While a lot of attention has been given to the larger residential projects in the Hub, there are a number of new, smaller boutique buildings that promise buyers and tenants something more distinctive.
"In a smaller-scale building you can pay much more attention to the quality of the design and the details," said Damian Szary, a principal at Boston-based Redgate Real Estate Advisors, whose Gate Residential unit is developing a nine-story condo complex along Congress and Farnsworth streets in the booming Seaport District. With its floor-to-ceiling glass windows all around, Zero Farnsworth will be strikingly contemporary in an area of brick warehouses.
"We are pushing our architects (Boston-based CBT Architects) to go above and beyond in terms of design and style," added Szary, who expects construction to begin in the second half of next year. "Our goal is to create a product that Boston hasn't seen before."
There's no question that new units in boutique buildings elsewhere in the city are selling for a premium. The five-unit Chevron on Tremont in the South End sold out in preconstruction, commanding $3-million-plus prices. And three units have sold in a six-condo complex above a Chanel store at 4-6 Newbury St., dubbed Chanel No. 6, with prices ranging from $5.5 million to almost $8 million.
"Some buyers and renters would rather be one of 10 people in a building rather than one of 250," said Szary, whose company also developed the 184-unit Maxwell's Green luxury rental complex in Somerville.
A high-end rental project at 22-26 West Broadway in Southie looks like it was designed for a European city. The three mini-tower complex is the brainchild of local developer Jason Cincotta and architect Michael LeBlanc of Hub-based Utile.
"We want to provide a different kind of rental experience, something not mass-produced, that creates a feeling of a small community," said Cincotta, owner of Evergreen Property Group, adding that the 31 units in the floor-to-ceiling glass-faced towers will have 16 different floor plans, luxury condo finishes and common spaces that will encourage residents to get to know one another.
LeBlanc, whose firm also designed the successful First & First 23-unit townhouse condo development, thinks there is a pent-up demand for high-design units in smaller buildings.
"And with a thoughtful use of space and materials and attention to design, you can provide a great residential experience without a lot of added cost," LeBlanc said.
With some 6,000 new rental units expected to come on line in the city over the next several years, boutique buildings differentiate themselves from larger projects designed to appeal to a wider segment of renters.
Take the Fox Residences, a 14-unit rental building that for many years housed the Strawberries record store on Washington Street downtown. Before that it was the Art Deco design headquarters of furrier I.J. Fox. An affiliate of Hub developer Core Investments is refinishing the building's two-story black granite exterior that's framed by a brass ziggurat. And they have uncovered and are refinishing an interior vestibule that features a fox head in relief on bronze panels, brass moldings as well as a stylish Art Deco skylight. Upstairs are 14 two- to four-bedroom units with Brazilian cherrywood floors and Silestone counters, priced from $2,650 to $5,600 a month, many with great downtown views through large windows.
"It's unique," said Alicia Ingalls, a principal at Bulfinch Boston Realty. "It doesn't feel like a vanilla box or a hotel. Boutique buildings like this feel more personable."
Broker Ralph Aucella of Keliher Real Estate, who is handling rentals for the Fox building that opens next month, said boutique buildings are popular for other reasons, too.
"They have a little more character and a little more privacy," Aucella said. "They're good places to be if you don't want a concierge in your business 24 hours a day."
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