On June 8, the Planning Board voted to recommend council approval of Skydra Development LLC’s application to rezone the 6.5 acre site alongside the onramp to the Airport Connector from Post Road from its current Gateway to Intermodal zone. The board also favored Skydra’s plan to build two four-story 100-unit apartment buildings on the property. Skydra is a subsidiary of Schiavo Enterprises of Dedham, MA.
Real Estate
The Rhode Island Airport Corporation bought the Lars lot for $3 million in 2016 and agreed earlier this month to sell it to Skydra Development for $3.3 million. Future use of the site was described as “mixed-use” to RIAC
Amazon, the online e-commerce behemoth that delivers millions of packages to New England homes each day, is set open its first grocery stores to Massachusetts. The Boston Business Journal reports that Amazon Fresh will open its first New England location on Route 1 in Saugus, a location that was formerly home to a Big Y grocery store.
The number of apartment hunters looking to leave Boston has nearly doubled in the past year, according to Apartment List, with roughly half of those using the website looking to relocate to another metro area. Data from Apartment List’s third-quarter Renter Migration Report, published Tuesday, indicated that 46.8 percent of renters looking to relocate wanted to leave Boston. The third-quarter report from 2020 had that figure at 28.7 percent.
City of East Providence officials joined together on September 30, 2021, with a number of partners to break ground on Newport Center, a mixed-use development located on Newport Avenue.
The impact of Covid-19 has greatly been felt across the commercial real estate industry. Many businesses had to shut down, while others moved to work remotely. Few new businesses opened due to the uncertainty the pandemic brought. During this time, there was little need for buying or renting commercial buildings. However, as agents know, the impact of crises on real estate does not last forever.
As the world begins to return to normal, workers are going back to the office and businesses are beginning to open. The demand for commercial real estate is growing, and with this growth come new possibilities for innovation. Below, 11 members of Forbes Real Estate Council predict how the commercial real estate landscape will react to the effects of the global pandemic.
The mixed-use development proposed for the long dormant parcel on Newport Avenue abutted by New Road and Moore Street was approved by the Planning Board at its May 10 meeting. “Newport Center,” as called by owner Schiavo Enterprises, LLC, can move forward with the construction of two four-story apartment buildings, a gas station/convenience store and a commercial outlet, the stated intention for the space to be a grocer.
Schiavo Enterprises LLC, based in Dedham, Mass., is the applicant and developer/owner of the project, seeking to construct 152 units of housing as well a commercial element or elements on the site, which hasn’t been utilized for well over 30 years if not longer.
The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has not only impacted the physical health of humans around the world, but the health of the U.S. economy as well. The stock market has fallen about 33 percent from its February highs, and unemployment is estimated to rise to between 20 percent and 30 percent — though no one knows the true fallout yet. Because we’re still in the thick of it.
Macy’s, one of the nation’s premier retailers, announced that it will close approximately 125 stores that together account for approximately $1.4 billion in annual sales, and focus on growing digital business.