Tag: Boston condo market

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analytics general info

Sales Rise In Suburbs – Slow Down In Boston

Interesting dynamics in the Boston and metro Boston markets – from Scott at Boston.com.

Sales rise in suburbs, slow down in Boston.

By Scott Van Voorhis

Boston.com Correspondent

 

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Towns and neighborhoods across the Boston area posted big gains in both sales and prices in February, defying a winter that broke snowfall records and left many businesses reeling.

The suburbs led the way. Several communities are actually ahead of last year’s pace when it comes to home sales, according to numbers released by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Cambridge proved as desirable as ever, with both condo and home sales rising markedly, as the median price of a house in the city hit $1.3 million.

Boston was more of a mixed bag; some neighborhoods posted strong numbers, but others all but fell off the map.

Overall, home sales across Massachusetts rose 4 percent in February, with the median single-family home price for the first two months of the year increasing 5 percent to $316,000, according to The Warren Group.

Condo prices rose 1.5 percent to $294,250, even as sales fell by 6 percent.

The Warren numbers, of course, only tell part of the picture, as some represent sales that were initially inked late last year, or in January of this year (before the storms) but which finally closed in February.

“The continued, sustained snowfall has been an incredible challenge for the region’s housing market,” said Dan Breault, EVP/regional director of RE/MAX of New England in a press statement. “Fortunately, spring is just around the corner and with low inventory and rising prices, we anticipate a busy spring season.”

Still, Greater Boston homebuyers proved to be a hardy bunch.

The western suburbs held up especially well, according to The Warren Group’s February housing report.

Framingham, Marlborough, Natick, Franklin, Medfield, Wayland, Lexington, Concord, Wellesley, and Weston all put in strong showings in February.

Sales so far this year are up by double digits in Framingham (20 percent), Franklin (118 percent), Concord (54 percent), Lexington (14 percent), Natick (15 percent), Wellesley (26 percent), and Needham (18 percent).

The dire cold may have made buyers stingier, as selling prices were down in a number of towns. Notable exceptions included Needham, whose median home price soared past $1 million after a 33 percent jump; Lexington, where the median price hit $875,000 after a 7.4 percent increase; and Natick and Framingham, which saw prices go up by 6 percent.

Quincy and Braintree were the stars on the South Shore, with sales for the first two months of the year rising 28 percent and 15 percent respectively. Median prices in both cities stayed just about even, at $360,000 for Quincy and $356,000 for Braintree.

North of Boston, Medford is off to a particularly fast start in 2015, with sales up 6 percent and median price up more than 10 percent, to $440,000. Sales in Reading are up 80 percent, though the median price fell 9 percent to $438,000.

But for Boston and Somerville, the latest home sales numbers for the first two months of the year had more downs than ups.

Somerville home sales plunged 36 percent, with just seven properties changing hands so far this year, while condo sales were down 14 percent. The median price of a condo dropped 6 percent, to $422,000.

In Boston, both condo and home sales were down in several neighborhoods.

South Boston saw home sales rise by a quarter, even as condo sales fell by 10 percent, while Jamaica Plain saw condo sales plunge by 25 percent, even as the median price rose nearly 20 percent to $426,500.

East Boston put in one of the strongest showings in the city, with condo sales up 46 percent for the year and the median price rising 10 percent to $385,000.

Downtown Boston saw condo sales drop by a quarter through the end of February, while the median price edged down 14 percent to $757,500.

Neda Vander Stoep, a broker in the Back Bay office of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. “However, with inventory remaining low and plenty of buyers on the sidelines, properties that came on during the February storms were nonetheless quick to sell.”

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general info

Buyers Brave Snow Banks

Buyers Brave Snow Banks and Cold to Find a Home in Greater Boston

Buyers are braving snowy streets and clambering up slippery steps to look at the relative handful of homes on the market right now, brokers say.
Buyers are braving snowy streets and clambering up slippery steps to look at the relative handful of homes on the market right now, brokers say.

AP

 

By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston.com Correspondent |

The Alaskan-style winter that has swallowed Greater Boston threatens to deep freeze spring home sales as well.

Droves of buyers are braving snowy streets and clambering up slippery steps to look at the relative handful of homes on the market right now, brokers say.

But sellers who have been gearing up, in some cases for months, to put their homes on the market in March, are now looking to April or even May, according to listing agents.

The one upside is that when the spring market finally takes off, it is expected to sizzle, with frenetic sales activity extending well into the summer – a time when the market typically takes a breather.

