Image courtesy of J.J. Manning Auctioneers
A lender submitted the high bid of $75 million today for a 7-acre block of South Boston parcels with potential for a large multifamily housing development.
Dot Developments LLC scheduled the mortgagee’s sale with J.J. Manning Auctioneers and was the only bidder for the 10 foreclosure parcels. Dot Developments is affiliated with New York City-based construction company J.T. Magen and Extell Development Co., which promptly issued a statement that they will pursue “a thoughtful plan” for new housing on the industrial site.
“The results of this auction create a clear path to move forward,” the two firms said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the neighborhood, elected officials and the city of Boston to advance a thoughtful plan that brings new housing to the site and activates the public realm. We have partnered with The HYM Investment Group to help us execute on finally delivering much-needed housing on this long-underutilized stretch of Dorchester Avenue.”
Tuesday’s auction proceeded despite legal attempts by South Boston developer Andrew Collins to block it as he pursues a lawsuit against Dot Developments. Collins began assembling the parcels in 2016 and later obtained financing from Dot Development LLC, although no development plans were ever filed. Collins himself is being sued in federal court by investors in his projects.
Suffolk Superior Court judge Robert B. Gordon denied a request for a temporary restraining order delaying the auction on Friday.
The lenders set a $75 million floor for bidding during the auction by J.J. Manning Auctioneers. Dot Developments already owns two additional parcels that, if they close on the auction parcels, would give them control of the entire site.
Collins began assembling ownership of parcels in the neighborhood in 2016, according to a lawsuit filed this month in Suffolk Superior Court seeking to delay the auction.
In the lawsuit, Collins claimed lenders wrongfully evicted five tenants of the properties “under escalating threats of violence” as the auction approached.
The lawsuit names J.T. Magen founder Maurice Regan as a defendant. It alleged a “fraudulent foreclosure scheme” to take possession of the parcels.
On Friday, Suffolk Superior Court Judge Robert B. Gordon rejected Collins’ request for a temporary restraining order delaying the auction.
If a third-party buyer had emerged as high bidder for the foreclosure parcels, they would have had an exclusive right to buy the two other parcels and complete the larger site assemblage, according to terms of the auction.
Instead, Dot Developments now is poised to acquire the auction parcels and move forward.
“They have the whole shebang, and at a later point they would then be able to go forward and get it permitted [for redevelopment], and the value of the land increases that much more,” J.J. Manning Auctioneers President Justin Manning said in an interview.
Dot Developments provided mezzanine financing for the parcels, according to the lawsuit. In 2024, Collins unsuccessfully attempted to renegotiate the debt, it states.
The industrial-commercial section of Dorchester Avenue between the MBTA’s Broadway and Andrew stations has been approved for major mixed-use projects by developers including National Development and Core Investments in recent years, although none of the projects have begun vertical construction.
