Still joy in mallville
Outlook stays bright for housing at area malls
Developers of luxury housing projects in the works at two area malls remain upbeat about their niche’s continued appeal, despite the cooling residential real estate market of the past year.
In fact, Claude Hoopes, whose Boston company Otis & Ahearn is marketing 215 luxury condos now being built by General Growth Properties at the Natick Mall, says the housing slowdown is actually sparking an increase in inquiries. Prospective buyers who would have otherwise gravitated to the Boston luxury condo market are now viewing the Nouvelle at Natick as the next best thing, he contends, now that they may not be able to sell their current homes for as much as they anticipated. At $440,000 to $1.4 million, the Nouvelle units are $200,000 to $300,000 below similar properties in Boston, Hoopes says.
Nouvelle at Natick just put up the steel for the 9th floor for its 12-story condo complex and expects to welcome its first residents in the spring of 2008, says Hoopes. His company unveiled a sales model for the development in September and has been showing it to the 250 would-be buyers who put down $1,000 a year ago to get on a priority buyers list. Thus far, Hoopes says, about 100 priority buyers have toured the model and 15 have reserved units for purchase. On Dec. 15, the model will be opened up to the general public. Nouvelle is part of a $500-million expansion at the Natick Mall slated to bring in 100 new stores, including upscale retailers such as Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. The residential condos will actually be connected directly to the mall with their own exclusive entrance and will feature a rooftop garden the size of a football field.
In Northboro, a 350-unit luxury apartment complex called Avalon Northboro, being developed in conjunction with a brand new mall called The Loop, continues through the permit process. The Loop is a 575,000-square-foot shopping mall being developed at Routes 9 and 20 by the Wilder Cos. of Boston and Brendon Properties Two LLC of Southboro.
Michael Roberts, vice president of development in the Boston area for Alexandria, VA-based developer AvalonBay Inc., says a slump in single-family home sales actually tends to help the apartment rental market. When the housing market was brisk, he says, AvalonBay saw more of its residents buy homes and move out.
AvalonBay takes a long-term view of the market for its development projects, Roberts says, and considers Avalon Northboro a continued viable attraction, because of its highway access and because it’s a distinctive and separate residential setting in walking distance to the innovative village-style mall. Avalon Northboro is expected to draw renters on either end of the homebuyers’ spectrum – those that rent prior to buying their first home, and downsizing empty-nesters. Beyond the housing market, job growth is the biggest stimulant to the luxury apartment market, he says, noting that that is beginning to happen.
Roberts says his company expects to break ground for Avalon Northboro in the spring and have the $1,400- to $1,900-a-month units ready for occupancy by the end of 2007. The $55-million, 33-acre project is contiguous to. Also still in the permit process, The Loop is targeted for completion in 2008.
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