“It’s going to go crazy,” said Deborah Heffernan, broker and co-owner of Avenue 3 Real Estate in Arlington, of the projected warmer months. “I have had a number of people who have held back listing their homes because it is physically too challenging. They are dealing with ice dams and you can’t even see outside the property.”

Massachusetts sales dropped 2 percent in January after rising through the fall and holiday season, with a 10 percent jump in sales in December amid a chilly but snow-free month, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

The onset of heavy snow and arctic cold was a key factor, and one that will likely result in another drop in sales for February when those numbers are released in late March.

Buyers have proved to be especially hardy this winter. The few open houses that haven’t been canceled due to epic storms of the last few months regularly have attracted crowds, brokers say.

Redfin’s Nancy McLaughin, listing specialist for the western suburbs, said she was stunned to see an overflow crowd show up at an open house she was putting on in Framingham on a recent snowy Sunday.

“We had 30 people in 90 minutes,” she recalled. “They were traipsing through the snow with the most determined looks on their faces.”

Some sellers are also showing similar grit amid an unrelenting winter that has already broken local records for snowfall.

Hans Brings, an agent at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, said he is working with sellers in Waltham who were so determined to push forward with their open house that they decided to take municipal snow clearance into their own hands.

The couple, after digging out their driveway, went to work shoveling out the entire street, trying to widen it enough for buyers to drive down without getting stuck, according to Brings.

Streets effectively turned into one-lane roads by towering snow banks on both sides have been a major problem for buyers trying to get out and see homes, Brings noted.

But many other sellers are deciding to put off listing their homes until the snow melts.

McLaughlin said she has had to push out one listing into April as the sellers scramble to deal with water damage caused by ice dams on the roof.

The same thing is happening in Boston as well, said Neda Vander Stoep, an agent in the Back Bay office of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.

“Many sellers are holding off on listing their properties with the hopes that it will be easier for all to navigate the city as the temps hopefully begin to rise,” she wrote in an email.

In Arlington, Heffernan said she has had clients who were ready to put their homes on the market on April and are now looking to May instead.

Sellers are concerned that buyers simply won’t be able to get a full feel of their homes and what they look like, she said.

One would-be seller in Boston decided to delay for similar reasons, noting buyers wouldn’t be able to see the deck out back, a potential selling point.

“You can’t see the foundations of the house let alone the flowers in the yard,” Heffernan said.

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architecture style

Micro Units

Love these micro units in Boston. Small spaces can be efficient and comfortable…we dont call them micro units here in Provincetown – we call them charming and authentic Cape Cod cottages.

Five Newer Greater Boston Buildings with Micro-Apartments

Tuesday, February 24, 2015, by Tom Acitelli

Micro-apartments have been popping up by the dozens in Greater Boston in the last few years, going by such aliases as innovation units and micro-lofts. However you dub these roses and where you plant them, they smell generally the same rent-wise: that is, they’re comparable, if not more expensive than, studios and even 1-BRs of similar age and size. Still, micro-apartments! From the Seaport District to East Cambridge, they’re the trend that won’t die. And we’ve got the five buildings in the region with sizable amounts of ’em. Let’s start with one opening in a matter of weeks.

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100 Pier 4
The 359-unit development, part of a much larger project in the Seaport District, includes 50 innovation units spread over two floors. Above is a 3D rendering of a 460-square-foot studio asking $2,574 a month. The complex opens next month.

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[Rendering via Elkus Manfredi]

One Seaport Square
The 832-unit Seaport District behemoth, which includes both the Benjamin and VIA towers (and a ton of retail space), officially broke ground in November. Some of its 96 innovation units, which will be concentrated in the VIA spire, are due to be as small as 365 square feet. The rents for these are not yet clear.
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[Photo via Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype Inc.]

Factory 63
This 38-unit conversion of an old Fort Point shoe factory dropped in early 2013, and its apartments quickly leased up, including 23 innovation units. Some of these were asking well north of $2,000 a month.
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315 on A
Another Fort Point creation, 315 on A held its grand opening in January 2014. It included studios as small as 464 square feet renting for well over $2K a month. It also fostered the concept of 20-Minute Living,which you can’t put a price tag on.
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Avalon North Point Lofts
The 103-unit East Cambridge complex carved from an old hot-dog factory (yup) opened in late 2014, and includes what are called micro-lofts. The available 450-square-foot ones now ask at least $2,285 a month.

