
They're forgoing revenue by not going bigger or partnering with a third party. Yet their still holding onto all the risk by developing the building themselves.
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Not quite.

If a private developer builds the building and leases it to BCM, then BCM has to pay annual lease costs, which include real property tax. These costs get cranked into its annual operating budget, and because it has so little endowment, the operating costs are paid almost entirely by its students. Tuition and fees go up, as would student indebtedness in the case of BCM.

(BCM is building the building with capital gifts, so there should no annual expenditure to pay off the bonds to finance its construction.)

If BCM were to build a bigger building, and lease part of it out, its revenue from the leased portion would be used to pay the financing costs of the non-academic construction, with probably little net income to BCM at least in the early years. (Plus BCM would pay real estate taxes on part of the building.) Further, this long-term debt could hinder BCM's ability to incur additional debt in the near future at a reasonable interest rate. (See Suffolk U.)

Very few institutions get capital gifts to finance the construction of investment properties.
____________

If you know, and care to say, did you attend a college or university whose endowment is the tens of millions, hundreds of millions, or billions? I won't ask for endowment $ per student values because very very very few alums would know that number off the top of their head.
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

If BCM were to build a bigger building, and lease part of it out, its revenue from the leased portion would be used to pay the financing costs of the non-academic construction, with probably little net income to BCM at least in the early years.
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Right. Because real estate development around Fenway Park is not profitable right now. That Samuels is such a saint...
 
Re: Boston Conservatory of Music buys 132 Ipswich St

AmericanFolkLegend said:
Right. Because real estate development around Fenway Park is not profitable right now. That Samuels is such a saint...
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I don't love the design but that is not a fair comparison re: the school's decision making. Major parcels on Boylston do not equal a small parcel on Ipswitch St which is inhabited by pedi-cabs after red sox games and virtually nothing on non-game days. But hey its got train and pike views.

Now if the school had done a JV with a major developer that grabbed the adjacent parcels (transnational, the Ipswitch garage, those hideous student apartments on Boylston), now we would be talking.
 
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