A Dutch developer that specializes in sensor-equipped office buildings is joining the development team for Massport’s 401 Congress St. parcel, where a 645,000-square-foot office tower is proposed.
Amsterdam-based EDGE Technologies is partnering with Boston Global Investors, Boston-based Eagle Development Partners and The Cogsville Group of New York on the $450 million project, which is targeting a mid-2020 groundbreaking. EDGE Technologies executives visited Boston on Friday and signed the joint venture agreement as Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte toured local colleges and hospitals on a trade mission.
EDGE Technologies has been seeking development opportunities in Boston for two years, Boston Global Investors CEO John Hynes III said.
“They’ve had a pretty good run in Europe, imparting design features which go above and beyond what we might be used to here in the U.S.,” Hynes said. “We thought they had a pretty good pitch and had access to capital and a good track record, so we brought them into the fold.”
EDGE Technologies’ first U.S. project was renovation and expansion of Unilever’s North American headquarters in New Jersey. Completed in early 2018, it reduced energy consumption by 40 percent by installing thousands of internet-connected sensors that control building access and temperature, and LED lighting that senses natural light levels.
EDGE Technologies and Boston Global Investors each will have a one-third ownership in the development team, while Boston-based Eagle Development Partners and The Cogsville Group own the remaining third. The team will seek institutional capital for the remainder of the equity, Hynes said, and plans to build the project on speculation.
Eagle Development Partners is a minority-owned development firm led by former Boston College and Tampa Bay Buccaneers lineman Gosder Cherilus. The Cogsville Group specializes in sourcing capital from minority investors.
Massport directors selected Boston Global Investors this year from a field of 12 respondents to develop the two vacant parcels. The proposal calls for an 18-story, 645,000-square-foot building next to the MBTA’s World Trade Center station, connecting via a pedestrian walkway to a 2-story, 30,000-square-foot building located between a pair of Massachusetts Turnpike off-ramps. A project notification form will be filed with the Boston Planning and Development Agency by the end of July.
Massport sought a substantial minority-owned business participation in the development team. As part of the agreement signed last week, 15 percent of the development fees will be owned and managed by The Cogsville Group and Eagle Development Partners. Approximately 20 percent of consultants’ contracts and 30 percent of construction management contracts will go to minority-owned businesses. The team has also agreed to a $4 million community benefit fund for nonprofit organizations serving urban neighborhoods in Boston.
