Nearly 2,300 residential units have been approved for 21 developments in East Boston since 2014, more than any other city neighborhood except for the South Boston waterfront.
A succession of luxury apartment projects has turned the East Boston waterfront into a popular transit-oriented development cluster that’s a 2-minute subway ride to downtown.
The next wave will test the market’s ability to command top dollar for condominiums, including developer Lendlease’s 478-unit Clippership Wharf, which will begin presales of 80 condos June 5 in advance of its projected fall 2018 opening.
Asking prices for the Slip65 condos will range from approximately $650 to $1,000 per square foot, said Laura Gollinger, a vice president at The Collaborative Cos. in Boston, which is the exclusive sales agent.
“People are becoming neighborhood-agnostic,” Gollinger said. “It’s more about the product: the amenities, the views, the turnkey nature of new construction and the access to transit. Being able to get something just outside the urban core on a transit line is very attractive.”
Recent price comparisons to Slip65 are scarce in a neighborhood where the bulk of condo activity has been conversions of older three- and six-family buildings.
But the virtual sell-out of the 66-unit Seville luxury condo building which opened Aug. 1 in East Boston’s Eagle Hill offers some guidance. Units there averaged in the $600 per foot range with one resale for $735 per foot, said Dara Alperen-Cipollone, sales director for Real Estate Sales Integration Solutions. The top sale was $876,350, and just two units are available.
“Even at $600 or $700 a foot, we’re still a bit more of a value than established neighborhoods like Charlestown and South Boston,” Alperen-Cipollone said.
The Boston Planning and Development Agency has approved 2,282 units at 21 residential projects in East Boston since 2014, more than any city neighborhood except for the South Boston waterfront.
The new developments have added chef-owned restaurants, restored public waterfront access and built new park space and water taxi stops to downtown. The Institute of Contemporary Art will open a new 15,000-square-foot exhibition space called The Watershed in the Boston Shipyard and Marina in mid-2018.
“Young professionals realize the proximity to the Blue Line gets you quickly to the Financial District and even the hospitals,” Alperen-Cipollone said. “It’s just a very easy commute. Then they come over and see the new parks and greenways.”
A Missed Cycle, Then Strong Recovery
Development sputtered during the recession but has roared back in recent years, led by Roseland Property Co.’s Portside at East Pier development on a 26-acre waterfront site owned by Massport. The first 181-unit phase of that rental complex was completed in 2014 and construction of another 296 apartments is proceeding.
Portland, Oregon-based Gerding Edlen opened its 16-story Eddy apartment tower at 10 New St. in September. The complex is now 55 percent leased at average rents of $3,450, the developers said last week.
Such rental properties, TCC’s Gollinger said, have attracted prospective condo buyers who want to get a feel for the neighborhood before making a long-term commitment.
“A lot of people are wetting their feet and moving into the luxury rental buildings and then starting to look to buy,” she said.
And East Boston remains a relative bargain luring buyers and renters priced out of areas such as South Boston and Somerville, real estate agents say.
“If everything stays on track, you’re probably going to see some future (price) appreciation,” said Michael Carucci, an executive vice president at Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty in Boston. “The new developments are bringing in cool restaurants, which is also indicative of a changing neighborhood. Those are sure signs of gentrification.”
For those with short-term time horizons, more rental options are in the pipeline.
Boston-based Trinity Financial is nearing completion of Boston East, a $71 million apartment complex at 102-158 Border St. containing 174 market-rate and 26 affordable units.
The Davis Cos. of Boston last month filed revised plans with the BPDA for redevelopment of the former Hodge Boiler Plant site at 99 Sumner St. The 6-story, 125,614-square-foot building would contain 119 apartments, according to Davis Cos.
The new plan calls for 24 more apartments than approved in 2012 under previous ownership, eliminates a 42-slip marina and six “bed-and-breakfast” units, while adding 7,200 square feet of shared workspace. Some of the units have been reduced in size to make the development more economically viable, according to a document submitted to the BPDA. Community benefits include construction of a new 240-foot section of the Boston Harborwalk and a harbor overlook.
