Inside the construction of one of Somerville’s first luxury condo buildings

By Megan Turchi @meganturchi
Boston.com Staff

December 21, 2015 11:07 AM



Though the proposed MBTA Green line extension into Somerville is now in question, it was this prospect that helped propel parts of the city toward a gentrified world more often seen in Boston and Cambridge.

197 Union Square, a 30-unit luxury condo building currently under construction, is opening a new chapter, and a new neighborhood.

"There’s just nothing here," Barbara Mihalko, the sales director for 197 Union Square, said regarding the luxury housing market in the neighborhood. "It’s a re-gentrification of Union Square. Nothing has been developed. This will be the first of many to come."

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New Additions to Redbrook!

Congratulations!
Clare McDermott (left) with newborn son Declan
Celeste Villano (right) with newborn daughter Scarlett

TCC wins eight PRISM Awards in 2015!

When we win, you win.

When it comes down to it, the real awards are the results of our premier marketing campaigns. But it's nice to know our peers agree!

• Gold Award for Most Valuable Team Player
  The Collaborative Companies, Laura Maginnis
• Silver Award for Best Sales Team of the Year
  Sepia - The Condos at Ink Block:
  Beverly D'Agostino & Colleen Daniels
• Silver Award for Rising Star of the Year
  Sepia - The Condos at Ink Block: Creign Carr
• Gold Award for Best Land Planning
  Redbrook: A.D. Makepeace
• Gold Award for Best Detached Home Under 2,500 SF
  Redbrook: A.D. Makepeace / Valle Group
• Gold Award for Best Detached Home Under 1,800 SF
  Redbrook: A.D. Makepeace / Valle Group
• Gold Award for Best Showroom or Sales Center/Builder
  Redbrook: A.D. Makepeace / Valle Group
• Gold Award for Best Website: Community/Builder
  Redbrook: A.D. Makepeace

This 30-story luxury condo tower represents the next phase for Fenway neighborhood

By Scott Van Voorhis
Boston.com Correspondent

October 26, 2015 9:46 AM


Things have certainly changed in the once grimy neighborhood around Fenway Park, with one of Boston’s most prolific tower builders moving ahead with plans to plant luxury condos near the antique ballpark.

After building hundreds of deluxe apartments around Fenway, developer Steve Samuels now believes the neighborhood is ready for its first upscale condos, which, given the market, could easily sell in the high six if not in the seven figure range.

Read more here...

China's Ripple Effect

As its markets slide, its economy weakens, and its currency declines, many wonder if Boston’s real estate market will suffer -- but short-term,it may gain

By Tim Logan
GLOBE STAFF

With money from their country’s booming economy and seemingly unstoppable stock market, wealthy Chinese and corporate investors have spent some of their profits halfway around the world, buying into Boston’s red-hot real estate market. But after days of sharp declines on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, a currency devaluation by finance ministers in Beijing, and growing concern about a broad slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy, there are big questions about how much longer that money will keep coming.

Read more [GLOBE BUSINESS ARTICLE PAGE 1]...

Read more [GLOBE BUSINESS ARTICLE PAGE 2]...

T uncertainty shakes developers, buyers

Many count on Green Line expansion to boost values

By Dan Adams
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

The $5 million listing for a rundown strip mall on Broadway boasts of the Somerville property’s redevelopment potential because of its proximity to a planned Green Line station. The Green Line is also a bragging point for the builders of a 30-unit condo building -- some priced as high as $750,000 -- on Washington Street near Union Square, its sales pitch concluding: "It’s not just a home, it’s an investment!" Around the corner, a nervous first-time home buyer rationalized buying a condo just above his price range as a “responsible decision” because the coming Green Line would boost its value.

Read more [GLOBE ARTICLE PAGE 1]...

Read more [GLOBE ARTICLE PAGE 2]...

Samuels’ Fenway Tower Announces Leasing And Sales Agent

Boston-based Samuels & Assoc. has named The Collaborative Cos. of Boston as exclusive sales and marketing agent for Pierce Boston in the Fenway neighborhood.

Check Out the First Rendering of Fenway's Pierce Boston

Tuesday, July 28, 2015, by Tom Acitelli

Developer Samuels & Associates, the folks who brought you the Van Ness among other big-time projects, is out with the first rendering of what it's calling the Pierce Boston. Designed by Arquitectonica, the tower will stretch to 30 stories at 188 Brookline Avenue in busy, busy Fenway.

Read more at Boston.Curbed.com...

Channel 5's Chronicle features Ink Block and Siena!

