Seaport Square (Formerly McCourt Seaport Parcels)

Hynes looks to sell off chunks of Seaport
By Thomas Grillo
Friday, November 19, 2010


As John Hynes faces the prospect of a winter without construction at Seaport Square on South Boston?s waterfront, the developer is in talks to sell off a portion of the 23-acre site, the Herald has learned.

Hynes is trying to unload several parcels to Real Estate Investment Trusts AvalonBay Communities or Equity Residential for construction of apartments between Congress Street and Seaport Boulevard, according to commercial real estate sources.

Hynes declined comment. AvalonBay and Equity Residential did not return calls. But the sources said there are multiple reasons why Hynes is seeking to get rid of some of the properties.

?He?s stuck with a big piece of real estate (the former Filene?s block in Downtown Crossing) with partners and there?s no near-term development or lending opportunities, so why not sell some of (the Seaport property),? said one source who requested anonymity.

The source also said the chances of getting an office building financed, as Joseph Fallon?s tower sits largely empty, are nonexistent. ?There is money for apartments, but John has never built them,? the source added.

The former industrial and warehouse area is filled with surface parking lots. The land was owned by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, who sold it to Rupert Murdoch?s News Corp. [NWS], which flipped it to Hynes and partners WS Development and Morgan Stanley.

In September, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved the $3 billion Seaport Square plan for 20 new city blocks with 19 buildings for offices, hotels, shops and apartments.


Link
 
Developers Guide to Boston

A) Developer:
1. purchases rights to property.
2. secures approvals from BRA for large project.
3. parcels off large project.
4. sells pre-approved parcels at a premium.

B) New Owner:
1. purchases pre-approved parcels at a premium.
2. files Notice of Project Change at BRA.
3. returns to BRA to present financial issues regarding project.
4. secures development incentives (tax breaks, variances, etc.)
5. secures reductions in public realm commitments to original project due to hardship.

C) Options
1. develop
2. go to step #A4
 
It always seemed strange to me that Hynes thought he could take this on while sitting on Filene's. It will be interesting to see which pieces of land he decides to sell. It's good news that a greater variety of developers along the parcel will result, along with a greater focus on apartments.

Also, though, I thought the building behind the Barking Crab was supposed to go up soon - isn't that part of this project?
 
It was my understanding that the small condo was on the list of the first buildings slated to go up under Phase One.

Given the Barking Crab sits on the only waterside property that could ever be potentially available for connection to a larger footprint on Seaport Square, I was always surprised the development of that condo made sense for Phase One instead of banking on a future building including the Barking Crab site. Maybe that's one of the parcels among those listed for sale.
 
Isn't it good that he is selling to unaffiliated developers? Isn't this a way to encourage uniqueness in design and divergence in vision, which ultimately leads to a more organicly designed community.

Said another way, isn't this similar to how the Back Bay was developed? Substituting Boston/Mass for Hynes. Entitled land sold off to developers with unique visions?

Excellent move, and if it brings residential first, then it will certainly lead to following development to include more neighborhood oriented amenities (retail, etc.)
 
^atlrvr

I generally would agree with you 100%, but remain skeptical...

I've observed the City allow property owners to secure approvals and sell the land at a premium. In some cases, the property owner made it quite clear ahead of approvals that it had no intention of developing the project once approved.

It's my gut feeling based on following a number of projects that this initial transaction is where a significant margin is withdrawn from the project, leaving the new owner paying a premium and subsequently scaling back on the budgets for design and architecture, arriving at a substandard outcomes on one site after another.

So although your point is on the mark, it has been a disappointment to see the quality of work (architecture, public realm, etc.) that is being approved, often after a 2nd or 3rd owner/developer has visited the BRA, plead hardship and revised the project scaling back on the factors that went into the original approvals.
 
Mike said:
Hynes looks to sell off chunks of Seaport
By Thomas Grillo
Friday, November 19, 2010


As John Hynes faces the prospect of a winter without construction at Seaport Square on South Boston?s waterfront, the developer is in talks to sell off a portion of the 23-acre site, the Herald has learned.

Hynes is trying to unload several parcels to Real Estate Investment Trusts AvalonBay Communities or Equity Residential for construction of apartments between Congress Street and Seaport Boulevard, according to commercial real estate sources.

Hynes declined comment. AvalonBay and Equity Residential did not return calls. But the sources said there are multiple reasons why Hynes is seeking to get rid of some of the properties.

