It's taken a few years, but the renaissance East Boston's waterfront is happening.Construction is finally underway on one major residential project and a second is expected to be permitted by year's end. Earlier this year, construction commenced on Portside at Pier One, the $67 million luxury apartment project on the waterfront by New Jersey-based Roseland Property Co., a division of Mack-Cali Co. By December, the state permitting should be completed on the $87 million Boston East project that will include 200 apartments on Border Street. Trinity Financial said they are planning to close on purchase of the 7.5- acre city-owned former marine rail and shipyard from the Department of Neighborhood Development for $2 million later this year.
"East Boston is the next frontier in the city of Boston for development," said Abby Goldenfarb, Trinity's project manager. "A combination of Roseland's project and the market coming back created the perfect timing for us. The question is whether we can create a project that will attracts those rents. We think we can, we just need to convince investors."
One of the biggest challenges still facing both development teams is whether they can get rents in the $3 to $3.50 range per square foot or about $2,800 per month, a price that has yet to be achieved in the neighborhood.
Courtesy of Thomas Grillo
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/real_estate/2013/09/east-boston-rebirth-underway.html