The most notable transaction of 2018 was the consummation of the sale of 84 Old Tower Hill Rd. in Wakefield, R.I. This transaction involved the sale of the former Fred Smith automobile dealership, which was one of the last under developed parcels of commercial land in town. The property consisted of five acres with an older dealership building. The process began by
Ultimately, interest rates will impact what the year will look like as a whole, but I do think we’ll continue to see the redeployment of existing buildings converted into apartments and office space.
I also think we’ll see more historic and old warehouse space utilized for mixed-use with residential components. Rhode Island also has room and a demand for additional housing
Our most notable transaction for 2018 was the sale of 28 Fenway in Boston which was brokered by our Colin Moynihan, senior partner capital markets. The building is a former MIT fraternity house with approximately 17,500 s/f with adjacent parking and is located in the rapidly gentrifying Fenway neighborhood of the city.
The completion of construction of the 200,000 s/f clinical development manufacturing facility for Moderna Therapeutics in Norwood, Mass. As the architect-of-record, we faced many challenges in all phases of design, but the team successfully delivered the project on time for a production start for Moderna in July.
In the same way that the stock market has been volatile due to accelerating domestic and international pressures, the restaurant industry in New England has seen a shift in trends. People are further integrating food in all aspects of our daily lives. Whether it’s a daily routine of fast food, casual dining, or the tradition dinner, eating out continues to expand. However, in some quarters,
I am encouraging my clients to look at their overall portfolio and consider re-allocating assets to decrease risk. Multifamilies will perform well in 2019, given rising rents, population growth, and strong demand from both millennials and baby boomers.
We worked with a family that owned an apartment building and all the siblings had different goals and agendas they each wanted achieve. We were able to quickly and efficiently sell the apartment building and our 1031 Exchange desk was able to facilitate the replacement property, helping the family acquire a single tenant net leased passive income property.
The sale of a 10-acre development site in Cumberland, RI that took 2.5 years to close, but most notably, I grew up in town and the buyer and seller were both friends from high school, on either side of the deal.
Two big projects standout for us: One was a commercial property portfolio on which we were able to work very closely with the property owner, their lender and various other interested parties to bring the transactions to completion. The other was a bank-owned estate in Southern Connecticut–it was the largest single family transaction in that area in 20 years.
As a construction company working in multiple sectors, we try to keep an eye on trends across all markets. I would say that from our perspective, all of these markets continue to look very strong. Commercial real estate accounts for a majority of the facilities and properties that our clients choose to occupy and develop, we are optimistic and enthusiastic about these areas.
