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Image courtesy of Google Maps
Leggat McCall Properties and DLJ Real Estate Partners are expanding their real estate footprint in Somerville’s Boynton Yards with the $60 million acquisition of a pair of parcels including Riverside Properties’ 561 Windsor St. which is the home to Taza Chocolate and tech startups.
The Boston-based developer paid $40 million for the 94,000-square-foot warehouse-to-office conversion at 561 Windsor St., and $20 million for a parking lot on Windsor Place. The combined parcels total just over an acre.
The two properties were previously acquired by Newton-based Riverside Properties in 2018 for $20 million.
Along with the chocolate maker, the 4-story building at 561 Windsor St. has attracted venture capital-backed startups including virtual reality researchers and robotics manufacturers during its ownership by Riverside Properties.
In a statement, Leggat McCall and DLJ said they plan to “convert the building’s use back to its maker roots in an effort to preserve and grow the creative enterprise, maker and artist community in Boynton Yards.”
Development activity is exploding in Boynton Yards and nearby Union Square with the scheduled completion this fall of the MBTA Green Line Extension, with its station on Prospect Street.
The property is next to the South Street site where Leggat McCall and DLJ received Somerville planning board master plan approval in February for a 1.4 million-square-foot development. The project on South, Ward, Harding and Earle streets would include nearly 1 million square feet of commercial space and 340,000 square feet of residential space.
The developers are nearing completion of a 289,000-square-foot office-lab building at 101 South St. that’s already attracted a 208,000-square-foot lease by Cambridge-based biotech investor Flagship Pioneering and its platform companies including Tessera Therapeutics, Cellarity and Laronde.
