Image courtesy of CBT Architects
Timing is paramount in real estate, and the Fallon Company’s new One Harbor Shore condominiums begin closings this week at an uncertain moment in the luxury condo market.
The 122-unit project – built on the last residential parcel at Fallon’s Fan Pier – has presold more than a third of its units, as Boston’s decade-long luxury condo boom draws to a close.
“We were very patient [on breaking ground in 2025], because we knew there was other product in the market,” Fallon Company Executive Managing Director Richard Martini said following a presentation on the project and media tours on Tuesday. “We tried to time it to make sense with the rest of the market. Obviously, we wish some of the things happening in the world weren’t happening right now, but it has pluses and minuses.”
According to a midyear report by The Collaborative Companies, there were 451 unsold units at new luxury condo buildings in Boston: nearly two-thirds of which are located at a pair of recent projects, the Ritz-Carlton South Station Tower and Winthrop Center. TCC is also heading up sales for One Harbor Shore.
A boutique condo tower at 55 India St. is scheduled for completion in 2027.
No other projects are scheduled to break ground in the urban core, capping inventory of new luxury units.
While local competition from development is decreasing, condo developers now face headwinds from the Federal Reserve’s efforts to control inflation.
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate had climbed to 7.4 percent as of Oct. 8, according to Freddie Mac, following the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate hike in more than three years and bond market fears about inflation.
Prices range from $1 million to $10 million, and will be periodically adjusted to reflect sales trends at various prices and unit styles, Martini said. Since The Fallon Company began the marketing process nine months ago, it has maintained or slightly increased asking prices, he said.
Approximately half of the new owners at One Harbor Shore are cash buyers, Martini estimated.
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Designed by CBT Architects, the 15-story tower overlooks the Fan Pier marina. Units have 10- and 11-foot ceilings, and resident amenities include a landscaped “Sky Terrace” and lounge.
According to the TCC report, luxury buildings were a leading segment during the first half of the year: Closings rose nearly 56 percent to 65, in the strongest quarter since late 2023. Average prices in the luxury segment declined 1.6 percent to $1,748 per square foot.
The opening of One Harbor Shore marks the completion of The Fallon Company’s Fan Pier, a 3 million-square-foot mixed-use project that included construction of the Vertex Pharmaceuticals headquarters, offices leased to MassMutual and three luxury condo towers.
The property was coveted as a cornerstone of the emerging Seaport District – then known as the South Boston waterfront – beginning in the 1980s. Construction of a new federal courthouse and completion of the Central Artery Project with its new highway connection added to the neighborhood’s demand for housing and commercial space.
The Fallon Company broke ground on the first office building on speculation in 2007, and offered free rent to a Cambridge tech incubator. Former Mayor Thomas Menino amplified the district’s attempts to compete with tech clusters such as Cambridge’s Kendall Square with his designation of the neighborhood as Boston’s “Innovation District.”
Other developers followed including Boston Global Investors, which received approval for the Seaport Square project in 2010, and built out portions of the project before selling other parcels to WS Development.
A penthouse unit at One Harbor Shore. Photo by Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
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