Longwood Center (Joslin Place) | 360 Longwood Ave | Longwood Medical Area

[kz1000ps]

This was originally posted in the Blackfan Life Sciences building thread by Statler

Joslin halts plan for lab, high-rise
Puts Longwood site up for sale instead

By Christopher Rowland, Globe Staff | April 30, 2007

Just four months into his job as head of the Joslin Diabetes Center , Ranch Kimball has pulled the plug on the center's ambitious plan to build a new laboratory building and 29-story residential tower at its Longwood home.

Kimball, the center's first chief executive who is not a doctor, instead has put the development site up for sale, at an asking price of $20 million.

With the move, Kimball is abandoning a $225 million, 500,000-square-foot development project that has languished on the drawing boards since 2003, when Joslin won approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority . Kimball declined to discuss what he saw as the project's flaws or why Joslin had not yet started construction in four years since winning approval. He said he scrapped the plan "to get all of us a clean start."

The center's project manager, Keefe Co., still listed Joslin Place , as the complex would have been known, on its website yesterday. A call to company president Frank T. Keefe was not returned.

Kimball was the state's chief of economic development under Governor Mitt Romney . Before joining the Romney administration in 2004, Kimball ran a private equity firm for Kissinger McLarty Associates . Prior to that, he was a business consultant at Boston Consulting Group, specializing in technology, telecommunications, manufacturing, and media.

A statement from Joslin, a preeminent research and outpatient treatment clinic affiliated with Harvard Medical School , said when it hired Kimball in January that his business experience made him a strong choice to lead the center in the competitive healthcare marketplace.

He replaced Dr. C. Ronald Kahn , who stepped down in September after six years as Joslin's chief executive to return to full-time research.

The parcel Joslin is putting up for sale encompasses a high-visibility acre at the intersection of Longwood Avenue and Brookline Avenue , at the western edge of Longwood Medical Area . It currently houses a nearly vacant residential building with 84 apartments and a small retail building. The site has BRA approval for a new, nine-story laboratory, office, and clinic building; a residential tower with 150 new apartments, and a 350-space underground parking garage.

Joslin's new position is that it is willing to lease 60,000 to 75,000 square feet in the new complex from a developer who moves ahead with a new project, Kimball said. It also is willing to sell an additional building, a 1950s laboratory complex, and lease it back after it has been refurbished. A fact sheet for the proposed sale says developer responses are due to Joslin by May 14, and that it wants to select a buyer, negotiate terms, and close on the deal by Oct. 31.

Kimball said Joslin had done nothing with the development project in the months before he succeeded Kahn. "It was just on hold, waiting a restart with the new CEO," he said.

"The thing that we're most focused on is making sure that we have adequate space, and we need to update our lab facilities," he said.

"What we're talking about is for us a modest amount of research growth. Our role as a business partner will be minimal."

Christopher Rowland can be reached at crowland@globe.com.

Link

 

[kz1000ps]

From this week's Courant

Joslin Project is Not Dead

by Ted Siefer - Courant News Writer

Rumors of the death of the Joslin Diabetes Center's proposed research and residential complex have been greatly exaggerated.

A Joslin official said that the center is still seeking a developer to bring the project to fruition, contrary to a recent report in The Boston Globe that Joslin's new CEO, Ranch Kimball, has "scrapped the plan."

"Ranch has been involved in moving the project forward," said Bob Calway, Joslin's vice president for clinical services. "It is of fundamental importance to our mission. We need space to grow to meet our mission and this is a goal Ranch recognizes."

The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) approved in 2003 Josnlin's plan for a 300,000-square-foot research and clinical building and a 29-story residential tower that would loom over the intersection of Longwood and Brookline Avenues. Earlier this year Boston Properties, the owner of the Prudential Center, backed out of a deal in which it would buy the development rights for the project and lease space back to Joslin.

