The Fort Hill/Urbanica Project

What do we know about Green Real Estate? It is undoubtedly one of the more popular phenomenon in the industry of late that has even been making headway in and around our beautiful city of Boston. On the local level, this trend all stems from our past blog discussing how Mayor Thomas M. Menino wishes to ‘Greenovate Boston’. In this instance, the Mayor at his annual Mayor’s Green Awards looked to businesses, sustainable food leaders and even individuals themselves who display superior water conservation, waste management, energy conservation, sustainable food production and other efforts throughout the year.

It is this mindset, this deep rooted inherent need for our community to want to preserve our resources and tread lightly on our Planet that is really catching on. Now it is spreading to the Real Estate industry as well. Not only is living in a ‘Green’ home beneficial to the environment and your wallet when it comes time to pay your electricity bills, but as we referenced in yet another past blog, upon the sale of a property, those that are made with a Green thumb net higher sales prices on average.

To be known as the Fort Hill or Urbanica Project located in Roxbury, this new project is going to be the first of its kind in The Greater Boston Area where homes will actually produce more energy than they actually consume. Can you imagine? Living well in a new development and knowing that you are contributing to the city’s overall energy grid is something to be truly proud of. We will only see more of this henceforth because of the pioneer’s behind such Green building initiatives.

Urbanica Inc. is one of them. This firm is headed by their President, Mr. Kamran Zahedi, a graduate of MIT with a degree in Architecture and Civil Engineering who has worked extensively in the field and has been heavily invested in over a dozen development projects over the past thirty years. According to the Urbanica website, Mr. Zahedi can best be described as one who is, “…Driven by a passion for reimagining a new future for urban living, a penchant for progressive design and a respect for existing context, Kamran has created a niche for transforming and revitalizing living, working and playing spaces in Boston and inspires his team to bring something entirely new to the table.”

Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty’s own Brian Perry is an agent highly involved with the project and will be working diligently with Kamran Zahedi to get these four units in the development sold. Tuesday the 30th of October, 2012 was the groundbreaking day for the facility, one that has been met with great optimism as we can only anticipate what these transformative living spaces will be like under Urbanica’s experience.

Some of the noteworthy praises of such a project is that their sustainable finishes will be second to none. From walls that are twice as thick to provide better insulation, to triple glazed windows, everything in these homes are essentially 50% more effective than in a typical residence. Breakthroughs like this is what Mr. Zahedi and Urbanica are all about. According to the developers at Urbanica, they are a team who, “…Create contemporary urban spaces for communities of diverse cultures, lifestyles and incomes by transforming underutilized buildings and sites into exceptional spaces for living, working and playing.”  This is exactly what the Fort Hill project aims to achieve and with the historied success that has followed Mr. Zahedi’s career, it certainly looks as if they will undoubtedly reach this goal.

Looking specifically to these townhomes, they all will be be equipped with top of the line energy efficient appliances as well as 39 solar panels/each which will produce more electricity than the home needs to be functional. As a result, homeowners will be able to further reduce their energy costs by selling back the excess power to their electric company, this according to city officials. In addition, all of the properties will have three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. These residences range from 1,977 square feet to 2,054.50 square feet excluding the deck spaces, or 2,270.90 square feet to 2,348.40 square feet when including the private decks.

Not only will this new complex benefit the community but it will also be a leading example for other similar Green projects that will grace the city’s surroundings in the very near future. “There are a lot of architects and builders that have the ­expertise to do this,” said the Director of Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development, Sheila Dillon. She went on to state, “We see this project as something people can learn from and then begin to build on larger sites using the same energy practices.” In fact, a total of eleven groups of individuals put forth proposals for the rights to this Green development site which Kamran Zahedi was thus determined to have the most thorough plan with the greatest potential. The sheer intrigue and demand for building Green properties as such only goes to show that a great deal of them are now on the horizon for our city of Boston.

As well as this Urbanica Project, yet even more Green initiatives in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury will soon take place. Headed by GFC Development, two townhomes at 64 Catherine Street will also be erected in JP, while in Roxbury, Sage Builders and Transformations Inc. will build four townhomes at Highland Park. It is exciting to know that the next few years in Boston will be marked by great triumphs because it goes without saying that the efforts made by Kamran Zahedi and the individuals at Urbanica Inc. are paving the way for future developments. Here on the local level there truly is no better example to follow than one of the dedicated Urbanica team who have continuously made immense strides towards a future where we essentially all but eliminate our footprint on the Earth.

More Information: Urbanica