Scott Van Voorhis
Speculators from across the globe have made a fortune flipping condominiums in some of the most luxurious towers on Boston’s skyline.
But in a move that will surely be watched closely by his fellow developers, Richard Friedman, who is building the posh new 61-story Four Seasons tower in the Back Bay, is putting his foot down in a bid to keep the speculators out – or at least in check.
I caught up with Friedman last Tuesday as the well-connected Democrat – maybe best-known for lending out the Vineyard estate where President Bill Clinton spent his summer vacations back in the ’90s – was nervously monitoring election results.
Friedman confirmed that the sales contracts buyers are signing for condos in his $750 million tower include a one-year prohibition on resales.
It is a move that comes after a surge of condo flipping at two other luxurious condo addresses that recently joined the Hub’s skyline, the new Millennium Tower in Downtown Crossing and 22 Liberty over on the waterfront at Fan Pier.
“That is correct,” Friedman said. “We are definitely discouraging speculative investors. We are trying to sell only to people who intend to live here.”
So why not take investors’ cash? After all, a dollar is a dollar and Friedman, like any developer, needs to move his condos.
Friedman contends that letting investors swoop in and cherry-pick his condos would betray buyers who are actually planning to live in his new tower, not flip their units to make a quick profit or, failing that, rent them out for $30,000 a month.
Given the amount of money condos at the new Four Seasons tower are expected to fetch – anywhere from $2 million to $20 million and up for some penthouses – that seems like a wise decision. If you have people willing to pony that kind of cash, you had better deliver.
“I think that the high-end buyer wants to know they are in a building that has residents in it,” Friedman said. “We
are building a community of people and not a whole bunch of investors.”
And one of those residents will be Friedman, who, with his wife, Nancy, has already picked out a condo on the 49th floor. It’s not for show – Friedman says he plans to live there full-time, just as he did at his Charles Square project in Harvard Square, which includes both condos and the Charles Hotel. (One reason Friedman picked the 49th floor condo is because it does not have decks, a feature of the penthouses but something that Friedman didn’t particularly want for his own unit.)
Perks at the uber luxury tower include a 70-foot pool, the longest in Boston, a just-for-residents restaurant on the 50th floor, and a private theater. The condos themselves are designed take maximum advantage of the spectacular views, with 11-foot high ceilings and windows in most units, rising to 14 feet in the penthouses.
Still, beyond keeping his buyers happy, there are other reasons why Friedman has decided to keep the speculators at bay.
All one needs to do is take a look at the rival Millennium Tower, which opened over the summer. The developers, Millennium Partners, are effectively competing with condo flippers as they try to finish selling off the remaining units.
Millennium has 12 condos at the tower listed for sale, but they face competition from 12 condos now being resold by investors.
For his part, Friedman noted he is regularly approached by investors and condo speculators looking to scoop up as many as five condos at a time so they can resell them.
The answer, though, is invariably the same – a simple “no,” he noted.
So how many of the Four Season’s 180 condos are under contract?
While the scuttlebutt in the market is 40 percent or even half, Friedman wasn’t biting. Ditto for talk that at least one unit – a penthouse – had fetched $5,000 per square foot. Given the penthouses boast a spacious 8,000 square feet of living space – about the size of four suburban Colonials – we could be talking of a price approaching $40 million.
“It has been stated by multiple parties they have done some very some very, very high-end price-per-square foot deals,” said Kevin Ahearn, president and owner of Otis & Ahearn, a downtown luxury brokerage and marketing firm.
Like his efforts to keep the speculators at bay, Friedman has also run a tight ship when it comes to the marketing process, with few leaks.
Tracy Campion, the empress of the luxury condo sales market, is leading the sales charge. Campion, in turn, is working with a few trusted brokers with experience dealing with the kind of clients who can buy a multimillion-dollar condo at the Four Seasons. They even have their own title – “ambassadors.”
The tower itself is two years from opening, with work on the sky-rise itself about to begin soon after intensive work on the underground foundation, which goes all the way down to the bedrock.
In the coming months, the tower should begin to take shape fairly rapidly at its perch next to the Christian Science Church and the picturesque reflecting pool, Friedman noted.
“I think the new Four Seasons will be one of the most iconic buildings to grace the Boston skyline for many years to come,” said Michael Carucci, executive vice president of Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty, who confirmed he has sold units at the new tower.
Maybe the new Four Seasons will be speculator-free – though it’s never a good idea to underestimate determination of those pesky condo flippers to cash in on a good deal.