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analytics trends

Boston Metro Winners And Losers In The Pricing Game

Interesting post by Scott from Boston.com.

Mass.’s Biggest Winners, Losers in the Home Pricing Game

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iStock

 

By Scott Van Voorhis, Boston.com Correspondent |

 

 

 

 

The difference between the biggest winners and losers when it comes to home prices across Massachusetts can be summed up in a single word: jobs.

Cambridge and nearby cities and suburbs dominated the 2014 list of the top ten gainers in home values over the past decade, reports The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

The epi-center of the tech and life sciences boom, Cambridge led the way with an 80 percent increase in its median home price since 2005, which hit a lofty $1.2 million in 2014.

By contrast, the top 10 losers in value were all beyond the 128 and 495 beltways in economically struggling parts of the state, distant from the wealth and jobs of Greater Boston and Cambridge.

“Proximity to good jobs seems to be the common thread among the top communities,” Timothy M. Warren Jr., chief of The Warren Group, said in a press release. “Location matters in real estate, and here we see these key communities adding even more in terms of their home values.”

Top 10 winners
 Of the top 10, Somerville (No. 6,) and Belmont (No. 8.) both border Cambridge, while six others are with 5 or 10 miles of the city. Jamaica Plain was No. 2, having seen a 40 percent increase over the last decade that drove the median price of a home in the neighborhood to $700,000.

No. 3 was Lexington, at $950,000 after a 34 percent hike, and it’s practically next door to Cambridge and Somerville, separated only by high-flying Arlington.

After Lexington, there’s South Boston, Brookline, Concord, Newton, and Winchester.

By contrast, hard-hit old industrial towns and cities along Route 2 in North Central Massachusetts took the biggest hits to their home values.

Athol led the way down with a 36 percent plunge that lowered its median price to $115,000, followed by Fitchburg, Orange, and Gardner.

Top 10 losers
Top 10 losers

The Warren Group

 

 

“The extreme decline in median prices in these communities is unfortunate and indicative of the underlying factors occurring in each of these communities,” Warren said.

Three towns from Central Massachusetts also made the losers list: Warren (No. 4), Southbridge (No. 3), and Barre (No. 8).

Rounding off the list were Randolph, the only town in Greater Boston to make the list of the biggest decliners, and New Bedford.

However, rock bottom prices for homes and other real estate could provide some of the ingredients for a comeback for these communities as well, Warren noted.

“In order for prices to rebound, an economic revitalization in these areas needs to occur,” he said. “With low-cost housing abundant, these communities should be able to attract business relocations and start-ups.”

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general info trends

Southie Leads Development Boom

Another great post by Scott.

 

Southie Leads Boston’s Development

 

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Flickr Creative Commons

 

By Scott Van Voorhis

 

 

 

Boston.com Correspondent |

Sure, Back Bay and Downtown Crossing may have all the new towers, but when it comes to overall development activity, South Boston is arguably the epicenter of the city’s development boom.

Southie currently has 42 projects either in the planning or approval stage, under construction, or recently opened. Most feature or include new apartment rentals, townhomes, or condos, according to the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s map of the Hub’s development scene.

The developments range from converted churches to brand spanking new buildings. The luxury West Square development at 320 D Street, which is still under construction, includes 259 apartments and 143 parking spaces.

If you throw in another 22 projects happening in the South Boston Waterfront, including the multibillion-dollar Seaport Square development , the number rises to 64 – three times or more than any other city neighborhood.

Not that super hot neighborhoods like the Back Bay (11 projects) and South End (19 projects), are any slouches either.

Back Bay and neighboring Downtown include plans for the three poshest and tallest towers even built in Boston: one still in the planning in Copley Square, and construction underway at the 61-story Four Seasons Tower and the 60-storyMillennium Tower.

“There has been a big shift in our city,” said Tracy Campion of Campion & Co., the brokerage in charge of the building’s sales. “Back Bay and Beacon Hill are bursting out of their seams.”

Other neighborhoods are also seeing a big surge in development.

East Boston may now be one of the hottest new neighborhoods in terms of big projects outside of South Boston.

A trio of grand waterfront developments is in the works for the neighborhood’s once hardscrabble waterfront, including 400 new apartments and condos at Clippership Wharf.

Charlestown’s real estate market heated up a couple decades ago, much like Eastie’s is doing now. The Charlestown boom continues, with plans for 85 new residential units and public space on the first floor at Pier 5.

