I am pleased to announce those of us at www.bostoncondoblog.com have started our own real estate brokerage here in the Back Bay of Boston.  The Warren Residential Group specializes in Boston real estate including buying, selling, renting, and landlord representation. 

We are also very excited to launch our website www.WarrenRE.com  This will provide our customers with the ability to search live rental listings from over 3000 landlords, buildings and mangement companies in the greater Boston area, search the MLS for the entire state of Massachusetts and have every listing automatically mapped on Google Maps, and browse our Luxury Building Gallery which showcases all of Boston’s most luxurious buildings such as the Ritz Carlton, InterContinental, 360 Newbury, Heritage on the Garden, 45 Province, One Charles, and more and provides you with a live feed of their current, pending, and sold listings!

We are looking forward to helping you rent, buy, or sell your Boston real estate in the near future!

Sincerely,

The Warren Residential Group

The Ritz Carlton, The InterContinental, The Mandarin Oriental, Atelier 505, The Four Seasons, Le Jardin.  These buildings all come to mind when you think of luxury condos in Boston.  But what are really the top 3 buildings for Boston’s luxury buyer?

Here are my top 3:

1. Ritz Carlton Towers – With views to die for and still hints of that new construction smell, the Ritz Carlton has become the most heavily requested building in the city for the luxury buyer.  With many different floor plans and views to choose from there is something here for everyone.  Most units come with a Valet parking space and you have access to all of the world famous Ritz Carlton hotel services such as the concierge, room service, maid service, etc.
2. One Charles – After Millenium Partners success at the Ritz Carlton, they followed up with another home run of a property called One Charles.  The One Charles condominiums were completed in late 2005 and featured many of the finishes that people love at the Ritz Carlton.  With a fantastic concierge and staff, One Charles has quickly become a favorite with the luxury buyer.  One of the major perks you get with One Charles compared to the Ritz is a Back Bay zip code.  You also get an onsite gym, sauna, boardroom, library, and daily morning coffee and tea.  From the North Tower you also get some of the nicest views of Boston Common that are available.  Direct access parking also comes with many of the units.
3. The Heritage on the Garden – I had a lot of trouble deciding on what building to choose for #3.  I decided to go with a classic, Mr. Druker’s Heritage on the Garden.  This building is still very highly sought after even after being around for two decades!  What sells this building is location.  You do get concierge and some very nice common areas but to be this close to Back Bay proper and have quick access to shopping and entertainment is what makes this building so spectacular.  The views of the public garden from the Heritages large windows make the price per square foot skyrocket in some of the units.

Now I know many people will have different opinions about this list.  My main criteria was feedback from my buyers.  You may like a loft building like 360 Newbury, Wilkes Passage, or Laconia Lofts.  Or you might like a boutique building like The Pope above Mistral, Le Jardin with it’s incredible floor through homes, or the Belvedere at the Prudential Center.  These are all incredible buildings and I’m interested in what your favorites are.  Please feel free to leave your comments!

Mr. Ahearn from Otis & Ahearn does us all a huge favor and puts out quarterly reports on the downtown Boston condominium market.  Just a few days ago he released his Year End report for 2006.  Even though not all sales have been reported, 2006 looks like it will report around $2.2+ billion in condo sales in Boston.  This makes it the third year in a row with sales over 2 billion.

He goes on to say,

The last two months of the 4Q of 2006 saw a significant pick up in activity.  It appears that those buyers who had been hesitant on the direction of pricing and held off purchasing during 2006 have re-entered the market (I can vouch for this myself just based on traffic reported and leads generated during these months on my companies websites).  This increase of buyers coming off the sidelines is reflected in the drop in inventory during 2006.

Inventory continued to drop dramatically during 2006 and, as of year end, projected total inventory is trending between 3.5-4 months’ supply which should, with continued demand, put upward pressure on unit pricing in 2007.  Note NAR national existing single family homes inventory increaed consistently during 2006 to 7.3 months’ supply, which is a completely different trend compared to Downtown Boston condominiums during 2006.

 The previous paragraph, and more importantly, the final sentence of that paragraph, is what people who are debating on purchasing a condo in Boston should pay attention to.  Do not pay attention to the ads about the bubble bursting or prices falling because in Boston, it’s just not true. 

He then points out the top reasons why 2007 will end up starting off a lot stronger than 2006:

• Subsiding of the bubble theories & stories
• Increasing consumer confidence levels
• Record stock market year
• More certainty of mortgage rate(s) direction
• Expanding economy (locally and globally) other than national housing & automobile
• Leveling off/reduction in housing inventory
• Continued strengthening of the commercial real estate market
• Continued population shift and demographic housing trend to downtown and urban neighborhoods by the substantial number of potential buyers that fall into one of three categories – young professional singles & couples, divorced middle age singles and empty nesters

I’m curious to see what you think of these opinions.  Please feel free to comment!

In a speech this morning, Mayor Menino annouced his plans to again try to sell City Hall and City Hall Plaza to private developers.  The sale of this under-developed land would provide more than enough proceeds to fund the development of a iconic new City Hall on Drydock Four in the new and up-and-coming “Seaport District”.

My Thoughts:  I am almost always a fan of redeveloping under-developed land and completely support this proposal.  What are the drawbacks?  None that I can see.  Developers get a blank canvas to add to Boston’s skyline with more residential and mixed-use properties and the city get’s rid of one of the ugliest buildings ever constructed.  This also should bring some attention to the newly developed “Seaport District” and most likely bring in better public transportation as well.

Eurovest, a local development firm, recently was selected to lead the development of an 11-acre, $500 million dollar project at the Wonderland beachfront area.

According to the Boston Globe, “The $485 million proposal includes 902 market-rate residential condominiums, a hotel, an office building, shops, restaurants and jazz clubs, a 12,000-square foot cultural center, and parks and plazas to connect the train station and Revere Beach. When completed in 2019 , the development would produce an estimated $10.5 million annually in taxes and fees for the city and could lead to the creation of 850 permanent jobs.”

The model of development they will be following is transient oriented similar to that of the Northpoint project in East Cambridge.  What this means is that they will incorporate commercial and residential building centered around public transportation.

My Thoughts: I am excited to see all of this development happening in the Revere Beach area.  It was once a center of entertainment and fun and I think could be again if properly planned.  They are doing the right thing by centering this around public transportation because that is what will make or break this project.  The idea of living on a beach in a brand new luxury condo and being only a short 10-15 minute T ride to downtown should appeal to lots of people.

Source:  Eurovest to lead Wonderland project By Katheleen Conti, Globe Staff