"From a competitive point of view, we're simply back in the marketplace and reissuing an RFP [Request for Proposals] for a project that is not substantially different from what has been approved," said Calway. "Those approvals are included in the RFP. If the scope of the project changes, a developer would have to go back to the BRA. Because we have not selected a final developer, we don't know what the final massing will be."

Calway also sought to correct another aspect of the Globe story: that Joslin was selling the project site for $20 million. In fact, Calway said, this was the amount Joslin was seeking as a down payment for the development rights for the project. In addition, the Keefe Company is not the manager of the project, as claimed by the Globe, but served only as a temporary consultant on the project and no longer has any involvement.

News that the plans for the project were still on the table came as a surprise to Ed Lamperti, a researcher and resident of one of the buildings on the Joslin site that would be razed according to plan. Lamperti had opposed the project, but after extensive conversations with Calway, he said he recognized that his building's days were numbered and has decided to move. He added, however, that the plan outlined in the Globe, to sell and lease back a refurbished main clinical facility, built in the 1950s, "didn't make any sense."

Calway maintained that the scope of the project was not compromising more urgent plans to replace the aging clinical building.

"For a project of this magnitude, it's not uncommon that it takes time to arrange the right financing to make it work, he said. "Clearly we need the space."

 

[kz1000ps]

Images, taken from here: http://www.keefecompany.com/joslin.htm

what's currently there:

 

[bosman]

To me, this is very good news. It is a huge upgrade over what is there now, and I personally liked this plan from the beginning (or at least when I first heard about it). I am really hoping that they get this thing done.

 

[TheBostonBoy]

Ya this does look great.
I am with you on that, they better get this done!

 

[czsz]

Joslin set to unveil lab deal
Center to sell developer site for biotech facility, then become its tenant
By Jeffrey Krasner, Globe Staff | July 24, 2007

Joslin Diabetes Center is expected to disclose today that it has found a new partner to build a $300 million biotechnology laboratory on land it owns in the Longwood Medical Area.

But in a departure from two previous failed attempts to develop that site, Joslin will sell the entire development to the partner, and will become a tenant when the building is finished in about four years. The new developer may also scrap plans to build 150 units of housing to focus exclusively on lab space.

A joint venture between National Development of Boston and Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. of Pasadena, Calif., signed a letter of intent to buy and build on Joslin's property at the corner of Longwood and Brookline avenues in the heart of the medical district. Joslin officials said they hope to complete a formal purchase and sale agreement "within weeks."

Developers will pay Joslin more than $100 million for the site, two existing buildings, and the development rights, according to an official briefed on the transaction. The space will likely house research labs for Joslin, surrounding hospitals, and biotech companies.

"This is an important development for our city," said Mayor Thomas M. Menino in an interview. "We're committed to expanding our biotech space."

Menino said the project is a sign that the epicenter of the local biotech cluster may be moving from Kendall Square in Cambridge to the Longwood area in Boston. In recent years, drug giant Merck & Co. built a research tower in Longwood and a new 703,000-square-foot research tower on Blackfan Circle is set to be completed soon.

Joslin, the world's largest diabetes center and clinic, first proposed the development in 2001. Two years later, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved a mixed-use project comprising lab space, 150 apartments, and underground parking. Keefe Co. was to have been the developer.

The project never got off the ground, and Joslin went back to the BRA last year proposing that Boston Properties would co-develop the building. That arrangement also stalled.

Ranch C. Kimball , the former state secretary of economic development who is now Joslin's chief executive, said that with Boston Properties, "the Joslin was trying to be too much of a codeveloper." He added, "Boston Properties had a hard time making the deal work for them, and the deal got too complicated in a lot of ways."

Officials from Boston Properties could not be reached for comment.

Kimball said the new arrangement is preferable, because the diabetes center shouldn't be in the development game. "My business judgment was if we were the codeveloper, the project would move much more slowly," said Kimball. "The best option for the Joslin was to get a highly motivated developer."