<< WATCH IT HERE >>

<< WATCH IT HERE >>

Will Maisonettes Catch On in Boston? The Ink Block Gambles

Elkus Manfredi Architects
A rendering shows the entrance on Traveler Street
with the maisonette units on the ground floor.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015, by Tom Acitelli

Maisonettes, those de facto townhouses within buildings that have their own street-level front doors, are not unheard of in Boston. They're just not as common as, say, in Manhattan, where every dowager residential pile comes with one or two of the little houses (the word's literal meaning in French). So we're a tad surprised to read about the ambitions of the folks behind the Ink Block mega-project in the South End.

Read more >>

In condo plan, a high style at street level

Pricey ‘little houses’ in South End to test appeal to buyers

Elkus Manfredi Architects
A rendering shows the entrance on Traveler Street
with the maisonette units on the ground floor.

By Casey Ross Globe Correspondent  May 05, 2015

As a rule of thumb, the most desirable condominiums are perched high in the sky, offering panoramic views and an elevator ride to the ground floor.

But a developer in the South End, emboldened by the city’s red-hot housing market, plans to bring the idea of luxury living down to earth. Condo buyers, meet the maisonette.

Read more at BostonGlobe.com >>

New Projects Coming Soon!

Assembly Square - Somerville MA

Black Birch - Concord MA

Bromfield Street - Mid-town Boston

Telford - Allston MA

Moorings II - Hingham MA

Here Is the Last Condo Left at the Unfinished Sepia Boston

Boston.Curbed.com

Friday, April 10, 2015, by Tom Acitelli
'Tis no secret that the Sepia Boston, the 83-unit condo component of the South End's Ink Block mega-project, is mostly sold out—despite the fact that it's still under construction and doesn't open until later this year. Now it's really mostly sold out: About 18 months after hitting the market, the Sepia Boston has exactly one unit left for sale.
READ MORE >>

Belclare Sells Out!

Cindy Dwyer, Belclare Sales Director and Jordan Warshaw, Developer
Celebrate the sellout of Belclare - 5 months before Certificate of Occupancy!

Zillow's 'Starbucks Effect' Has Venti-Sized Holes

Courtesy of BostonMagazine.com

By Bryanna Cappadona
In a recent study, Zillow gives Starbucks a lot of credit for dramatically impacting home values. Insight from property pros, however, suggests the coffee chain might not be worthy of all the credit in these quarters. READ MORE

Yappy Hour @INK

City approves 30-story Fenway tower

A rendering of the proposed Point project in the Fenway.

By Jack Newsham | Globe Correspondent  February 26, 2015

The Point, a proposed tower at the western edge of the Fenway meant to serve as a gateway to the neighborhood, is now planned to be even taller.

The glass-and-steel Park Drive building would cap a stretch of developments by Steve Samuels, whose company during the past decade has built several residential buildings with ground-level retail space in the Fenway. In 2013, Samuels & Associates formally proposed replacing the single-story sub shop at Brookline Avenue and Boylston Street with a 320-apartment glass tower.

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Why Ted Tye is bullish on a hotel at Ink Block (Video)

By Catherine Carlock
Real Estate Editor-
Boston Business Journal

The Ink Block project on the edge of Boston's South End neighborhood has steadily been gaining momentum, with a 50,000-square-foot Whole Foods and apartment buildings One Ink and Two Ink opening in January. Read more here...

Ted Tye, managing partner of National Development, on site at the Ink Block project in Boston's South End.

Ink Block Developer Unveils Plans for European-Style South End Marriott

Nate Boroyan - City News Writer

02/02/15 @11:14am in City News

Ink Block developer National Development Monday morning announced plans to build a new European-style Marriott hotel on Albany Street, adjacent to its much talked-about mixed-use project in Boston's South End.

The new "European-inspired" AC Hotel by Marriott will occupy the former sites of FW Webb and Independent Taxi, both of which were previously acquired by National Development, a press release states. Construction on the new 200-room hotel is expected to begin later this year, with a grand opening slated for early 2017.

Read more...

Related Stories in other publications

Boston Herald
Developer Releases Plans for New South End Hotel

Curbed Boston
First Details on the Hotel Opening Next to South End's Ink Block

Banker & Tradesman
200-Room Hotel is Next Phrase of Ink Block Development​

​Boston Hospitality & Tourism Blog
New AC Hotel by Marriott Coming to South End​

Raising the Bar on Condo Prices

By Steve Adams, Banker & Tradesman Staff

Will Foreign Buyers Push Them To Next Level?

Read full article here...