Rendering of LINX - Watertown, MAWatertown, MA Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) has arranged a $60.67 million construction loan for the development of LINX, a 185,595 s/f, speculative office development. HFF worked on behalf of the borrower, Boylston Properties, to secure the three-year, floating-rate loan through Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, acting on behalf of an institutional client.
The current single-story, 93,000 s/f industrial building began its transformation into LINX, a creative office building, in October 2015. Upon completion, which is slated for early 2017, LINX will offer tenants class A, innovative office space boasting a two-story atrium, 14’ and 30’ ceiling clearances in office space, LEED-certification, and a private shuttle bus to Harvard Sq., among other highly desirable amenities that simply cannot be achieved within the four walls of existing office product. LINX will be purpose-built creative space, flexible and functional, designed to meet the requirements of today’s office tenants.
The HFF debt placement team representing Boylston Properties was led by senior managing director Frederic Wittmann.
LINX’s location at 490 Arsenal Way is located just off of Arsenal St., a corridor of Watertown that has been the focal point of activity with both under construction and proposed developments attracting top tenants, such as athenahealth, to the area. The 10-acre site is just four miles west of Boston, close to Harvard Business School, Cambridge’s Kendall Square, Harvard Square and Alewife. This prime location allows LINX to offer prospective tenants a better “inner urban” location than the vibrant, but suburban, office and tech communities of central 128.
Boylston Properties has been active in investment and development in the Watertown market for the past 15 years; most recently acquiring 570 Arsenal Street and developing a 150-room Marriott Residence Inn on the site, and the redevelopment of The Arsenal Project, in addition to LINX.
“The Arsenal Street corridor in Watertown is a viable alternative for the oversaturated Kendall Square office market, the extremely congested West Cambridge/Alewife market and the suburban markets of central 128,” said Wittmann. “With proximity, pricing and a new purpose-built, highly efficient building, LINX will be extremely attractive to new and existing tenants.”
Boylston Properties is an urban mixed-use developer based in Boston, with more than 30 years of experience in a wide range of successful projects including corporate office headquarters, retail, multi-family residential, mixed-use properties and hotels.
Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC, with subsidiary and affiliate offices in the U.S., UK, Europe, and Asia, is one of the largest global real estate investment managers. It provides core and value-added investment and advisory services, including a comprehensive suite of private and public real estate debt, equity and securities expertise and services, to institutional and other qualified investors around the globe. Cornerstone is a member of the MassMutual Financial Group.
HFF and HFFS (HFF Securities L.P.) are owned by HFF, Inc. HFF operates out of 22 offices nationwide and is a leading provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services to the U.S. commercial real estate industry. HFF together with its affiliate HFFS offer clients a fully integrated national capital markets platform including debt placement, investment sales, equity placement, advisory services, loan sales and commercial loan servicing.