As to possible profits from ownership of the building, he said, "I don't think I'm leaving that much on the table."

When complete, Joslin will house its diabetes research labs in the new complex, occupying up to 135,000 square feet. The total size of the project hasn't yet been determined. Kimball said Joslin might purchase the space rather than renting.

Ted Tye , managing partner of National Development, said he wants to create a "premier biotechnology research facility."

But doing so may also mean changing Joslin's original plan. "Most likely we'll try to go in a direction that might not have the residential component," Tye said. "That may result in a smaller project."

The problem, he said, is that biotech lab space has specialized requirements, including stronger floors, upgraded ventilation and electric service, and special plumbing for oxygen and other lab utilities. That pushes up the cost of the housing.

"The two uses may not go well together," he said.

The project originally was to be called Joslin Place. That name will likely change, Tye said, although a new name hasn't been chosen.

If the parties agree on final terms quickly, construction could begin in about a year. Despite the other lab space under construction, Tye said, there would be more than adequate demand for the project.

"Everybody wants to be in the Longwood area," he said.

National Development's local projects include the Marriott Hotel and residences at Tudor Wharf in Charlestown and Station Landing in Medford.

 

[kz1000ps]

Re: Joslin Place

Longwood Medical Area land sale is completed

By the Boston Globe Business Team
November 27, 07 11:10 AM

Joslin Diabetes Center said today that it has completed a sale of land it had owned in Boston's Longwood Medical Area to a joint venture of developers that plans to build a life science research building on the site.

The land is located at the intersection of Longwood and Brookline avenues, said Joslin, which did not disclose a purchase price.

The sales agreement was made public in July, and a Globe story then indicated that the purchase price was more than $100 million.

The buyer of the property is a joint venture made up of Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. of California, National Development of Newton, and Charles River Realty Investors of Newton.

Referring to the sale in a statement, Joslin president and chief executive Ranch C. Kimball said: "This is an important step forward in our quest to cure diabetes. This sales allows us to plan for expansion of our world-class research programs."

By Chris Reidy, Globe staff
http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2007/11/longwood_medica.html

 

[statler]

Re: Joslin Place

Lab Building Proposed for Longwood Medical Area
By Thomas Grillo
Reporter

Image courtesy National Development
This preliminary rendering depicts the 9-story, research-and-laboratory building proposed for the Longwood Medical Area in Boston.

A Newton-based developer unveiled plans Monday night for a 9-story, research-and-laboratory building in Boston?s Longwood Medical Area.

More than 100 people attended an LMA Forum at the Joslin Diabetes Center Atrium to hear the details.

National Development intends to replace a 2-story building at Brookline and Longwood avenues, an adjacent 83-unit apartment complex and a surface parking lot with a 350,000-square-foot, glass-and-metal tower that would serve the Joslin facility and other tenants.

?We are the world?s largest diabetes research institution,? said Ranch Kimball, president of Joslin Diabetes Center. ?But frankly, we?re jammed when it comes to space. Diabetes is growing at 8 percent a year and we are stuck. This facility is an important step forward in our quest to cure diabetes.?

In addition to the lab space, the campus would offer 8,400 square feet of ground-level retail and 289 underground parking spaces. The plan also calls for tree plantings and wider sidewalks. In addition, a portion of Longwood Avenue and nearby Pilgrim Road would be widened. Pilgrim Road would no longer be a one-way street.

In 2003, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved plans for Boston Properties to construct a $225 million, 490,000-square-foot development project that would have included a 30-story residential tower.

But construction never began and Kimball did not reveal why the project failed to launch. Sonal Gandhi, the BRA?s project manager, said the earlier plan did not work for financial reasons.

?The BRA is very cognizant of the fact that the market changes,? she said. ?This project works financially, it?s a good project, it will get built and there?s a need for lab space here.?

A Joslin spokeswoman told Banker & Tradesman that the parting with Boston Properties was ?amicable.?

