NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS: Major complex planned for Back Bay

Developer Steve Samuels has won the right to build a towering $360 million hotel, residential and retail complex at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Boylston Street, adding to rapid redevelopment of the area, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation on Monday formally selected Samuels and his partner, Weiner Ventures, to build a 400-foot-high complex -- about 32 stories -- that will include a hotel, residences and stores.

The buildings will occupy two air rights parcels over and along the Massachusetts Turnpike in the Back Bay. On one plot known as Parcel 15, Samuels will develop a high-rise hotel and residences, with a separate building to contain stores along Boylston Street

The Samuels team will also build a mid-rise residential building on a nearby parcel of land, as well as another retail complex that will cover the Turnpike along Massachusetts Avenue. Overall, the development will include 230 residences, 270 hotel rooms and 50,000 square feet of retail space.

Samuels, who in recent years has developed much of Boylston Street in the adjacent Fenway neighborhood, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Massachusetts transportation officials have negotiated a tentative lease with Samuels and Weiner Ventures that will give the state more than $18 million in rent and other payments over 99 years, according to the person with knowledge of the deal but who is not authorized to speak publicy about it.

Samuels was selected over several other developers who also bid for the right to to redevelop the property. They included the Chiofaro Co., Trinity Financial and Carpenter & Co., which was recently designated to build a hotel and residential complex on the nearby Christian Science property.

State and city officials have been weighing competing proposals for the property for several

BOSTON HOUSING NEWS: Residential tower pitched for the Fenway

For years, the gritty retail building at Brookline Avenue and Boylston Street has remained a bystander in the Fenway’s revitalization.

Not anymore.

Developer Samuels & Associates proposes building a 22-story residential tower on the property that would contain 320 residences and a two-story retail base with several new shops and restaurants.

The project, to be called The Point, would result in a modern masonry and glass tower on the triangular lot currently occupied by a D’Angelo sub shop and other businesses. Samuels filed plans for the project Friday with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, kicking off a monthslong review.


The building’s construction would continue a decadelong remake of the Fenway portion of Boylston Street, where Samuels and other developers have already built hundreds of new residences, restaurants, and retail shops.

“This counts as among the most exciting of our projects in the Fenway,” said Peter Sougarides, a Samuels & Associates executive. “In the almost 15 years that we have been working with the neighborhood, this property has always been thought of as a gateway into the Fenway and a key element of the redevelopment of Boylston Street.”

Samuels is currently building the nearby Fenway Triangle project at the corner of Boylston and Kilmarnock streets. That $325 million project will result in new offices, 172 residences, a Target, and several smaller retail shops and restaurants.

Designed by the architecture firm Arquitectonica, The Point would be the most visually striking of the buildings Samuels has developed so far. A rendering shows a wedge-shaped glass tower rising above a two-story base with restaurants and stores.

The windows on its north face would be layered so it looks like a series of glass doors are sliding into one another. In its filing with the city, Samuels said the building is meant to shake up

VIDEO: A cluttered apartment turned modern oasis - Thank god I hired a designer

BOSTON HOUSING NEWS: Sales surge for condos in Boston’s core areas

Boston’s robust downtown condominium market is getting hotter, with sales up more than 25 percent in the third quarter and the median selling price near a peak level, according to figures scheduled to be released Thursday.

The report by LINK, a Boston data-tracking company, says condo sales in 12 core areas of the city totaled 1,043 between July and September, a 26.3 percent increase compared with the same period last year.

The median price swelled to $486,000, or 6.17 percent more than during the third quarter of 2011 and the second-highest median ever — after the second quarter of this year, when the price hit $511,000, LINK said.

The downtown market suffered only slight price drops during the housing downturn, especially compared with values statewide.


As defined by LINK, the downtown Boston market encompasses 12 neighborhoods, including the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, the North End, the South End, and South Boston.

Jamaica Plain, Allston, Dorchester, and Mattapan are excluded from the tabulations.

The surge in downtown sales is being fueled by low interest rates and rising consumer confidence, real estate specialists say. Prices are escalating mostly because there are relatively few condos available, increasing competition among prospective buyers.

