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ICYMI Encore Boston Harbor is Now Open In case you had skipped town for a weekend break or may be living under a rock, Encore Boston Harbor is now open. The massive, 3 million square foot project which officially broke ground in early August of 2016 welcomed large crowds on opening day June 23rd. Around 7,400 construction workers helped build the $2.6B project. The Encore features... - 671 guest rooms ranging in size from 650 - 5800 square feet- 210,000 square foot of casino space including 3158 slot machines & 231 table games- 15 restaurants & 5 shops- 50,000 square feet of meeting space- 26,000 square foot spa- Public waterfront park with boat dock

Construction Complete for The Graphic Lofts in Charlestown Charlestown's newest luxury residential project, The Graphic Lofts, is now open. The project features a total of 171 rental units, a mix of studios through three bedrooms with prices ranging from $2071 up to $6365 per month. Amenities at The Graphic include a game room, fitness center, and concierge service. The ground floor of the project also includes a 5,000 square foot commercial space. 

Exterior Work Nearly Complete for 250 North St. in Cambridge Crossing Exterior work is nearly complete for 250 North Street, future home of Philips North America in Cambridge Crossing. The 430,000 square foot lab and office building will also include 17,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, 3 levels of underground parking and a bike room with lockers and shower facilities. Construction is expected to wrap up in the first quarter of 2020.

Inside One Dalton On our previous visit to One Dalton this past fall, Boston’s newest skyscraper was still very much a construction site. Now with the Four Seasons open the property has been transformed into the 5-star, luxurious yet subtle retreat synonymous with the brand. During a tour hosted by the developer, Richard Friedman, President and CEO of Carpenter and Company, we got a look inside Boston’s second Four Seasons. The One Dalton, Four Seasons Hotel Entrance. Residents will enter through a separate entrance to the property around the corner. Developer Richard Friedman, President & CEO of Carpenter and Company, in one of the three duplex penthouses at One Dalton After buying the land 7 years ago, One Dalton has been a long time in the making for Friedman and his team. Friedman, who will live at the property himself, mentioned it has been an “amazing experience to change the skyline” and he expects when fully complete One Dalton will be the “social hub of the city”. In talking with Darren Messina, Executive VP Design and Construction at Carpenter and Company, we learned of some of the challenges the construction team faced while bringing the 742-foot tower to life on this postage stamp site. To mitigate movement, the team installed a giant belt truss around the 24th floor of the building, something that had never been done before in Boston. Messina credits Rachel Parks, at Suffolk Construction, with making this happen by creating the BIM modeling for this complex piece of the puzzle. The logistics of delivering the tons of concrete necessary for the poured-in-place reinforced concrete columns, core walls, and slabs and ensuring the proper strength also kept the construction team on their toes. The view from the last remaining penthouse home at One Dalton Up in the last available penthouse (a steal at around $40M) work still remains to be finished however the scale of the 7,500 square foot, duplex unit is impressive and the views of course amazing. Last time we visited we took the hoist elevator to the top of the tower. Luckily this time the permanent elevators were in place and when moving at top speed will transport residents to the 61st floor in under a minute. Down a few levels, interior finishing is a bit further along for the other condo residences. These homes come with a choice of 3 kitchen cabinet, countertop, and flooring options. Wolf and sub-zero appliances are of course included. While the team won't tell us how many of the 160 condo units have been sold, they did comment that One Dalton is the fastest selling Four Seasons project to date. Interior finishing is still wrapping up for the condo residences at One Dalton. On the Wellness Floor (the 7th floor) the 2,500 square foot fitness center, offers an array of equipment selected by renowned celebrity trainer, Harley Pasternak. Also on this level is the gorgeous, curved lap pool and the spa. All amenities on the Wellness Floor are available for both residents and guests to utilize. Condo owners will also have access to their own private amenities including the 24th floor Entertainment Gallery featuring a golf simulator, private theater, and family activity center. On the 50th floor, the 50/50 Club designed by the interior designer and architect Thierry Despont offers residences an exclusive club and lounge featuring more of those wonderful views of the Charles River and Boston skyline.  The Wellness Floor at One Dalton features a fully equipped fitness center, lap pool, and spa. Within the hotel's, 215 guest rooms, no detail has been left ignored including 6 different types of wallpaper in a deluxe guest room, a tv in the bathroom mirror, voice-activated remotes along with fine crystal for the bar and herringbone china for your morning coffee. The property also boasts 2GB internet, the fastest network in Boston (right behind MIT). Guests rooms at One Dalton feature a mix of modern & classic finishes. A key piece of the One Dalton finishing is the art curated by Kate Chertavian. Chertavian, who has over 25 years of experience curating independent projects, traveled the world finding unique and fitting pieces for the project with Friedman. While we are certainly not art critics, the pieces chosen throughout the lobby and hotel space are all unique and beautiful but not stuffy or pretentious. A sampling of the art specially curated for One Dalton. Our final stop of the tour was the globally renowned Zuma restaurant. The restaurant space, designed by Studio Glitz, features a variety of textures, including wood, stone, glass, and metal to offer the visitor hidden pockets of discovery throughout the space. The restaurant is definitely eye-catching and the cocktails and food we sampled were delicious. Zuma's GM says business has been busy with bookings being made 3 weeks in advance. Along with final finishing on the condos, yet to come at One Dalton is the Trifecta Bar, named for the soft triangle design of the building. Currently blocked by the crane, future guests of the hotel will walk through this bar to access the elevators. A small park across from the hotel entrance is also now underway, adding some green space to the project site. The development team expects construction to be 100% complete sometime in September.

