Today was our travel day home so there were no scheduled plans.  However a group of us toured the Harvard campus down the road on our own and later walked along the Freedom Trail across the river in Boston.  Here are a few pictures from our travels…   

After a short but chilly walk over to offices of Bruner Cott Architects and Planners we sat down for a discussion with the design team and developer, David Espstein of The Abbey Group, of 45 Province, a 32 story condominium project in downtown Boston a block from old city hall.  The project embodies the difference between developing in a market like Boston from that of Phoenix.  First of which the fact that the property was purchased 20 years ago as a parking garage and has been through four major development scope revisions.  Fortunatley the operating income allowed the developer the patience to successfully navigate the project that is currently under construction.  The site is approximately 13,000 sq. ft. and will house nearly 145 residences in addition to 300 parking spaces, a restaurant and private spa.  There are seven floors of parking, four of which below grade and due to the small floorplates, all levels are accessed by valet only through two auto elevators.  After the discussion at the office we took a bus to the project and had lunch across the street at Kennedy’s.   

After lunch the project superintendent Ron Thomson from Suffolk, the general contractor on 45 Province took us to the 11th floor for a tour of the construction progress.  Not sure how but they located 30 hardhats for all of us.  The site tour was unexpected and we are grateful to have had the experience. 

Our next stop was at the Boston Redevelopment Authority for a historic perspective on Boston’s development from the Cheif Architect Robert Kroin.  We had a great visual reference standing around a model of the city as Mr. Kroin took us through each stage of focused redevelopment and how Boston’s historic downtown has become what it is today.  We discussed the waterfront redevelopment and the impact of the Big Dig project.

  After leaving the BRA we walked part of the Freedom Trail on our way to The Point for a mixer between the ULI Boston Young Leaders Group and ASU MRED.  We had a little time to kill so we made our way down to the warf and spent some time winding through Boston’s North End neighborhood.  The ULI event was a great success with a big turnout and a we took advantage of the opportunity to learn more about working in Boston’s unique real estate climate.   

  

We left our hotel lobby and quickly discovered that Boston is much colder than New York. Our first stop of the day was around the corner at the Boston offices of ForestCity. Gayle Farris, President of the Boston office gave us an overview of the University Park redevelopment adjacent to the MIT campus. The discussion focused on the flexible development scope and the difficulty of anticipating demand over a 20 year development period.

Our second stop of the day was MIT’s Center for Real Estate for a presentation from Bill Wheaton, a renowned real estate economist and CRE faculty. The discussion focused on the U.S. Housing market and the ramifications absent a recovery. It was a fascinating presentation and enlightening perspective on the relationship between home ownership and the economy.

Next we sat in on a case study presentation with MIT’s current MSRED class. Professors Tod McGrath and David Geltner led the class through a Socratic process of determining the highest offer on a commercial building as a REIT’s Director of Acquisitions. It was a great for us to watch the case study unfold and experience a different teaching teaching process.

We had a quick opportunity after class to see the Eero Saarinen Catholic Church on the MIT Campus. Our fellow classmate Steve Jakub gave a quick architectural history lecture on Eero Saarinen and his work - check out the link.

We headed back to the MIT CRE for a derivatives lecture by Professor David Geltner. It was a fascinating introduction from one of the few pioneers in this emerging area of real estate. The idea of a synthetic market for trading real estate risk is attractive especially under consideration of the current market conditions.

After the long day at MIT we headed for a mixer at Flatop Jonny’s to play some pool and get to know the MIT MSRED students better. It was a great chance to make conncections with fellow students of real estate and build a foundation for growing relationships.

The group had a free morning until our train departed from Penn Station to Boston. We had to be at Penn Station by 1:30pm so many in the group spent the morning out on the town. The train ride was around 3 1/2 hours and we did our best to entertain the other passengers. Karaoke started early for some and there were some pretty active card playing. Unfortunately the weather was poor which made it tough to see the scenery. Upon arriving in Boston we caught the subway over to the MIT Campus area and our hotel at University Park. After settling in the hotel we made our way to a nearby Irish pub for dinner and were entertained by the likes of the Greg “Diamond” Arnett karaoke show… Additionally performances by Bill Knowlton and Phil Garthright had the crowd on their feet.