Long-term, however, the market’s growth could be limited if inventory continues to fall short of

NEIGHBORHOODS: Seaport District gets another restaurant invasion

Restaurants with celebrity chefs and gourmet grocer quickly set up shop in the neighborhood

Barth Anderson was among an early wave of new food entrepreneurs in the Seaport District when he opened Barrington Coffee Roasting Company last year, gambling that as the economy slowly improved the nascent neighborhood would eventually turn into a full-blown community with an active social scene.

But even he’s surprised at the speed with which the Seaport is filling in. In the next few months, another wave of restaurants and entertainment options is scheduled to open in the Seaport District, seemingly racing the developers who are rushing to fill in the area’s empty lots with office buildings and residential towers.

“In an otherwise relatively tame world of development, this area feels like it’s on fire,” Anderson said. “It’s forging ahead against all norms.”

The latest influx involves some of the biggest names in Boston’s food scene, from celebrity chef Ming Tsai to veteran restaurateurs Seth Greenberg and Tom Kershaw, with options that range from neighborhood tavern, to French bistro, to gourmet grocer.

“I’m very bullish on the whole area,” said Greenberg, the owner of Mistral who plans to open a French eatery in a former textile factory on Melcher Street next spring. “It has huge

DOWNSIZING: Why I Love My Minimalist Kitchen

Whether you’re moving into a smaller space, or just need to create more space in your kitchen, downsizing to a minimalist kitchen can make you happier.

A kitchen doesn't have to be big to be fabulous — just use some creative storage solutions. All images: Lara Edge for HouseLogic
You know that feeling you get after a major haircut? When your head feels 10 times lighter? That’s nothing compared to how you’ll feel when you downsize your kitchen to a minimalist kitchen. I’m still reveling in the feeling of light-headedness it gave me.

I won’t bore you with gritty details of why my husband and I had to leave our kitchen that was big enough to be its own apartment and had enough counter space to tease you into collecting every imaginable kitchen gadget.

The point is: I don’t miss that kitchen. I love, love my new minimalist kitchen.

Here’s why:

It saves me money

It’s simple economics: When you have less storage space, you buy less. Seriously. ‘Nuff said.

It’s keeping Alzheimer’s at bay

It forces me to be creative, exercising my mind to seek alternative solutions. Some of my solutions:

Since my countertop space is limited, I didn’t want to waste part of it with a dish rack. Instead I made my large strainer a multi-tasker:

Pitchers as vases: Instead of keeping vases and pitchers, I just use pitchers to show off my flowers.

One set of glasses for all beverages: I must have eliminated four shelves of glasses when I downsized. Who really needs

HOME MAINTANENCE: How to Measure Your Home’s Square Footage

One of the most confusing and misleading metrics in the home building and home selling business is area — the “size” of a house.

The problem is that there’s no adopted standard; everyone measures it differently. There has been a move in the past few years to create a universal standard like the one architects use (specified in AIA contracts), but it isn’t mandatory and isn’t yet widely used.

Many state boards of real estate specify a process to measure house area, but it’s a recommendation, not a requirement. So “house area” means different things to different people.

The one thing that is always true is that area is never measured from the inside of the walls; the area of a house always includes all wall thicknesses interior and exterior.

Gross area

Not surprisingly, builders and real estate agents often want to show the largest number they can, so they sometimes measure the entire perimeter of the house on both floors. They may or may not include porches, stairs and two-story spaces. Because you don’t know their basis, it can be very hard to compare one house to another.

A relatively impartial source is your county auditor or assessor. They calculate the size of the house for tax purposes and therefore measure all houses the same way. And although their measurements aren’t always a true reflection of the size of the house, they use the same protocol, so it’s easier to compare one house to another.

But county records show only the gross areas contained within the perimeter of the foundation, which doesn’t accurately reflect the “livable” space within.

Defining separate spaces

A better way is to list areas separately, rather than combining them into one number; that’s the way we calculate areas at our office:

We first measure the perimeter of the house at the exterior wall sheathing — not the siding or brick, just the framing — on both floors.

Next we subtract the upper part of any two-story spaces and deduct the area of stairs on the

BOSTON HOUSING NEWS: Boston, developers betting tiny Seaport apartments will be a big thing

A small platform, painted black with images of kitchen appliances and living room furniture outlined in bright neon, was celebrated Thursday as the future of housing in Boston’s fast-growing Seaport District.

