Nordic Properties reportedly has agreed to purchase the Hoffman Building at 160 North Washington St. in Boston’s North Station district, with plans to convert the commercial building into residences.
If current trends continue, there may be a few more If you lived here, you’d be home now signs hanging around Boston’s North Station.
The slogan, made famous by the Charles River Park residential complex anchoring one end of the district, could be increasingly in vogue at North Station if the plans of two local development groups come to fruition. According to industry sources, Nordic Properties is close to acquiring the Hoffman Building for a residential use, while Cathartes Investments is said to be mulling a similar function for its 121 Portland St. building a few blocks away.
Nordic Properties principal Ogden Hunnewell acknowledged last week that his company does have the Hoffman building (aka 160 North Washington St.) and an adjacent property under agreement. He also confirmed that his company has retained CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares to create a re-design for the aging structures.
Beyond acknowledging that residential is the primary intention at this stage, Hunnewell would not reveal details of the plan, citing the evolving nature of the proposal, as well as the need to meet with the appropriate agencies to gather their input prior to finalizing the concept. We’re very excited about the property and the prospects, but it is too early in our evaluation process to provide specifics, said Hunnewell.
Based in North Station, CBT has designed a number of residential projects in recent years, perhaps most notably the successful Trinity Place luxury condominium building that opened last year in the Hub’s Back Bay. Currently, CBT is the architect for the Clippership Wharf residential project planned for East Boston and is designing a mixed-use venture slated to be built over the Massachusetts Turnpike extension in the city’s South End. The focus of the South End project is also residential.
While praising CBT’s expertise in that arena, one source maintained that the firm faces a hefty chore to convert the buildings into a residential address. Built in 1910, the hulking property has unusually low ceilings, as well as deep floorplates that could hinder natural light, said the source, who is familiar with the building. The proposal will also have to navigate the state’s onerous Chapter 91 process, which governs waterfront development, and the project team would be required to contend with such agencies as the Metropolitan District Commission as part of a mandate to restore the property along the abutting Charles River.
It will be difficult to make it work, claimed the source, adding that the cost of acquiring the property could be the X factor in making the proposal feasible. Earlier this year, sources had placed the asking price in the $30 million range, but that figure may have eroded. Previous buyers had been focusing on the building for a commercial use, while the real estate market has deteriorated significantly in recent months. Hunnewell would not say how much Nordic bid for the asset.
Portland Trailblazers
Cathartes had been one of 160 North Washington St’s previous suitors, but the firm broke off negotiations earlier this year, reportedly due to a combination of the slowing economy and the building’s physical shortcomings. With a philosophy of turning acquisitions around quickly, Cathartes and the short-term capital providers behind the deal reportedly felt it would take too long to reposition the property.
North Station had been a prime target of Cathartes in the past few years, with the real estate investment company purchasing both 225 Friend St. and 121 Portland St. The company made a quick profit when it sold 225 Friend St. for $8.1 million 14 months after buying it, but was not quite as masterful in yielding any upside from the Portland Street investment. Cathartes bought the building in September 2000 for $6.6 million, initially marketing it as a telecommunications data center. That approach buckled in lock step with the crumbling technology sector.
Given that recent turn of events, one broker said Cathartes has now turned its focus for the building to a residential concept. They are taking a hard look at it, said the source.
The prospect of people living in North Station is certainly not novel, especially given the presence of Charles River Park, a complex of upscale apartments and condominiums developed in the 1960s and 1970s. More recently, the Lowell Square apartments opened up along Lomasney Way, while the Intercontinental Cos. of Brighton recently held a topping off ceremony for 226 Causeway St., a former bakery that is being converted into office space and residential units.
Among those who are happy to see increased residential units in the area is Robert O’Brien, executive director of the Downtown North Association. I wouldn’t discourage that at all, said O’Brien, who nonetheless said he was unfamiliar with Cathartes’ strategy for 121 Portland St.
O’Brien did offer one caveat, however. Noting that North Station’s main focus in on commercial and entertainment uses, with 15,000 people regularly pouring into the area for Fleet Center events and to visit local bars and restaurants, O’Brien said those seeking to live in the district would have to be mindful of that reality.
We are open to residential [projects], but it would have to be the kind of residential that is supportive of the existing economic conditions in the [district] rather than being incompatible with it, he said.