Our day began with a walk to the Penn Club for our Financial Movers & Shakers Breakfast & speaker panel. The setting was ideal for the presentation and we were joined by a few Columbia Master of Real Estate students. The program kicked off after an introduction to the history of the club’s renovation by the project architect David Helpern principal of Helpern Architects. The panel consisted of representatives from both finance and development. We were given presentations by Scott Towbin of JP Morgan’s CMBS division, Jeff Brown of Jeff M. Brown Associates, John Gattuso of Liberty Property Trust and Steve Kohn of Cushman Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman. Our moderator, Peter Slatin of the Slatin Report guided our panel through a timely discussion on the current state of the real estate industry, and closely related capital markets. Having a Vice President from JP Morgan on the panel was handy given the weekend events on Wall Street. Of course, the first order of business was a discussion on the JP Morgan acquisition of Bear Stearns for two dollars per share. The second meeting of the day brought us to Marble Church at One 29^th Avenue for a presentation by Casey Kemper of the Collegiate Church Organization. We learned the Collegiate Church is the oldest corporation in the United States chartered in 1696 and has a significant real estate position as a result of a four acre donation of a congregation member. Much of the discussion focused on air rights and the capitalization and transfer of air rights Next, we headed to 7 World Trade Center, the first of five buildings to be rebuilt at Ground Zero. 7 World Trade Center was the third building to fall on 9/11/01, but since it fell in the evening, and no lives were lost, the site was able to be prepared and rebuilt expeditiously. We were initially greeted by Dara McQuillin, Director of Marketing and Communications with Silverstein Properties. After a brief orientation in the lobby we headed up to the unfinished 51^st floor for some incredible views of the city. It was tough to leave that view. We then met on the 10^th floor offices of Silverstein overlooking the rest of ground zero. We learned that this space is used by the architectural teams of each building. We met with Project Manager Mickey Kupperman, who explained the history of the rebuilding effort. He also explained the need to force each design team to office in the collaborative space, though they all have offices nearby. This requirement has created unique and valuable synergies between design teams that have enhanced the rebuilding effort. As Project Manager, Mickey Kupperman has ultimate responsibility for delivering each building on time and on budget. It was clearly an emotional experience for all involved; rebuilding on a site with such enormous real and symbolic importance to the City, State and nation. Mickey was very gracious in answering our questions and arranging for our tour of 7 World Trade – a building with the most advanced security and convenience systems available, The building was designed to function like a fortress without feeling like one. When completed in 2006 the building achieved certification by the US Green Building Council at the LEED Gold level. It was the first LEED Gold building on Manhattan. The last stop of the day was the Skyscraper Museum at the tip of Battery Park where we toured their current exhibition, “New York Modern” and exhibition a retrospective of American visions of the skyscraper city of the future from the early 20th century.

Our day began in the lobby of the Hotel Roger Williams at 7:15am. That’s 4:15am for all you folks still sleeping back home… Our first stop was the Solaire Building in Battery Park on the lower west side of Manhattan. The project was developed by the Albanese Organization (check out the link…), it was the first LEED Gold rated high-rise residential apartment building in the country. There are 293 units and they rent for around $6/sq, ft. The building faces the Hudson river and provides a view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Our tour included an introduction of the photo-voltaic system, green-roof infrastructure & waste water treatment facilities. We also toured a 1,000 sq. ft. unit and learned about the many energy saving features residents enjoy. Touring the Solaire brought home our recent LEED training seminar through illustrating many of the unique features that add to the bottom line of high performance buildings.

Our second stop of the day was a trip to 5th Avenue and the Bromley Companies. We were very fortunate to have a presentation by the Principal Bill Haines. The discussion was mainly focused on the intracacies of campus housing, land assemblage, and the importance of capitalization.

The 3rd meeting of the day was with Gene Kohn a principal of Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects. KPF is one of the predominant architecture firms with signature projects spanning the globe. Mr. Kohn presented two case studies on the economics of design, Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, Japan (designed by KPF) and the Time Warner Center which was designed by SOM. Roppongi Hills is an ambitious mixed use development of enormous scale and unconventional wisdom. The Time Warner Center on Columbus Circle was a unique opportunity to explore the challenges of multipe uses in a vertical context. The success and sustainability of the indoor multi-story retail component was a significant part of the case discussion. The case was very relevant as our last stop of the day was a visit to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on 35th floor to take in the views of Central Park.

Our final meeting of the day brought us to the Highline park project. The Highline was originally an elevated heavy rail line that went dormant over 20 years ago. As the line layed dormant over the years it accumulated 4-8 inches of soil in areas and significant plant growth occured. This growth coupled with significant support of the neighboring community prompted the development of the 1.5 mile linear park. The park will cost $170 million and will be an incredible amenity to the surounding neighborhood.

Monday, March 17, 2008  - New York
8-10:00 am - Albanese Organization, Solaire - Green Residential Developments-Battery Park
11-noon - Bromley Properties – Bill Haines - 5th Avenue Retail Development
1:30-2:30 pm - Gene Kohn/KPF-Harvard Case Presentation - Japan Project
3-5:00 - High Line - Preservation and Reuse

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - New York
8-11:00 am - Financial Movers and Shakers Breakfast- Penn Club
11:30-2:00 - Collegiate Church Lunch and Presentation - Air Rights - Casey Kemper
2:30-4:30 pm - World Trade Center-Silverstein Properties - Mikey Kuperman and Dara McQuillan
5:00-6:00 - Skyscraper Museum Tour
6:30 - The Campbell Apartment-Grand Central Station

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - New York/Boston
AM - Free Time
12:30 - Penn Station to Depart to Boston - Arrive Boston, MA in evening
7:00 pm - Dinner

Thursday, March 20, 2008 - Boston
10-11:30 am - Forest City University Park Tour: Talk to be given by Gayle Farris
12:00-1:00 pm - Bill Wheaton-MIT CRE – Lunch Presentation
1:00 – 2:00 - Dave Raszmann, Director of Property Development - Alston Development Group-Harvard University
2:30 – 5:30 - Real Estate Capital Markets Class-David Geltner (Optional) - Class Topic: One Lincoln Case
5:30-7:00 - David Geltner- Derivatives (just for MRED-REQUIRED)

Friday, March 21, 2008 - Boston
9:00-11:30 - Bruner/Cott Architects and Planners, Greg Russell - Meet at Bruner/Cott and tour “45 Province” development
2:30 pm - Boston Redevelopment Authority - Robert Kroin, AIA - Chief Architect
Prataap Patrose – Dr. of Urban Development
4:30 - Boston Walking Tour
5:30-7:30 - Urban Land Institute Young Leader Mixer

This blog will chronicle the Arizona State University Master of Real Estate development trip to New York & Boston. We’ll be updating this blog daily with pictures and stories of the people and places we visit. Check back often and share your thoughts!

New York photos courtesy of paphio