The platform, with a faux wall on one side, was a mock-up of the ultrasmall apartments under construction at the Seaport’s newest residential building, the Boston Wharf Tower on A Street. With units as small as 450 square feet, the apartments fit Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s call for more affordable housing in the district for young professionals who want to live near work and social attractions.

“From the very start of our plan for the waterfront and Fort Point Channel, we knew housing would be a crucial part of the equation,” Menino said Thursday during a ceremonial ground-breaking at that $100 million Boston Wharf Tower. “This project will help turn this neighborhood

MARKET TRENDS: Millennial (Echo Boomers) Generation: A Look At Housing Desires And Rental Needs

The housing and credit crisis has made being frugal very trendy. It’s now "cool" to save money rather than waste money. Even big banks are cashing in on the trend and coming up with hip tag lines like, "frugal is the new cool" as they promote ads and videos online that help consumers learn ways to save money.

The Millennials (those born 1980-1995, approximately–there is some disagreement about the exact years) share some specific desires regarding their housing needs. They want to drive less and have public transportation nearby. They don’t necessarily need or want to own right now. Instead, they might prefer to have a newer, hip and modern place they rent over one they own and have to fix up. They may be strapped for cash, so they want amenities included in the rent–like the use of a gym. Small is good for them since this generation is trying to save money on things like their utility bills.The poor economic times are causing some major shifts in homeownership. Many young people are opting to rent longer rather than buy partly driven by the fact that they can’t afford a downpayment or don’t qualify for a loan. Also, there is a larger than ever percentage of single people. These smaller households are seeking highly walkable places to live and work.


While renting may be the solution for many in this generation, some younger people still want to own their own home. In particular, single moms and women from the Millennial generation view homeownership as important to them. Making that happen could be difficult if they don’t take

VIDEO: Super modern design in a small space.

CONDOS: Condo prices in Boston hit a high

Condominium values in Boston’s core reached a record high during the second quarter of this year as eager buyers drove up sales, according to data­ scheduled to be released Tuesday.

The median price in a dozen downtown neighborhoods — they include Beacon Hill, the Fenway, the North End, and South Boston — climbed to $515,000 during the three months that ended June 30, according to LINK, meaning half sold for more than that price and half for less. That topped the previous peak of $498,500 in 2008, just prior to the nation’s financial crisis. LINK, a Boston company, tracks the downtown condominium market.

The increase adds to mounting evidence that the state’s housing market is on the mend, housing specialists said.

“The feeling out there is prices are not going to soften anymore,” said Barry ­Bluestone, the director of the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University. “We are seeing the real signs of a recovery in the housing market.”

Even during the worst years of the real estate industry’s decline, condominium prices in some of Boston’s more desirable areas fell only modestly, putting the local market in a better position to rebound. Prices and sales were propped up by higher-income homeowners who were hurt less during the recession, as well as by the increasing popularity of urban living coupled with limited inventory, housing specialists said.

Trisha Collins McCarthy, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, said many

UNDERSTANDING CO-OPS: That Riveting Co-op Financial Statement

WHEN you own an apartment in a co-op and the annual board meeting rolls around, the building’s financial statement arrives in the mail.

It’s tempting to let it languish in a pile of bills, but remember: you are a shareholder in the company that owns the building. Given how much New Yorkers invest in their co-ops, it’s worth giving the finances more than a cursory glance. Even if you’re just thinking about buying a co-op, here are questions that can guide you in analyzing whether you’re making a sound investment.

WHAT WENT UP (OR DOWN)?

Financial statements typically present results for the past two years, in columns so you can compare the numbers. “I look for changes from one year to the next,” said Paul Wolsk, a real estate lawyer with Hartman & Craven. “If all of a sudden there’s a much higher accounts payable to vendors, that might mean the co-op is in a cash crunch.” It’s not that a big increase is necessarily a bad sign — the co-op might have had a big expense like replacing the roof. You want to understand why there was a significant change.

WAS THERE A PROFIT LAST YEAR, OR A LOSS?

Obviously, a profit is better than a loss — meaning the building’s income from monthly maintenance fees, commercial rent and other sources covers its expenses. But if a building relies on an unpredictable source of income to pay for operating expenses, like the flip tax some co-ops charge sellers when an apartment changes hands, that can be a red flag. “If they’re making up a deficit with a flip tax,” Mr. Wolsk said, “it’s likely that their maintenance is not high enough.” Most buildings aim for a balanced budget, so if yours shows a loss year after year, that should be a concern.

