Here are two of the things I love most about my job: (1) that I’m not stuck at a desk all day; and (2) that I am always getting to discover new things about our cities. Mostly it’s in the form of learning about great little bakery or coffee shop in the neighborhood of one of my listings (recent score: Bob’s Italian in Medford — gives anyplace in the North End a run for its money), but sometimes it’s on a grander scale, like last Friday, when I got to go on a hard-hat tour of development in downtown Boston. Here’s a recap:
Stop #1 — Kensington Place at 659 Washington Street (corner of LaGrange) — this 27-story apartment building, which will have 385 rental units, should be complete in about a year. You can read more about it in a Boston.com piece from last March. As you can see from the picture below of me and my colleague Natasha Burger, work is in progress.
Stop #2 — Millenium Place at 580 Washington St will be a 15-story mixed-use residential property with retail, parking and 265 condo units ranging in price from $550,000 to $3,350,000. Should also be done in about a year. The picture below shows the view toward the park, with The Sports Club/LA on the left.
Stop #3 — The Burnham Building (better known as the former Filene’s) — this project includes not only the Filene’s building itself, which will become office & retail, but also a brand new tower next door, to be named Millennium Tower, and consisting of something like 600 condo and apartment units. The tower is slated to be 52-stories high, making it the tallest residential building in the city, and the third tallest overall. You can read more about it in the Boston Herald’s coverage from last month. The image below is the interior of the Burnham building, gutted and ready to be renovated.
Stop #4 — The site of the future Walgreens Emporium (where Border’s Books used to be) — a super-deluxe, 24,000 sf Walgreens where you can buy fresh sushi and have your eyebrows waxed? Yes, it’s true. Read more about what to expect at Boston.com now, and see for yourself in April 2013, when it’s slated to open. The picture below shows the exterior, but the inside is what should be truly amazing
Stop #5 — 45 Province — our tour wrapped up with a reception at the lovely 54 Province condominiums (see my related post)– although this opened in 2009, there are still many units available, my guess is because it’s taken people a while to wrap their heads around the idea of living “downtown,” but the trend is catching on, with more and more people making their homes here. Now if only there were a grocery store…