Boston Needs No Benchmark

Boston has once again been ear-marked as the runner up, second on the scene, younger sibling, and wannabe, to New York City. This past week's Boston Sunday Globe published the article "The Manhattanization of Boston", where the city's recent construction boom of high-end and high-priced condo developments was referred to as a reaction to what is already available and already been done in New York. If there's one thing Bostonians don't respond well to, it's beling pinned beneath the Big Apple, and being told they're unoriginal. However, later in the article, it was noted that many developers said it's less of Boston catching up with New York, rather Boston playing its part in an era of International modernism within urban condominium developments.

All of the developments mentioned in the article are featured on BostonCondoGroup.com. For more information on any of them, please click on their links below:

Residences at Battery Wharf

Residences at The Intercontinental

45 Province Street

Ritz Carlton Towers

One Charles

Trinity Place

The Belvedere

Mandarin Oriental Boston

Taj Boston

The Heritage on the Garden

Sources: "The Manhattanization Of Boston" Thomas C. Palmer Jr., The Boston Globe, March 25, 2007

Developers of 45 Province Not Afraid of "Slow Market"

This past weekend, two of Boston's most published real estate resources,
"Boston Homes" and the Real Estate Section of the Boston Globe, both
featured the newest high-rise development to hit Boston, known as 45
Province. The 31-story mixed use building will feature one, two, and
three bedroom units, ranging from 800 to 2,600 square-feet. This asthetically pleasing high-rise is being erected in between Downtown Crossing and Boston Common, and has an anticipated completion date of Spring 2009.

The developers and marketing team for the development are by no means scared of all the "bursting real estate bubble" talk that everyone who even pretends to know anything about real estate is talking about.
Prices for the units are going to enter the market at some of the
highest prices (per square-foot) in all the city, starting at an average selling price of $900 per square-foot. The newest publications compared 45 Province to three other high-end developements, Residences at the Intercontinental, Battery Wharf, and The Mandarin Oriental, as developments that are near to setting records for units sold on a price per square foot basis. The Mandarin Oriental is the runaway leader with sale prices of $1,600 per square-foot, followed by Battery Wharf at around $1,250 per square-foot, and Residences at the Intercontinental at $975 per square-foot. While each of these developments will offer a wide array of amenities, such as state of the art fitness centers, spas, indoor pools, numerous restaurants, and spacious outdoor areas, one must wonder when the development, and therefore demand, of these massive, multi-million dollar projects will begin to slow down. Developer confidence, reflected in these selling prices, seem to hint that that time won't be in the near future.

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