HAVE THERE BEEN ANY ASSESSMENTS?

Co-ops typically need assessments to pay for capital improvements or unanticipated expenses, like replacing a boiler, doing major work on an elevator or fixing the facade to comply with local regulations. “Try to find out what the assessment is being used for, and how long it continues,” Mr. Wolsk said, noting that longer-term assessments, payable in monthly installments, have become more common than single lump-sum payments.

WHEN IS THE MORTGAGE MATURING?

Unlike individual homeowners, co-ops don’t usually try to pay off a mortgage, because that would mean current shareholders were paying for something that would benefit future shareholders. So a large mortgage isn’t necessarily a concern. But you should pay attention to the interest rate and maturation date.

Arthur Weinstein, a real estate lawyer who serves as a vice president of the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums, said a building’s mortgage should be evaluated in the context of economic conditions. “In a low-interest-rate economy like we’re in now,” he said, “you’d worry about a high-interest-rate mortgage that cannot be refinanced.”

If a mortgage is maturing soon, there will be expenses like legal fees associated with refinancing, but monthly payments may decrease if the new mortgage has a lower interest rate.

HOW MUCH IS IN THE RESERVE FUND?

The one item that even number-averse shareholders tend to look at is the amount in the reserve

MARKET TRENDS: Landlord imposes smoking ban on 2,000 California apartments

It recently became legal for California landlords to forbid apartment renters from smoking in their units, but few property owners do so.

In a decision affecting nearly 2,000 units in 13 apartment complexes, the Towbes Group Inc. of Santa Barbara said it has become the largest apartment portfolio in California to impose a no-smoking policy on individual units and common areas.

Starting this month, new residents of Towbes Group's apartments in Ventura, Goleta, Santa Maria, Lompoc and Santa Barbara may no longer smoke in their units. Residents who moved in earlier have until the end of the year to comply with the new restrictions.

In addition to addressing secondhand smoke concerns, the prohibition on lighting up offers a financial boost to landlords, said Jim Carrillo, a Towbes vice president. His company "turns" about 1,000 units a year, which means they must be cleaned for new residents. The process costs about twice as much if the last tenant was a smoker.

"You can mask it with paint, but in order to totally remove the residue you have to scrape the walls," Carrillo said, then put on primer and more layers of paint. Countertops and cabinets may also need intense cleansing treatments.

The landlord was partly inspired to make the change after spending $4,000 on insulation, caulking and other efforts to find and cover every possible opening between a smoker's apartment and a nonsmoker's apartment.

Since a majority of the company's tenants were nonsmokers, company officials reasoned

MARKET TRENDS: Rethinking the 55-Plus Market

SOME would-be buyers who visit Villagio, a 55-plus housing development in South Brunswick, think they’ve arrived at the wrong place.

To members of a market segment said to avoid stair-climbing, second-floor bedrooms are not the only surprise. Villagio has a basketball court and a jungle gym, but at least so far, it lacks a clubhouse, which at a typical development of this type is usually among the first elements built.

“This is not your father’s adult community,” Mr. Gueyikian said during a recent tour of the development, a 100-acre property punctuated with 3,000- to 4,000-square-foot stucco houses painted in shades like amber, rose and terra cotta (although elevators are an option for their buyers). “The thinking was in the senior market that you sell your house and downsize, but some people don’t want to go to a smaller house. They want a new home with bragging rights. Today’s people are looking for the Porsche S.U.V., they’re not looking to buy a van.”

The 55-plus market was especially hard hit by the downturn in the housing market — so much so that in 2009 New Jersey passed a law allowing such communities to convert to serving the general populace. In any case, said Tim Touhey, president of the New Jersey Builders Association, “there’s been an evolution in the health and conditions of families.”

“Some 55 and older are still working and want office space,” he said. “Some may have adult children living at home. They want more variety and choice. And the development community is driven by what the market wants.”

In other words, Mr. Gueyikian may just have hit upon something. After several years in which, he said, buyers seemed to lose interest, Villagio is building seven houses, adding to the 43 that went up in late 2007. Long-range plans call for 210 homes.

