"Loft"y Expecations? (oooh, sorry)

[azores.livejournal.com]

Anyone have any inside scoop on the status of the lofts being built on Howard St., right on the bike path? They've been building these forever (construction for at least 2-3 years now) and their web site says "...We expect...an expected occupancy date of September, 2005....The following three buildings ...will be available for sale and occupancy in the spring/summer of 2006."

Obviously that schedule is shot all to hell, for, while the exteriors seem pretty well finished, none of the interiors seem habitable. I'm only curious because I live on Jay St. so have been watching the slow developments for some time now. Anybody?

Comments

[beezy515.livejournal.com]

I don't have any inside info, but I do have a guess. They were probably planning on staggering the condo sales so the income from the first condo sales would then fund the next phase of development. Maybe that hasn't worked out for them and they have run out of money.

[azores.livejournal.com]

I agree. I'm no expert about the real estate market, but I have to think that a 1 or 2 YEAR delay in a project like this, with all the myriad of cost overuns such a delay engenders (extra financing costs, opportunity costs, additional construction costs), coupled with significant recent softening of the real estate market, has got to mean that somebody is taking a bath on this endeavor.

[azores.livejournal.com]

But I should add that construction has not stopped. It continues, so I don't think they've run out of money. To be honest, I don't think there has been any work stoppage since they started the project, which makes the length of the project time even more puzzling.

I don't actually know anything useful...

[thrasher543.livejournal.com]

but from googling around I found this: www.davissquarelofts.com (http://www.davissquarelofts.com/contact.php) page. I think this is the project you're talking about, and there is contact info for the developer so if you're *really* curious you could call :)

Re: I don't actually know anything useful...

[azores.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that is the web site from which I pulled the quotes in the original post. Call me jaded but I'm not optimistic about getting the straight dope from the developer. I'm sure the story would be spun to attribute the delay to "adding additional exciting lifestyle improvements to the units". Such as windows, walls and a roof.

Davis Sq. lofts and Building 5 lofts

[secretlyironic.livejournal.com]

I took a tour of the first phase of the project when it went on the market a couple years ago-- that portion of the project is already complete and sold/rented out. Probably not for their initial asking price, but they definitely went. They were *very* beautiful, although out of my price range by a long shot.

davissquarelofts.com is the first phase, and they haven't updated that page in forever. Buildingfivelofts.com is the second phase and is more about green/sustainable stuff than the first. (At least, that's how they're selling it; it could be more or less the same designs and different marketing).

They also are selling condos in a triple-decker on Gorham St-- at least one of those three is sold, maybe two, I'm not sure.

Anyway, it's a big project and while I doubt it's on schedule, I don't know that I'd write it off as never-going-to-be-completed either.

There ARE an awful lot of condos coming on the market in the area though-- enough to make me hope that I'll eventually be able to afford one. There are a bunch up on the bike path on the far side of Mass ave under construction, plus the BrickWorks lofts over near Rindge, and then a scattering of rehab-and-conversions of old multifamily buildings between Willow and Broadway.

Re: Davis Sq. lofts and Building 5 lofts

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

56 Gorham? The top two units have sold. The first floor listing just expired (yesterday), and will likely come back on shortly.

Plus the gut reno on Russell & Mass Ave, the stuff going up on Mass Ave closer to 16, the development on Willow & Morrison, etc. (There is also the Trolley Square development by the bike path on Mass Ave, which is Affordable Housing and not for the general market.)

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

If these are the buildings I'm thinking of on Tannery Brook Row, they were once proposed as a co-housing project, but among other things, the prices were way too high for that to succeed, so it was eventually called off.

I am a real estate agent, so if you or someone else really wanted more info, I could dig it up. Also, if you're interested in looking for a place, I am available to represent buyers.

[abilouise.livejournal.com]

Also I believe that the original builder decided to pull out of the project for financial reasons, which would certainly account for the delays.

buyer's agent

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

Ooh. Not ready to look just yet, but this is good to know.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

They've been building these forever (construction for at least 2-3 years now) and their web site says "

actually, much longer, they had just started (I think) when my husband and I moved here, which was in 2000. so it's been at least 6 years.

[azores.livejournal.com]

Not sure about that (unless we're talking about different projects). We bought our place on Jay St. in 2001 and it was a year or two after that that I watched them demolition the previous structure on that land to make way for this project.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

we're talking about davissquarelofts, that borders the bike path between Cameron Avenue/Mass Ave and Davis Square, right? several wood buildings, and also the original brick building in the back that has been converted? They have been working on that since late 2000... when i used to walk to the T on the way to school at Boston University, I would get cat called by the construction workers. They converted the brick building (that abbuts the bike path) first, then went on to demolition other structures and build new ones. Sounds like we are talking about the same place. Either way, they have been taking forever on it!

[ron_newman]

This project used to be called Davis Park and it sure is taking a long time, isn't it?

The site used to have a great photo essay about Davis Square, but the Internet Archive hasn't stored it especially well.

[billharnois.livejournal.com]

They've had one of those building erected for years now, and they still haven't finished the interior of it. What I don't get is that they've built 2 new building since then, over the past year, rather than finishing/selling the first building first.

I've been in a few of these and they are very nice and unique. Maybe it takes longer to order the stuff that they need to build these special places. I don't think they're making them out of the usual Home Depot stock.