As the developers of the One North of Boston on Heard Street put the finishing touches on their first phase of residential development last summer – some 230 apartments in a once-dilapidated corner of the city next to Rt. 1 – they sat around a table and contemplated what to do next.
With a second phase of 222 units planned, they decided to wait a bit and take the temperature of the situation in Chelsea before moving forward.
The readings on that temperature gauge proved to be hot, and the need to wait was soon unnecessary, according to those same developers.
Now, with their first phase completely leased up, Gate Residential and TransDel have broken ground on the second phase one year ahead of schedule and are preparing to deliver those 222 new units in April 2016.
“Why did we move so quick?” asked Kyle Warwick, a principal at Gate. “The FBI project broke ground, the Silver Line is coming and we had great success in our Phase 1. We really did say we would wait to see how those three things progressed and all three have come through. So, we went for it.”
City Planner John DePriest said they helped review plans for the new project and did everything they could to help expedite the process. He said the City is thrilled to see that project move forward so far ahead of schedule.
The second phase of One North is located just across Maple Street from Phase 1 and will be delivered in two portions – the first coming next April and the second next June. It will look similar to Phase 1, but will have more masonry work – with Warwick saying they will look related, but won’t be identical. He also said they would have complimentary amenities, with another pool planned and an indoor half-basketball court. The move to invest more in the project that was seen as a risk is something that he said banks on the outright success of Phase 1.
“We leased up Phase 1 two months after completing the project,” he said. “We did the project in two parts – April and June of last year. By August, we were 100 percent leased and we continue to be 100 percent leased. We sped up the process and took about a year off of Phase 2. We wanted to be on the heels of Phase 1…We lined up our equity and debt and ran to the start. Usually, it is a quiet period during the early process of construction…We like to come out quick and build momentum. We will be delivering into next year’s market. That comes in April 2016.”
Warwick said they would likely open a leasing office in January 2016 to begin the marketing for those properties
Furthermore, he said the project is a hot commodity for his company especially due to the Silver Line – which officially started work last week. He said once that is built out and there is a direct connection to South Station, Chelsea will have a unique accommodation on the public transit system.
“When that’s up and running, it means Chelsea’s got the only North-South connector in all the Commonwealth,” he said. “It really will be an extraordinary thing and one reason we’re so excited about this project…We’ll have 452 units; that’s a very big project. It’s fitting into the community. It’s connected to rail. We’re in walking distance of downtown and to the restaurants. There’s a lot of activity in Chelsea.”
Gate Residential is based in Boston and TransDel is a partnership of Mark Robinson and Mark White.