(From left to right) Riaz Cassum, David Manfredi, Richard Friedman, Steve Wood and Thomas O'Brien.
It certainly is no secret that now is the time to build throughout Boston. With construction costs being lower than in years past, the real estate industry booming, the job market up, and the economy growing, the platform for developing in Boston has never seemed more opportunistic. Given the immense demand to buy or rent real estate for residential, commercial, retail, and other uses, developers have hit the ground running and across the Hub today we can see the fruits of their labor due to the countless cranes and new buildings that are constantly evolving our gorgeous skyline.
Just a few days ago, a breakfast event was held by NAIOP, where some of the biggest names in real estate development were apart of the panel. From Riaz Cassum, to David Manfredi, to Richard Friedman, Steve Wood, Thomas OBrien and more, the event was a great success and further reiterated the fact that the future of Boston is brighter than ever.
Mr. Cassum was quoted as saying, We are seeing an unprecedented amount of development going on all around in the city, and many of these projects are very large, complicated developments that we havent seen in 20, 25 years.
Some of the projects these men are currently involved in are Mr. Friedmans One Dalton, a $700 Million twin tower development in the Back Bay under his Carpenter & Co. firm. Next, Thomas OBrien, the Managing Director of HYM Investment Group is the redeveloper of the $2.2 Billion Government Center Garage. Steve Wood is a Senior Partner at Berkshire Property Advisors who are in the midst of a $600 Million joint venture to build twin apartment towers in the highly active Seaport District. Finally, David Manfredi is the Principal of Elkus Manfredi Architects, a business thoroughly involved in an array of past, present, and future Boston-based projects.
The overall consensus from the men is that there was a perfect storm that led to real estate development being so ideal to be involved in throughout Greater Boston. The Big Digs completion, the growing population, the Baby Boomers returning to the city, lower unemployment rate, and surge in foreign capital is causing quite the impressive multibillion-dollar development situation we are now blessed to be in.
More Information: Boston Business Journal