Fenway is another neighborhood in the middle of a dramatic transformation, from a gritty student alcove to one of the more exciting places to live in the city.

With building sites scarce in the densely packed neighborhood, developers are pushing to span the Massachusetts Turnpike with ambitious air-rights projects.

Developer John Rosenthal is lining up financing for Fenway Center , a $550 million apartment and retail project proposed for an air-rights platform over the Massachusetts Turnpike by Fenway. Plans for Parcel 7 air-rights include a seven-story residential building and a 22-story residential and office tower.

Near the Hynes Convention Center and the Berklee College of Music, New York-based Peebles Corp. is pushing plans for a $330 million air-rights project at Parcel 13, including 88 condos, a hotel and shops.

Often overlooked, Dorchester now has 20 major projects in the works, including a proposal for for 275 residential units and 143 parking spaces at 25 Morrissey Boulevard by the JFK/UMass T station, while St. Kevin’s redevelopment, now underway, features 80 affordable units.

Brighton has 21, including 1505 Commonwealth Ave., a proposal to convert an office building into 85 residential units. Allston’s 15 projects include a new proposal for 87 apartments, ground floor retail, and 66 parking spaces at 37-43 North Beacon Street.

Meanwhile, Roxbury has 20 big projects in the pipeline, a number that includes 102 residential units in two buildings in the first phase of Bartlett Place , along with 16,839 square feet of commercial space and a garage with 130 spaces. When the build out is complete, the entire development will have 323 residences.

Last but not least, Jamaica Plain has 16 new projects, including The Commons at Forest Hills Station, which calls for 283 new residential units at the former Hughes Oil site. Demolition work began last fall.

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style

Boston’s Best New Building?

Great post from Curbed.com.  Don’t you just love John Keiths comments on The Troy?  Enjoy!

What Was Greater Boston’s Best New Building of 2014?

by Tom Acitelli

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[315 on A]
Paul McMorrow, Boston Globe op-ed columnist and CommonWealth magazine associate editor: There are so many! The Burnham building on the Filene’s block is obviously the best thing to happen downtown in forever. Sasaki’s Ferdinand building looks incredible and it’s getting private developers to take a look at a neighborhood they’ve been ignoring for decades. ADD Inc.’s 315 A Street manages the neat trick of being on the waterfront without looking like a glass box that snuck in from Houston. The Lawn on D is not technically a building, but it has swings and ping-pong tables and Wi-Fi so it wins everything.
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Lara Gordon, a broker in Cambridge and Somerville: Could it be anything OTHER THAN Millennium Place? Speaking not from an architectural or design perspective, but purely for its contribution to the Downtown Crossing renaissance.

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[Troy Boston]
John A. Keith, a Boston broker: I’d have to go with the Troy, ready for occupancy in early 2015, purely for the huge balls the developer must have, building a 400-unit apartment building across the street from New England’s largest homeless shelter (and a Mobil station) and, literally, in the shadow of an eight-lane interstate highway. I also like the new 100 Pier 4 apartment building in the SBW Seaport neighborhood, also to be delivered (late) 1st Quarter 2015. Perhaps a step up from the existing Waterside Place down the street, 100 Pier 4 is the first building to be completed in the Pier 4 mixed-use development. It has the best views of the new residential buildings in the neighborhood and is the closest (so far) to downtown Boston. Of course, neither of these were completed in 2014, so may not qualify as “Best of 2014”.
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Charles Cherney, a broker in Cambridge and Somerville: If only there were new condo buildings in Cambridge and Somerville.
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Jonathan Berk, real estate attorney, founder of the BuildingBOS blog and member of Boston’s Onein3 Council: My wink goes to Ink; Ink Block by National Development: Ink Block will be opening in the coming few days and will serve not only as it’s own self contained live, play environment but will also spur growth and redevelopment of the Harrison Ave and Washington Street corridors. It will provide the South End the necessary connection between Downtown, South Boston and the South End. Game-changing retail activation (Including a 50,000SF Whole Foods) coupled with a pool, outdoor BBQ’s, grass courtyard will make Ink a catalyst for necessary neighborhood reinvestment and a destination unto itself.
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[Millennium Tower on the Boston skyline; Handel Architects]
Nick Warren, president and CEO of Warren Residential: Millennium Tower … by far. I don’t know if it officially qualifies for 2014 since it currently only has a few floors of concrete and rebar’ but it’s certainly the most exciting. There has never been a building in Boston that has received so much buzz and attention like Millennium Tower has. From their $37.5M PH to the amount of units they put under agreement right out of the gate, it truly stands out against its competition.
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David Bates, a Boston broker and our Bates By the Numbers columnist: 315 on A – the building located in a cool area that is getting cooler. It’s green and sustainable construction. The developers put a lot of thought into the features and amenities, like the best bike storage room in the city, the indoor pet refuse area, the conference rooms, the on-site art. Plus, the rooftop common area is among the best amenities I have seen.