In November, Joslin sold the parcels to a joint venture of National Development, Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Charles River Realty Investors. The proposed project will not include housing.

Residents in attendance at Monday night?s forum had a variety of reactions to the new plan.

Marc Laderman, a resident of the Fenway neighborhood, objected to the lack of housing. ?I thought the BRA wanted housing,? he noted. ?How can you go ahead with this without any housing? Where?s the concern about the loss of housing??

But Edward Lamperti, another Fenway resident, disagreed, saying that luxury housing is not what the area needs. ?Residential doesn?t work here,? he said. ?Who wants to live with the sounds of emergency vehicles 24/7? Besides, what value does more high-priced housing priced up to $5,000 per month have for me??

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the evening came from Richard Orareo, who has lived in the Fenway for more than 30 years and is a frequent critic of development. ?For the first time in an LMA meeting, I don?t have any objections,? he said to thunderous applause.

In response, the BRA?s Gandhi looked at the reporters in the room and said with a laugh, ?Did you get that? Make sure you include it.?

NLA

 

[12345]

Re: Joslin Place

The BRA Board approved the Longwood Center project that will bring much needed research laboratory and office space for the Joslin Diabetes Center. The project was previously approved in 2003 and included a housing component. The current project includes a nine-story, 350,000 square foot building to be located on a 1.02 acre site bounded by Brookline Avenue, Longwood Avenue and Pilgrim Road. The new programming includes research lab and associated office and clinical space on floors two through nine with ground-floor retail/restaurant space 290 below-grade parking spaces. Currently, the project site consists of a vacant residential building that formerly consisted of 84 units of housing.

Founded in 1898, the Joslin Diabetes Center is today the world?s largest diabetes research center, diabetes clinic and provider of diabetes education. Joslin employs more than 620 people in the LMA area.

The project is a joint venture of Alexandria Real Estate, National Development and Charles River Realty Investors.

The project will provide numerous public benefits including housing and jobs linkage, public realm improvements and up to 250 construction jobs. Total project cost is estimated at $300 million. The developer expects to begin construction in June 2008

http://www.cityofboston.gov/bra/press/PressDisplay.asp?pressID=423

 

[tocoto]

Re: Joslin Place

I'm sure the area needs the medical space, but much of Longwood is already dense with relatively low buildings. It's too bad the 29 story portion of the project was lost since the area could use a landmark tower. A hotel seems to make sense given all the relatives and friends who need a place to stay while their friend/family member is laid up.

 

[czsz]

Re: Joslin Place

Beh, reduced to an ugly stump. I prefer the (in context) quirky little brick building left there now.

 

[Beton Brut]

Re: Joslin Place

Agree. This went from "cool" to "yawn" in a heartbeat.

 

[czsz]

Re: Joslin Place

This neighborhood is officially the DC of MDs.

 

[Patriots_1228]

Re: Joslin Place

Beton burt summed it up best.

 

[statler]

Re: Joslin Place

Beton Burt?

 

[Beton Brut]

Re: Joslin Place

Beton Burt?

I've been called worse...

 

[Beton Brut]

Re: Joslin Place

Just came from a meeting on Longwood Center. Looks like we may be an anchor-tenant in this project. The renderings look better and more fleshed-out that what was posted in the B&T piece above. The design grammar is similar to the new MGH project, with a dash of Machado + Silvetti (random, punch-card windows on the corner of Brookline Ave.)

I'll miss the little brick building on the corner, and the now abandoned apartments.

 

[tmac9wr]

Re: Joslin Place

Who do you work for?

 

[Lurker]

Re: Joslin Place

To venture a guess KMW, Swartz Silver, or perhaps one of their spin-off firms?

A few months ago contractors were doing extensive work inside those apartments from the 1910s-20s. I assume it was preparation for demolition, or at least properly sealing them from the elements for a long stretch of being uninhabited.

 

[kz1000ps]

Re: Joslin Place

Beton Burt (lol) works for Dana Farber.