A builder of million-dollar-plus houses in Holmdel, Marlboro and Colts Neck, Mr. Gueyikian said he identified an interest in his vision of 55-plus housing when meeting with a group of homeowners at his development in Ramapo, N.Y., which has retirement-age buyers living in $2 million to $3 million

CONDO MANAGEMENT: Regular & Adequate

Overseeing a homeowner association's finances to ensure proper maintenance of the common elements is a fundamental responsibility of the board. Following a properly prepared reserve study is a big piece of that puzzle. But how does the board know how much money to set aside in reserves each year? 

A reserve study identifies all the building and ground components that are the HOA's responsibility to maintain, measures each of them, assesses their condition, projects a useful life and repair or replacement costs. When this information is projected out over 30 years with an inflation factor, it provides the board with a road map to follow for the funding and a schedule for reserve events.

Special assessments penalize those that have to pay them since former owners were able to use and enjoy the amenities without adequately contributing to costs. Bank loans carry high interest and fees and the HOA must act like a bank for years to collect payments from owners to repay the loan. Collecting regular and adequate assessments, each owner contributes his fair share based on the length of time of ownership. And with regular and adequate contributions, the HOA will always have the money it needs without borrowing or special assessments.Different boards have used various reserve funding methods including regular and adequate assessments (usually monthly, quarterly or annually), less than adequate assessments, special assessments, borrowing money or a combination of these options. All funding methods are not all created equal. Funding reserves by regular and adequate contributions is the only fair way to fund reserves.

Special assessments affect current owners regardless of the time in ownership. Moreover, if

FOR SALE: Super Jamaica Plain Condo In A Victorian Home

CONDOS: Townhouse's New Light

The central problem of a New York City townhouse is getting light into the interior, as brothers Shepard and Willard Morgan discovered growing up on West Ninth Street in a house that was gloomy despite large front windows.

Enlarge Image

Natalie Keyssar for The Wall Street Journal

The living area looking out on the back patio.

Now, decades later, the Morgans have gutted the interior of that 19th-century townhouse and excavated down through 14 feet into a long-forgotten streambed. They rebuilt the house around shafts of light using an ultra-modern minimalist design.

The property is for rental with a non-minimalist asking price: $75,000 a month.

The gloom has been replaced by a central column of light created by a five-story open staircase and clear-glass landings that go from the basement to the roof.

The steel staircase wraps around a 65-foot obelisk-like tower of granite, with strips of lights in the corners between stone slab, hiding the elevator in plain sight.

Natalie Keyssar for The Wall Street Journal

Skylights surround the top of the granite-covered elevator shaft.

"It solves the puzzle of what to do with the elevator," said Timothy Brian Barry, a family friend and one-time sculptor and carpenter, who created the design for the space and is overseeing construction

The Morgans' father, a podiatrist, bought the 22-foot-wide townhouse in the 1940s, and turned the English basement into space for his office and operating room. The family lived upstairs for some years.

Until a few years ago, members of the family still lived upstairs and the brothers maintained a real-estate office in the building, Mr. Barry said.

Willard Morgan also has a another career as an actor, director, comedian, musician and multimedia artist. He is best known for a 2006 comic documentary, "Me & Michael" in which he stalks the documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, looking for a break in the movies.

Enlarge Image

Natalie Keyssar for The Wall Street Journal

The kitchen

When deciding to fix up the place and clear out a warren of small rooms, the Morgans and Mr. Barry had to decide whether to do a traditional townhouse renovation with fine moldings and finishes.

"We went the other way to the extreme," Mr. Barry said. "It is a charged building—there is energy in the air."

The house has a mix of features designed to

BUYING A HOME: 10 things to keep in mind when buying a home

Buying a home is a trying and complicated process. It often strains relationships and puts an enormous amount of stress on buyers physically, mentally and financially. That's why the folks at the Boston Globe have put together this list of 10 things to keep in mind as you weather the home-buying storm.


1. Get your financing in order
"The seller wants to know that if they do accept the offer, that barring catastrophic title issues or inspection issues, the deal is going to go through," said Gary Dwyer, broker-owner of Buyer Agents of Boston. Another expert recommends having a full pre-approval within the past 30 days: "Six months is no good anymore, because the rules keep changing."


