Waterside Place 1A | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

Heh, it looks like Paul Bunyon's cow fell on its back.

Waterside Place looks inoffensive. I'm already inured to it.
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

^Hahahaha!
 
Last edited:
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

I toured the building today. The interiors look nice, very much in line with the quality at other recent luxury rental buildings that have come on the market. Unless the leasing agent didn't have a clue what he was talking about, he said he doesn't believe they have any retail tenants lined up for the building yet. I specifically asked about the opening date of the CVS there, and he told me the building doesn't have any retail tenants yet. So much for the only thing this building had going for it.
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

dshoost88 said:
I toured the building today. The interiors look nice, very much in line with the quality at other recent luxury rental buildings that have come on the market. Unless the leasing agent didn't have a clue what he was talking about, he said he doesn't believe they have any retail tenants lined up for the building yet. I specifically asked about the opening date of the CVS there, and he told me the building doesn't have any retail tenants yet. So much for the only thing this building had going for it.
Click to expand...

I believe the CVS is supposed to be part of a "second phase" out building between Waterside Place and the Silver Line entrance. He probably didn't realize there was another building that was supposed to be part of the construction.
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

12065135175_1e0755cc1c_b.jpg
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

^^^
Wow! So there it is - one good angle on this.
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

The 4th Picture down from Beeline post is BRUTAL
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

whighlander said:
In Lexington just down the street a house was just purchased for $650 and torn down to use the lot for a McMansion
Click to expand...

That wasn't on Sherburne Road South by any chance, was it? This morning a good friend of mine posted on Facebook side by side photos of the house there that he grew up in and the new house that was built in its place after his parents sold and moved.
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

If I was good with photoshop, I would add in a beer bottle being opened by that piece that hangs off the side of the roof.
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

Harpoon needs to pony up and make that a reality.
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

Instead of the Green Monster we got the WHITE WALL.

Forget the Entertainment district this is the COLD WAR
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

TheRifleman said:
Instead of the Green Monster we got the WHITE WALL.

Forget the Entertainment district this is the COLD WAR
Click to expand...

Well, if we're comparing it to Stalinist architecture, I think all this talk of a giant beer bottle needs to be changed... to a giant bottle of Smirnoff Ice! :)
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

http://bostonherald.com/business/re...h_rise_joins_friendly_competition_for_tenants

High-rise joins ‘friendly competition’ for tenants

Friday, February 14, 2014

Paul Restuccia

With 216 out of 236 units at the just-opened Waterside Place in Boston’s Seaport District still available to rent, you’d think you might sense some anxiety at the leasing office, but not so.

There’s a lot of competition between all the newly minted luxury apartment buildings in Boston with thousands of new units available. But if you’re expecting agents from rival buildings to undercut each other and pressure tenants to sign leases, you’re not going to find it.

Every week the property managers of the big new Hub apartment complexes share information on leases signed, concessions and *occupancy rates.

“We have a rule that we never run down our competition,” said Jackie Chancholo, Waterside’s property manager, who works for the Bozzuto Group, which manages the Park Lane Seaport across the street (where she previously worked), Kensington and other competing properties. “You want to build relationships so that people from other buildings share information with you, which is in everyone’s best interest. We keep it a friendly competition.”

And while Waterside has only leased 20 units so far, there’s no sense of panic.

“We’re completely confident that we will fill up the building,” Chancholo said. The plan is to sign around 20 leases per month, which would get the building to full occupancy a year from now.

“The way we operate is nothing like the Sept. 1 rental rush,” added assistant property manager Aaron Cramer.

But for Amy Keegan, one of Waterside Place’s two leasing agents, the pressure is on.

“I do feel like I’m on the hot seat,” said Keegan, who has a background in condo management. “But I try to relax and create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for prospective tenants.”

Keegan uses a program called Lead2Lease that aggregates all the calls or emails from various apartment sites and Waterside’s own website. She only contacts prospects who have shown interest and does not make cold calls. Oftentimes potential renters have already looked at the competitors, such as 315 on A down the street, which opened late last year.

Still Keegan keeps it low-key, chatting with prospects on upholstered chairs around a table rather than across a desk. Rents start at $2,775 for one-bedrooms, and go up to $5,690 for large three-bedrooms.

For Chancholo, the best leasing agents for these luxury buildings are not the super-aggressive types.

“What I look for in an agent is a good attitude, someone to be able to listen to what prospects want,” she said.

Keegan determines how much potential renters can spend and picks out several possible floor plans. She brings them up to the third floor to show amenities that include an Internet cafe, a fitness facility and a lounge with a TV area, bar and kitchen, along with an outdoor terrace with grills.

“I try to be really transparent with people, be honest as possible,” Keegan said. “A lot of them ask about what furniture can fit where. I already have all the apartments here in my head, so I can show them something that fits their needs.

“You’re selling but you never want to be pushy. You want them to sign up because they like the building.”

Keegan says the Waterside’s views as well as the funky contemporary design and colors in the common spaces help sell the place.

There are some concessions available at Waterside. If renters put down a holding deposit on their day of visit, they get $1,500 off the second month’s rent. And if they sign a lease for 13 to 24 months, they get one month free.

“We see how concessions work for us and what our competitors are doing and adjust,” Chancholo said.

To create more buzz, Water*side will soon be sponsoring lunches and *after-work soirees with large nearby employers such as John Hancock and Vertex.

For Keegan, filling up the building is only the first step.

“Once we get all the units rented, the next challenge will be retaining the tenants,” she said. “And to do that you have to keep people happy about the building and their experiences here.”
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

Not all the luxury buildings are selling like Millennium Place...
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

I wonder how long the "friendly competition" will last if these luxury towers continue to have 10% occupancy. Who wants to pay almost $3000/month to live in a neighborhood with no grocery store or amenities besides upscale restaurants? Hopefully this will signal to developers that they need to start building less luxury and more "normal" housing.
 
Re: Waterside Place | 505 Congress Street | Seaport

So when does the building boom stop?

To elaborate, The Kensington seems to be filling fairly steadily. But last I heard the Victor was struggling to top 10 percent and now it seems Waterside Place is going to be slow. We have Radian coming online in a few months and AVA Theater Dictrict, Parcel 24, 100 Pier 4, 275 Albany, Ink Block, One Canal, Viridan, and Boylston West at various stages of construction. (Avalon Exeter is a smallish building (187 units) and targeted toward the Back Bay market, so I think they'll be somewhat insulated from the greater market.

And it looks like Skanska is getting ready to start work on Parcel K in the Seaport.

To me the question is a. Will all these projects -notably the ones still in site prep phase - finish?

b. Will some look to shift to condos?

c. Do we really have the bodies to fill all of these units?

d. What happens if these all open in the next two years and they can't get over 10 percent?

I know a lot of people take the stance that developers would be forced to turn away from "Luxury," but my question is how much money is really saved building an average building verses a luxury building? Assuming we still want developers to put up 15, 20, 25-story buildings, how much money can really be saved by using formica counters instead of granite?

I usually don't sound so panicky in my posts, but I'm starting to envision scary images of empty holes and half built sheer cores around the city for the next 3 years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top