There’s also not nearly as much building activity in areas outside the immediate Boston area, raising concerns about an uneven regional recovery. Here’s a look at some of the different construction sectors in Massachusetts:
Multi-Family Residences By far, the apartment-building sub-sector is the healthiest construction field in Massachusetts. It’s not just healthy – it’s hot. At least a dozen major apartmentbuilding projects are now under way or close to development in the Boston area alone, from the 286-unit Victor complex in the North Station area to the 184-unit Maxwell’s Green in Somerville. AvalonBay broke ground last month on a new $100-million, 28-story apartment complex on Exeter Street in Boston. The Avalon Exeter, which is expected to create about 300 construction jobs, will have 187 apartment units. The Avalon Exeter project came on the heels of last year’s completion of a 382-unit apartment development 18
Winter 2011
by AvalonBay in Northborough – and now AvalonBay is eyeing yet another 404-unit apartment project on Stuart Street, near the Prudential Building in Boston.“The apartment recovery really began about a year ago,” said AvalonBay’s Roberts. “The demand is there.” He noted the market for apartment developments is helped by low interests rates and stabilized commodity prices, at least for right now. Jim Kelleher, chief investment officer at the New Boston Fund, a real estate investment firm, said the multi-family building market is quite strong, while other sectors remain a “completely different picture.” New Boston Fund is a partner in a plan to develop a new 345-unit housing project on Parcel 24, at the corner of Hudson and Kneeland streets, in the Chinatown area of Boston. The ground breaking for the $130 million project is set for next year.
Life Sciences The life-sciences sector – which includes biotech, pharmaceutical and medical-device companies – has also withstood the economic downturn
rather well. The most high-profile life-science construction project is the new Vertex Pharmaceuticals headquarters building, now under way on Boston’s Fan Pier in the Seaport District. Harvard University, meanwhile, has signaled its desire to soon resume work on it mammoth Life Science Center in Allston, after mothballing the project soon after the Wall Street meltdown in 2008. There are a handful of other lifescience construction projects under way in Cambridge, for institutions ranging from Biogen Idec to the nonprofit Broad Institute. The biggest surprise: an actual speculative project under construction by Skanska Development, a unit of the giant Skanska Construction. The 120,000-square-foot lab building at 150 Second Street, in the Kendall Square area, doesn’t have tenants yet. But Peter Bekarian, senior vice president at Jones Lang Lasalle, said he’s optimistic occupants will be found. JLL is the marketing agent for the new facility. “It’s a fundamentally sound move,” Bekarian said of starting construction on a speculative building at this point. “The Boston economy is improving a little, and the life-sciences [sector] in Cambridge is definitely strong.” Skanska has already starting clearing the site for the new lab facility, tearing down older buildings and getting other prep work done. Construction within the life-sciences sector is a big boost for the economy, but it isn’t necessarily wideranging enough to spur growth elsewhere in the state. “If you go beyond Cambridge, it’s not very encouraging,” said Catherine “Cappy” Daume, managing director of Boston’s Davis Cos., a real estate investment, development and management firm.
Office and Other Sectors The office construction market isn’t a complete disaster. After all,