2. Understand your time horizon
"As a shorter-term buyer, you might consider whether the place is a good investment, and if it's the kind of property that's going to be attractive for the next buyer...A house near train tracks, for instance, is probably not what most people are looking for. But for someone who's planning to stay longer, a good school system or larger lot size might make up for the trains thundering past."


3. Know the overall market conditions
Investigate what comparable properties have sold for over the past three to six months, Dwyer advises. If you're not working with an agent, sites with pricing information such Zillow.com or Trulia.com could help.


4. Search and buy within your means
"If the housing crisis has taught us anything, it's that buying with the expectation that prices will continuously go up — and that if you can eke out the payments each month, you'll be in a good spot in the long run — isn't such a good idea."


5. If you're waiting for prices to go lower, think again
Real estate is a bit like the stock market, Hillman says, in that it's unpredictable. Though some people might be waiting on the sidelines for housing prices to dip lower, she says, "looking at the numbers, I can't see them continuing to go down."


6. Don't get too sucked in by appearances
Buyers should keep in mind that many sellers will try to present their homes in the best possible light. "If the house has been staged, what [potential buyers] forget is that all that stuff is going out when [the sellers] leave," says Needham realtor Harriet Lieb. "Sometimes you're better off buying something that needs a little decorating, because it's going to take on your own look anyway."


7. Have questions prepared
"Sellers and their agents should be prepared to answer questions including how old the roof,

MARKET TRENDS: Home market being held back by wary first-timers

Among the bigger obstacles for first-time home buyers are the struggling economy, shaky job security, tougher credit rules, and lack of cash to put down.

WASHINGTON - This should be a great time to buy a first home. Prices have sunk to 2002 levels. Sellers are waiting anxiously as homes languish on the market. Mortgage rates are their lowest ever.

Yet the most likely first-time homeowners, especially young professionals and couples starting families, will not buy these days. Or they cannot. Or they already did, during the housing boom. And their absence helps explain why the housing industry is still depressed.

The obstacles range from higher down payments to heavy debt from credit cards and student loans.

“I’ve looked for a home, but the places we can afford with the money we have are not that great,’’ says Seth Herter, 23, a store manager in suburban St. Louis. “It also doesn’t seem smart anymore to buy with prices falling. Buying a home just doesn’t make sense to us.’’But even many of those who could afford to buy no longer see it as a wise investment. Prices have sunk 15 percent in three years.

The proportion of US households that own homes is at 65.1 percent, its lowest point since 1996, the Census Bureau says. That marks a shift after nearly two decades in which homeownership grew before peaking at 70 percent during the housing boom.

The housing bubble lured so many young buyers it reduced the pool of potential first-timers to below-normal levels. That has contributed to the decline in new buyers in recent years.

In 2005, at the height of the boom, about 2.8 million first-timers bought homes, according to the National Association of Realtors. By contrast, for each of the four years preceding the boom, the number of first-timers averaged fewer than 2 million.

Still, the bigger factors are the struggling economy, shaky job security, tougher credit rules, and lack of cash to put down, said Dan McCue, research manager at Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

The unemployment rate among typical first-timers, those ages 25 to 34, is 9.8 percent,

BOSTON NEIGHBORHOODS: $220m residential tower breaks ground downtown

Millennium Partners-Boston yesterday broke ground on a 15-story residential tower across from the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Boston, the latest developer to start work on a large housing development in the city.

The $220 million Hayward Place will include 256 residences and 9,700 square feet of retail space in a glass and stone tower that will replace a scrubby parking lot near Downtown Crossing.


The residences are slated to be a mix of condominiums and apartments and will include one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. Hayward Place is the second large residential development to break ground in the neighborhood recently; the Kensington, which started construction earlier in the fall, is slated to add 381 units.

“New economic growth is really taking hold,’’ Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston said during an event to celebrate the formal start of construction yesterday. “In the last quarter, we had 1,000 new housing units break ground. The last time we saw that was in 2006’’ at the height of the real estate market, he said.


Hayward Place, designed by Handel Architects of New York, will complete Millennium Partners’ revitalization of a section of Washington Street long known as the Combat Zone for the collection of seedy strip clubs and bars that once dominated the area. In 2001 and 2002, Millennium completed the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Towers project that helped spur other redevelopment in the area, including the renovation of the Boston Opera House and the Paramount and Modern theaters.


“This is a neighborhood now,