The Hive @ Boynton Yards
Now Available to Somerville Artists and Makers
Additional Collaborative Space and Community Festivals Planned
SOMERVILLE, MA, November 1, 2021 – After acquiring the 561 Windsor Street building and its adjacent 0 Windsor Place parking lot in May, Boynton Yards developers DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners, LLC ("DLJ RECP") and Leggat McCall Properties (“LMP”) have progressed with plans to reincarnate the building to its intended use as the “Boynton Hive,” offering more arts and creative enterprise “ACE” space at affordable rents while also supporting individuals and businesses rebounding from COVID displacement.
The 4 + 5-story, 95,000 SF mixed-use commercial building is well known by the Somerville community as the “Taza Building” where Taza Chocolate maintains its office headquarters, factory, and retail store. The building and lot are adjacent to the site of the second lab building planned for Boynton Yards slated to begin construction by the end of this year as part of the approved master plan special permit under the City’s new zoning code adopted in 2019.
“The artists and makers of Somerville’s cultural core are without rival and have always been the market differentiator that attracted us to invest in Somerville many years ago,” said John Fenton, development manager of DLJ RECP on behalf of the DLJ/LMP project team. “As we welcome scientists of Flagship Pioneering life science companies to occupy 101 South - our first Boynton Yards building delivered and the first lab building in Somerville - we hope the Boynton Hive welcomes and attracts more eclectic and diverse talent to complement our evolving Boynton Yards micro-community to further support the City’s creative economy.”
Current available space ranges from 1,000 SF studios to 10,000 SF suites with open floor plans, and Somerville-based artists and makers are encouraged to inquire and tour. Taza plans to remain as a key anchor tenant for the foreseeable future and recent agreements with QRST, Artists Asylum tenants, local concert producer ONCE and others have already boosted the building’s ACE occupancy to over 60%.
Boynton Hive tenants will benefit from being culturally connected to the 1.8M+ SF Boynton Yards community with opportunities to contribute to public art installations, retail pop-ups, demonstrations, classes and celebrations to merge and promote cultural diversity and innovation. To date, nearly 30 concerts and Boynton themed events have been held on the 0 Windsor parking lot with more free community events planned through the end of the year. Boynton’s first civic green space is also slated for its first community event activation with BY WinterFest in December as part of Union Square Main Street’s Holiday Stroll.
As plans to improve the Hive’s building façade, streetscape and interior common areas are underway, vacant units in the building are actively being utilized for community purposes, including Boynton’s first construction job fair held last month co-hosted by Somerville Community Corporation, First Source and the City of Somerville. Additional job fairs will be held for local residents and further industry connections made for Boynton Hive tenants who are seeking new employees.
“We’re pleased with Boynton’s progress to date toward executing Mayor Curtatone’s and the Union Square Neighborhood Council's vision for Somerville with the completion of Somerville’s first lab building.” added Fenton. “We now look forward to working with Mayor-elect Ballantyne on issues to further support the Somerville community, including mobility management solutions, inclusionary housing, and additional public green space.”
For information on space availability, contact Olivia Paolano @ Olivia.Paolano@dljrecp.com.
About Boynton Yards: Boynton Yards is an evolving 1.8+ million SF micro innovation community of Somerville residents, artists, makers and scientists with plans for three Class-A lab/office buildings, 430 modern apartments, abundant public green space, a winter market and community center. Making history, 101 South will be the first lab building to be developed in Somerville and will also offer arts and creative enterprise space (ACE), brewery, retail, and a conference center. Flagship Pioneering life science companies have signed a lease for the building and will begin occupancy this November. Building 2 is slated to begin construction in late 2021. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and sign up to receive the Boynton Beat in your inbox for the latest news. Boynton Yards is humbled to partner with the Community Action Agency of Somerville (CAAS) as its social impact partner.
About DLJ RECP: DLJ RECP is an independent, vertically-integrated real estate investment management firm targeting investment and development opportunities in the dynamic neighborhoods of major US cities. DLJ RECP was founded in 1995 and has offices in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong. To date, the company has executed over 200 real estate investments with a total transaction value of over $16 billion, representing over $4.5 billion in invested capital. Across DLJ RECP’s 20+ year history, the firm has built a strong track record of success through ground-up development and intensive redevelopment real estate projects. DLJ RECP’s projects include large scale residential, office, and retail developments, as well as historic redevelopment and preservation projects all built to an institutional standard.
About LMP: Founded in 1965, Leggat McCall Properties is a leading real estate owner, developer and service provider to corporate, educational, healthcare and other clients in the Greater Boston Area. Over the past 10 years, LMP has had a leadership role in over 42 million square feet of project development, representing more than $10 billion of investment. The company has executed on 15 projects over $200 million, 50 over $50 million, and has also developed or acquired approximately $3 billion in assets as principals, including research and life science, mixed-use, office, and residential properties. The firm has a dominant presence in the rapidly growing life sciences, higher education and healthcare industries and serves many of the area’s top universities, healthcare systems and biotech companies, including Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Draper Laboratory, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Brigham & Women’s Hospital.