?He?s stuck with a big piece of real estate (the former Filene?s block in Downtown Crossing) with partners and there?s no near-term development or lending opportunities, so why not sell some of (the Seaport property),? said one source who requested anonymity.

The source also said the chances of getting an office building financed, as Joseph Fallon?s tower sits largely empty, are nonexistent. ?There is money for apartments, but John has never built them,? the source added.

The former industrial and warehouse area is filled with surface parking lots. The land was owned by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, who sold it to Rupert Murdoch?s News Corp. [NWS], which flipped it to Hynes and partners WS Development and Morgan Stanley.

In September, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved the $3 billion Seaport Square plan for 20 new city blocks with 19 buildings for offices, hotels, shops and apartments.


Link
Click to expand...



This doesn't sound good. Sounds like Hynes never had any intention on building so the entire Seaport plan that was presented in the globe was a LIE
 
Mike said:
Hynes looks to sell off chunks of Seaport
By Thomas Grillo
Friday, November 19, 2010

. . .

In September, the Boston Redevelopment Authority approved the $3 billion Seaport Square plan for 20 new city blocks with 19 buildings for offices, hotels, shops and apartments.


Link
Click to expand...

20 city blocks and just 19 buildings?
 
If Hynes sells off the parcels does a new developer have to go through sometype of BRA process again? Or does the developer need to design something very similiar to avoid this process again.
 
So far as I've ever seen, BRA approvals apply to the parcel along with the sale of a property. It makes sense to a degree, since the approval is supposed to be based on the City's assessment of what is best for the land, not the owner.

I've seen instances where owner/investors made quite clear to the BRA that they intended to sell as soon as projects were approved, in essence letting the world know they are simply profiting on the approval without developing anything. And the BRA did nothing to prevent this from happening. The new owner paid a premium and then went back to the BRA with their stories about hardship.

Recently a friend told me that the BRA may be changing its ways, approving a project for a current property owner with a caveat that the approval is contingent on development by that owner. I'm not sure this is true (yet), but it would be an interesting development.
 
^ A change that would require a new owner to resubmit would be very difficult, as most owners transfer the property to a related entity or joint-verture partnership once entitlement is in place. This is because of liability issues, demands of lenders to keep bankrupcy remote, and in most cases to address the participation of mulitple equity partners.

I'm sure they could word around it, but I'm imagining more trouble and unitended consequences than its worth.
 
Reportedly moving forward on Seaport Square Parcel A:

...a 12,000 square foot ?Innovation Center? (Parcel A, near Fort Point Channel). The Innovation Center will be an incubator for high-tech ventures, and will be leased to the City of Boston for ten years at $1 per year.
Click to expand...
From: http://www.southbostononline.com/ProgressatSeaportSquare.cfm

Here is the glossy residential project on Parcel A described by the BRA over the past years moving through approvals. This is what was published in the Boston Globe, and what was discussed on this forum ad infinitum for the future of Parcel A:

The Proposed Project?s total gross floor area is approximately 81,600 square feet, and includes 27,200 square feet of retail space, 34 residential units and 31 below grade parkingwell as a link to two existing Harborwalk segments.
Click to expand...
From: http://gis.cityofboston.gov/arcgisoutput/report956791.pdf

I'm sure I'll hear from some folks that "the market has changed" to explain the change from residential to "innovation" space on this parcel, after a multi-year process of approvals as a residential development.

The BRA has issued dozens of press releases over the past decade regarding their approvals for residential development, totaling over 6,250 residential units on Seaport Square, Fan Pier, 100 Acres, etc.. But the reality is that only one residential project is in the development pipeline, with around 120 units (in Fort Point).
 
Wait, whata, waetaetawhagtja;jlej???!f

Is this a "for sure"? Parcel A will be the Innovation Center? But it's only 12,000 SF so the rest of it will still be built on that spot, I assume?
 
I think you may be referring to the megablock office building adjacent to this office building ? also moving forward in Phase One as far as I can tell.

Parcel A is the small lot abutting the Barking Crab, formerly known as the site of a residential condo.
 
So, if I understand this correctly, the City of Boston is leasing the parcel that was supposed to be the residential building across from the the Barking Crab for $1 in order to build a 12000 sq. ft. Innovation Center? WTF?

In other news, I stumbled across these renderings of the relocated Our Lady of Good Voyage Chapel:

seaport_square13.jpg


seaport_square14.jpg


seaport_square12.jpg


seaport_square11.jpg


What a nice inviting brick wall. I guess the tall thing with the crucifix is to tell people this is a church and not a Silver Line station headhouse or underground parking garage entrance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top