The Davis Companies Celebrate Groundbreaking at 100 Shawmut The Davis Companies held a groundbreaking celebration for the launch of 100 Shawmut in Boston's South End. The development will feature a 13-story, 138-unit residential project with a 980-square-foot ground-floor cafe which would be located at the intersection of Herald Street and Shawmut Avenue in the South End’s rapidly developing New York Streets neighborhood. “Today, we celebrate the groundbreaking of 100 Shawmut – a project realized through a unique partnership between The Davis Companies, the Boston Chinese Evangelical Church and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association,” said Jonathan Davis, Founder & CEO of The Davis Companies. “Our collaboration has yielded a dynamic development for the historic South End and this innovative property will ensure that our Chinatown-based non-profit partners will be able to serve the community for years to come, in addition to bringing new housing and jobs to our city.” Amenities at 100 Shawmut would include a 13th-floor rooftop deck and amenity space and a 9th-floor rooftop terrace, both offering sweeping views of the Boston skyline. Select 7th-floor residences would have private balconies and rooftop terraces.  

Four Seasons One Dalton Now Open The Four Seasons One Dalton is now open and welcoming guests to its 215 rooms. Boston's newest skyscraper features the hotel rooms on the lower floors topped by 180 luxury condos. Residents and guests alike will have access to luxury service and a full suite of amenities including The Wellness Floor. Spanning the entire 7th floor, The Wellness Floor features a fitness center, 64-foot lap pool, and salon, all overlooking Back Bay.  Also now open within One Dalton is global dining sensation Zuma. Zuma specializes in dishes designed for sharing from three open kitchens: the main kitchen, sushi counter, and robata grill.

Exterior Work Wrapping up for 2 Brookline Place Curtain wall and terracotta install are wrapping up for Boston Children's Hospital's new 182,500-square-foot building at 2 Brookline Place. Roofing and mechanical work at the penthouse level area also ongoing. 2 Brookline Place will feature medical office space, ambulatory care along with ground floor retail. Construction on the core and shell is expected to wrap up in October with tenant fitout to follow. Next door at 1 Brookline Place, work is nearly complete for the expansion of the existing building with final painting and connection and testing of MEP controls wrapping up. 

Innovation Point Acquired for $252 Million Alexandria Real Estate Equities has acquired the property at Innovation Point in Boston, MA for $252,000,100 from GE and MassDevelopment. The parcel consists of two historic six-story brick Boston Wharf Company warehouse buildings at 5 and 6 Necco Street and a section of the existing Gillette parking lot. Designed by Gensler, GE's approximately 2.5-acre, 390,000 square foot campus will restore the existing warehouses. Approximately 1.5 acres of public space will be constructed at Innovation Point, including a Harborwalk extension. The campus will also include a coffee bar and waterfront restaurant space on the ground floor.