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trends

Real Estate Trends That Defined 2014

Below is an rundown of real estate trends we saw in 2014 and a look forward to what we might see in 2015. This post provides a terrific national overview that is meaningful for our local markets as well.

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September 2013

 

 

 

By: , Real Estate News, Realtor.com

The year 2014 saw a steady build-up of housing momentum that is expected to carry the market into 2015 gains, according to a realtor.com® report released today.

The 2014 Housing Review points to significant improvements in the U.S. economy overall and low mortgage rates as fueling the housing market. However, there are also factors that continue to hold back a recovery, including tight credit restrictions and a limited supply of homes for sale.

“The strong outlook for 2015 is based in part on the improvements and momentum experienced by the economy and housing in the second half of 2014,” said Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “With several key factors turning strongly positive, 2014 was a turning point and sets the stage for a stronger recovery in 2015.”

Here are the top 10 trends of the past year, with five indications of growth and five limiting factors.

Realtor.com®’s Top 10 Real Estate Trends of 2014

Indicators of a stronger housing recovery

1. Improving economic fundamentals: After an especially harsh winter, the economy picked up steam this spring and produced a banner year for new jobs. The GDP this year was higher and is still trending higher, resulting in stronger consumer confidence.

2. Historically low mortgage rates continued: Mortgage rates declined despite the end this year of quantitative easing, a monetary policy intended to stimulate the economy. Global weakness, along with actions by the European Central Bank and central banks in Asia, kept our Federal Reserve from raising the Federal Fund Rate, which kept mortgage rates low.

3. Return to normal price appreciation: After two years of abnormally high levels of home price appreciation in 2012 and 2013, price increases moderated throughout 2014. We are now experiencing increases in home prices consistent with long-term historical performance.

4. Decline of distressed sales: Foreclosures and short sales declined throughout the year, and while total home sales decreased year over year, normal (non-distressed) home sales increased over 2013. Foreclosure inventories also fell substantially and are forecasted to be down 30% year over year at the close of 2014.

5. End of the era of major investors active in purchases: Related to the drop in distressed sales opportunities, and against a backdrop of higher home prices, portfolios of single-family homes for rent may have reached their peak this year. Large-scale investor purchase activity in the single-family market sector continued to decline, leaving more room for traditional first-time buyers.

However, we still have a ways to go back to normality.

“Despite the positives, several factors were far from normal this year,” Smoke said. “The limiting factors held back demand and even supply in 2014, but economic gains and late 2014 government housing policy actions brighten the potential for even more positive change in 2015.”

Factors holding back recovery

1. Tight credit standards: Despite historically low rates, many households were prevented from capitalizing on mortgage access because of overlays lenders added to qualification standards in order to limit their risk. As a result, mortgage credit availability did not improve in 2014.

2. Limited inventory: While absolute inventories increased as the year progressed, supply did not outpace demand. Monthly supply of new homes and existing homes remained beneath normal levels, and the age of inventory was down year over year.

3. Depressed levels of first-time buyers: The share of first-time buyers fell to the lowest level in more than 20 years, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. “But the first-time buyer share is showing signs of modest improvement by the year-end,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist. Federal policy actions, such as revised regulations for lenders and new low down-payment programs introduced in December are anticipated to have a positive impact in 2015.

4. Record levels of renters and ever-increasing rent prices: Continued declines in homeownership rates resulted in record numbers of renting households. Rent increases became an inflationary concern this year, and looking ahead, the pace of these increases is not slowing down.

5. Lack of recovery in homebuilding and low share of new home sales: Single-family starts barely increased in 2014 over 2013. New home sales remain far from normal share levels – typically near 16%, they are now around 9%. New home prices increased substantially again this year, revealing that higher priced product is limiting the demand.

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analytics

Boston Is 7th Most Valuable Market

A repost of Scott’s Zillow findings.

