375 Lee St., Brookline
With the economic outlook improving, are luxury home sales picking up this spring in desirable communities like Brookline? The answer is yes – and no. Some segments of the high-end market, particularly homes priced in the $2 million range, have seen a flurry of activity in recent weeks. The Chestnut Hill office of Hammond Residential GMAC Real Estate recently attracted multiple offers for two homes priced between $2 million and $2.5 million, according to James Nemetz, who manages the office. But homes in the $3 million and above price range apparently aren’t faring as well. “The market is very segmented,” said Nemetz. “We’re seeing some weakness in the very high range.”
There were 30 homes priced $2 million or higher listed for sale in Brookline last week. One $2.9 million Colonial has been on the market for more than 240 days – or about eight months. The highest-priced property, an 11-room Colonial located on a 10-acre private sanctuary at 145 Clyde St., is listed for an eye-popping $19.8 million.
Not too far from there is a 6,000-square-foot, contemporary-style residence that’s being built at 375 Lee St. near The Country Club. Nemetz’s office has been marketing the home since before last fall. Originally listed for $4.95 million, the mansion is currently being advertised for $4.65 million. David Geffen, a well-known developer of upscale residential properties in Brookline and Newton, started building the home more than a year ago. Geffen’s firm, Geffen Construction Co. in South Natick, is the same firm that constructed the spacious mansion on Singletree Road recently purchased by Boston Red Sox owner Larry Lucchino.
Geffen came upon the Lee Street project when he bought and renovated a home on Clyde Street that sold late last year. (The home included a developable parcel that faces Lee Street.) Kathy Krongel, one of the listing agents for the new Lee Street home, said the bathrooms, kitchen, landscaping and staircase have yet to be completed. Unlike a lot of McMansions that are completed within a matter of months, a lot of painstaking, intricate old-fashioned carpentry work has gone into the home, says Krongel. A curved staircase is being built onsite, for example. “It takes the high end to a whole different level,” she said. Even though there are design plans for the kitchen and bathrooms, Geffen hasn’t completed them because he’s hoping to get some input from the buyer. “At that price point you want to be able to do some customizing for people,” Krongel said. While some potential buyers have emerged, the home is still on the market. Might sound like a long time to be on the market, but as Krongel pointed out, there aren’t “loads of people in that price range so naturally these properties take longer to absorb.”
Small Change
OPEN GATES: Henry Louis Gates Jr., a well-known scholar of African-American studies, has sold his home at 22 Francis Ave. in Cambridge for more than $3.67 million. Gates and his wife, Sharon Adams, sold their 12-room Victorian to Kelsey D. Wirth and Samuel S. Myers. Gates and Adams made a hefty profit on the sale, having purchased the home in 1995 for only $890,000. Gates, chairman of African-American studies at Harvard University, almost left the Ivy League campus about two years ago after getting an offer from Princeton University. At the time, Princeton had lured two of Gates’ Harvard colleagues, including Cornel West, who had gotten into a major tiff with Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers. It was reported back then that Gates had started looking for a new home in Manhattan, leading to speculation that he would accept Princeton’s job offer. But Gates eventually decided to stay in Cambridge. The Teller wonders, is Gates house-hunting again?
COMMON GROUND: Real estate investor and developer Alan M. Leventhal recently purchased a condo unit in Boston for $2.48 million. Leventhal and Robert J. Casey purchased a unit at 51 Commonwealth Ave. on May 14 from 51 Mass Condo Trust and Beal Mass Ave. LLC, according to records from the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds. Leventhal is chief executive officer of the Boston-based real estate investment company Beacon Capital Partners which last year paid $910 million to buy the John Hancock Tower and complex in the city’s Back Bay area.
Weekly Statement
“This is the most exciting development opportunity in Boston since the Prudential Center.”
Matthew J. Amorello, chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which last week put up 10 acres of land for development near the Rose Kennedy Greenway.