Demo Underway at 112 Shawmut Ave in the South End The partial demo of an existing six-story former office building at the corner of Shawmut Ave. and Herald Street in the South End is underway. The street-facing facades will be saved and incorporated into the design of the new 13-story building. This building is set to include 139 residential units along with a ground floor commercial/restaurant space and parking for 110 cars. Resident amenities will include a rooftop deck with Boston views.   112 Shawmut Avenue is one of three buildings that will be part of the Shawmut Avenue/Washington Street Block re-development that will create a total of would 536 residential units along with additional commercial and community space. The second building in the project, 120 Shawmut Avenue, will include the expansion of the Boston Chinese Evangelical Church to consolidate BCEC’s services onto one site. The third building, 50 Herald Street, currently owned by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of New England building will contain 313 residential units with ground floor retail, commercial, cultural, and/or community space along Washington Street.    

Construction Wrapping up For the Graphic in Charlestown: First Residents Expected to Move in May 1st Construction is nearly complete for the Graphic Lofts in Charlestown, with first units expected to welcome residents on May 1st. This unique project combines the renovation of the existing Graphic Arts Building and a new construction four-story modular building. In total the building will include 171 apartments, ranging in size from studios up through 3 bedrooms. The project also includes around 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. The Charlestown location offers easy access to the MBTA Orange Line and is also next to the Hood Business Park undergoing its own redevelopment.

Construction Nearing Completion at One Dalton: Expected Opening Late April The tower crane for the 61-story One Dalton has started shrinking as construction is nearing completion for one of Boston's most anticipated projects. The 712,500 square feet development will include 180 luxury condos along with a 215 room Four Seasons Hotel. Residents and guests alike will have access to an array of amenities including a fitness center and spa with lap pool, Zuma Restaurant, and a 5,000-square-foot park designed by award-winning landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh. One Dalton is expected to open late next month.

Nantucket Cottage Hospital Cuts Ribbon to Open New Facility Doors opened to patients for the first time Wednesday at the new Nantucket Cottage Hospital. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the $90 million dollar building, which replaces the old facility built in 1957. The hospital is the first in the state to get a total replacement in four decades. The 106,000-square-foot hospital will feature state-of-the-art equipment and expanded outpatient service, along with inpatient care and surgery, providing a central location for the community’s health care needs, including primary care, emergency, specialty care, and diagnostic testing. The hospital features 14 inpatient beds, 29 clinical exam rooms for primary care, expanded labor and delivery services, a new heliport landing, a trauma room, five infusion bays, and 12 emergency examination rooms. “Nantucket is small, but we can do big things,” said Dr. Margot Hartmann, the hospital’s president, and CEO. Hartmann said seeing the first patients come in made it feel like it was the birthday of the hospital. “It’s a goosebump feeling,” she said. Hartmann said the hospital is the main ingredient which allows for Nantucket residents to have a quality of life 30 miles from the mainland. “People rallied to that story and that realization and it has been remarkable to see how the community has come together for its hospital and its future health care,” she said. The project was paid for entirely through private donations, free of debt and with no taxpayer dollars. More than $100 million of a $120 million capital campaign has been raised. “This is the largest capital campaign for a community hospital in American history,” said Bruce Percelay, the chair of the capital campaign. More than half of the number of donations came from Nantucket residents. “The way people stepped up, from lemonade stands through multi-million dollar gifts, was extraordinary,” Percelay said. Percelay said the new hospital is a legacy gift to the island for the next generation of residents and visitors. “There probably is not one single institution on this island that has more impact than a hospital,” he said. The hospital will house seven primary care doctors on site with 29 exam rooms. The hospital regularly sees 10,000 to 12,000 emergency room visits each year, along with delivering 150 to 160 babies. It averages 250 year-round employees with more seasonal staff hired for the summer tourist season. Hartmann said the new facility will help in the hospital’s efforts to attract and retain staff. “The costs of rapid turnover will diminish significantly,” she said. “That has already been true. Our recruiting has really become a pleasure.” Hartmann said he heard someone ask if they are hiring during a recent community open house. “I’ve been here almost 20 years and I’ve never heard that,” she said. The next phase of the project will be to demolish the old building and construct a new parking lot. Affordable housing units for staff will then be constructed. “Housing on Nantucket is a crisis and the ability to attract quality medical personnel without quality housing is quite difficult,” Percelay said. The building will focus on more transient workers, including visiting nurses, experts from Massachusetts General Hospital and other consultants. “This will provide really a first-class living environment that not many other institutions on the island are in a position to create,” he said. The housing component of the project is not expected to be completed for about two years. Via Capecod.com