 Boston is Nation’s 7th Most Valuable Real Estate Market

 

Boston’s real estate market jumped $28 billion this year, according to Zillow.
Boston’s real estate market jumped $28 billion this year, according to Zillow.

The Boston Globe

By Scott Van Voorhis

Boston.com Correspondent

 

Feeling any richer? You should be. The total value of all homes and condos in Greater Boston came in just under the $600 billion mark in 2014, a new report finds.

 

 

Boston area residential values have jumped $28 billion this year, for a nearly 5 percent gain, according to Zillow.

The Zillow Home Value Index, a blend of property assessments by local officials and market prices, pegs the median home value for the Boston area at $364,900. (Zillow pegs the median rent at $2,137.)

The increase makes Boston the seventh most valuable real estate market in the country, behind Los Angeles ($2.2 trillion), New York ($2.1 trillion), San Francisco ($1 trillion), Washington ($943 billion) Chicago ($738 billion) and Miami/Fort Lauderdale ($717 billion).

Boston edged out Philadelphia ($573 billion) and San Diego ($538 billion) and smoked Seattle ($465 billion) and Minneapolis-St. Paul ($292 billion).

However, for buyers, there are two bits of good news.

First, the pace at which home prices are rising appears to be slacking off a bit. This year’s 4.9 percent jump in overall home and condo values is a step down from 2013, when Boston area real estate values hot up 8.1 percent, or $46.5 billion.

Second, inventory, or the number of homes on the market, also shows signs of improving, with 8.2 percent more listings this year compared to 2013.

Categories
trends

Boston Is Market To Watch In 2015

Great story from Boston Magazine

 

Boston Ranks as a Market to Watch in 2015

After analyzing real estate markets around the country, both Boston and Middlesex County are listed in the top 10 housing markets to watch next year.

By  | Property | December 9, 2014 4:31 p.m.
Boston Mgazine

Photo provided by Shutterstock.

Real estate search database Trulia has released their 2015 Housing Outlook report, including the top 10 housing markets to watch in 2015. After analyzing market potentials and trends throughout the country, researchers selected 10 markets with the capacity for real estate growth in the upcoming year. Factors like job growth, vacancy rate, and the amount of millennials ready to enter the work force influenced their report.

According to the report:

Our 10 markets to watch have strong fundamentals for housing activity. These include solid job growth, which fuels housing demand, and a low vacancy rate, which spurs construction. We gave a few extra points to markets with a higher share of millennials. These young adults are getting back to work and that will drive household formation and rental demand. We didn’t include markets where prices looked at least 5% overvalued in our latest Bubble Watch report.

Here are the Top 10 Housing Markets to Watch in 2015, in alphabetical order:

•  Boston, MA
•  Dallas, TX
•  Fresno, CA
•  Middlesex County, MA
•  Nashville, TN
•  New York, NY-NJ
•  Raleigh, NC
•  Salt Lake City, UT
•  San Diego, CA
•  Seattle, WA

Despite low inventory rates, over-asks, and bidding wars, the Boston market has a slue of new luxury apartments aimed at millennials, who are predicted to be one of the highest groups of home buyers this year.

Categories
architecture style

Newbury Street’s Chanel #6

 
Incredible new development at 6 Newbury Street – and  interesting thread of stories from CurbedBoston.com. 

New Twists for Two Raw Spaces at Back Bay’s Chanel No. 6

by Tom Acitelli, December 8, 2014

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The conversion of a garage at 4-6 Newbury Street in Back Bay is undoubtedly one of the most ballyhooed luxury redevelopments in Boston in eons. We’ve dubbed it Chanel No. 6 (there’s a two-story outlet for the iconic perfume peddler at the building’s base) and the handful of condos above (four or five, depending on whom you read at this point) have commanded some of the biggest Boston sales prices in recent memory. Yet, a lot about Chanel No. 6 remains mysterious.

A titanic part of the mystery stems from the condos being sold as shells. Take Units 301 and 302, the husks of which are pictured above. They traded together in mid-October for a cool $7,250,000 total. The purchaser, Boston Property Development, plans to turn the raw space into “two high-end residential condos for sale in 2015.” In other words, the luxury condos are going to be developed into luxury condos. May you live in interesting times. (H/t Buzz Buzz Home.)

· Chanel No. 6 Coming Into Its Shells Nicely [Curbed Boston]
· Our complete Chanel No. 6 coverage [Curbed Boston]