Newbury Street & Boylston Street – two Boston streets that are sought after for being homes to luxury restaurants, residences & of course, shopping.  Some locals use the rule of thumb that the closer you are to the Boston Garden & Boston Common, the better the location.  I don’t necessarily disagree, as convenience to the beautiful greenery in Midtown is quite desirable for luxury stores & beleive me, they pay a premium for it.  

As of late, Newbury Street continues to keep the reputation of delivering luxury within the first few blocks (Arlington, Berkely & Clarendon).  With the construction of new luxury condominiums in place of the a parking garage, rumors of a Prada store & a re-location of the Chanel store, the beginning of Newbury Street will certainly attract even more foot traffic.  The big changes that have led me to start question the retail future of the beginning Boylston Street is the sudden move of Shreve Crump & Low, the closing of the very popular Filenes Basement & Borders Books.  Those are three extremely large commercial spaces, all on the same block.  With no current plans for The Borders space or The Filenes Basement space, it leaves a large question mark for the beginning of Boylston Street & their retail aspect. The foot traffic has picked up on the Exeter block of Boylston thanks to the The Tannery’s flagship store – but I think its important that a Flagship Restaurant or Retail store moves into both old spaces to bring a bit more flow from one end to the other.  Luckily, Restoration Hardware will fill the old Louis space which will bring traffic to both Newbury & Boylston Street as it has exposures on both sides.  I think a Bloomingdales & a flagship restaurant would deliver a whole new feel for that block of Boylston.  Bring in a big name chef, new concept & re-create a buzz over there that creates a seamless flow from Boylston Street to Newbury Street.  New luxury residences are popping up on the early blocks of Boylston, like the beautiful 410 Boylston Street, lets give buyers a reason to move there & bring something new to their doorstep.  The last thing we need is another bank taking over a potential space (old Anthropology space will be a bank).  I’d love to hear the thoughts of other Bostonians & realtors in the city!  For pricing information on commerical/retail space in this location or for showings at 410 Boylston Street, please contact Evan@northeastre.com. 

Thankfully they had at least one supporter, Mayor Menino was present during ground breaking on September  23rd as work began toward finalizing the last piece of the residential aspect of the Prudential Center. These units will lease at a premium but tenants will have immediate access too covered parking, a supermarket, retail stores and restaurants, plus all the amenities of the Back Bay.

Market-rate units will be available in a range of sizes and prices. Rents for the 32 studio apartments, with 500 square feet, will start at about $1,800 per month; the 52 one-bedrooms, with 800 square feet, will begin at $2,500; and 83 two-bedrooms, with about 1,350 square feet, will go for $3,500 and up. For those awaiting more rental units in Boston, Avalon Exeter will be ready sooner than you think.

Their sights were set on the Seaport district, or as Mayor Menino dubbed it,”The Innovation District,” thinking that a lively area with ever-increasing commercial and residential activity would be the perfect change. They do not just want to move operations though, they’re set to increase office space from 10,000sq.ft to nearly 15,000sq.ft with plans to hire additional staff. Seaport Place is set to be KHJ’s new home and while they are not the first company relocate in Seaport, they part of a wave. Ideally located with brand new facilities and some of the best views in Boston. Charlestown may be where KHJ is from, but the Seaport is better representation of where they are going.

Is the North End over priced? On one hand it’s a beautiful, quaint place to call home, but on the other hand it has plenty old buildings, wriggled with tourists and an ever increasing rowdy young crowd. There’s is a (relative) high rise located in the North End immediately before Atlantic Ave turns into Commercial that faces the ocean and boasts some expansive views of Boston. In the Summer, you’d be heart pressed to find a nicer place to call home in Boston, and during all of the other months your view may just keep you sane.

On September 13th #5B 5F (a unit in the building) saw a price reduction from over a $Million to $999,000, which is a significant and timely drop for any buyer. The North End’s rental prices have been sky rocketing causing a downward pressure on sale prices which, is most certainly the case here. Even if you were to pay one dollar under a million for this unit it would be a steal, with that said, no one is buying luxury units for their seemingly nominal market value, which begs the question of why Atlantic Ave?

The location is great and there are not many comparable units at this price. Residents are in the North End and on the Waterfront while enjoying close proximity to Faneuil hall, the West End and downtown. Deeded garage parking is located directly beneath the building. This home boasts a spacious 1,250 sq. ft liv

ing space with a modern kitchen, balcony and five separate rooms. If your looking to live in the North End and maintain luxury, add 63 Atlantic Ave to your lists of places to see.

The rarity of Bradley Mansion is the massive living spaces made available on Commonwealth Avenue; while exhibiting the expected classical views. With 86 ft wide frontage space and 16 ft high ceilings, these units are incomparable to any in the area. Your home or place of luxurious play have the soul of the most spectacular town-homes built in Boston with the modern qualities buyers have come to expect. The astounding lobby will leave you breathless even before you see the any of the three to five bed units that range from 2,200 to 5,000 sq. ft. Boasting options for full floor privacy and heated deeded private parking, The Bradley Mansion has overlooked nothing on their way from transforming town house mansions to new world luxury units. Live the wealthy lifestyle in the Back Bay as it was intended.

Myself and two other guys from the office decided to our auction licenses this week.  We’ve got another class left before we’re official, but we’re gearing up and are excited to add yet another branch to our already lengthy resume of things we do.  Its not something we’re completely prepared to run wild with quite yet, but we figured that it is a great alternative for some of our clients that are looking to sell their homes.  Some homes have been sitting on the market for hundreds and hundreds of days, with no hits, no showings and no interest.  For whatever reason it may be, these homes have not been purchased and are not getting the circulation needed to get any offers on the table.  Having the proper knowledge and license to auction property may come in handy during times like this.   Its a grind preparing for an auction, a lot of marketing, phonecalls and time needs to be put in, in order for the seller to get quantity and quality buyers, deposit ready on the auction block.  It becomes an Open House, except everybody in attendance has some intention of purchasing this home. Of course you’ll get your mix of everyday auction go-er’s trying to score a deal, but mixed in there are serious buyers that are ready to bid.

Our perogative is to get our seller the price they intially wanted and hopefully have some attendees get into a bidding war, have egos take over and get our seller a bid that is over the desired amount/worth. The more we learn about the process, the more learn how big of a mind game auctions are.  It has a lot to do with the auctioneer himself and the audience.

Eventually we’d like to team up with banks and lawyers, pick a niche and market auction property, but for now we are going to use it as an additional tool and service to offer to our sellers. Please contact me directly (Evan.NortheastRE@gmail.com) if you’d like to use our auction services or want to learn how to obtain an auctioneer license.