Transwestern Consulting Group today announces that a lease it negotiated between the 17-time NBA Champion Boston Celtics and NB Development Group LLC at Boston Landing was named the 2016 “Most Creative Deal” by the Commercial Brokers Association (CBA) at the organization’s annual achievement awards event. The awards recognize the most significant commercial real estate deals in Greater Boston.
The Boston Celtics and NB Development Group broke ground last fall on the Celtics new world-class practice and training facility at Boston Landing, which is scheduled to open in Spring of 2018. In honor of the late Boston Celtics President and Coach Arnold “Red” Auerbach, it will be named THE AUERBACH CENTER AT NEW BALANCE WORLD HEADQUARTERS. A partnership between New Balance and the Celtics will highlight the shared focus on community, sport and innovation between the two Boston-based brands. Jim Davis, Chairman and Owner of New Balance, was a close friend of Red’s, and Red served as a mentor to Mr. Davis and his family for many years.
“We greatly appreciate Transwestern’s efforts and the CBA’s recognition of the creative aspect that this partnership between the Boston Celtics and New Balance will bring to Boston Landing,” said Jim Halliday, Managing Director, of NB Development Group. “As construction of the Boston Celtics Auerbach Center at New Balance World Headquarters begins, we are thrilled to add a tint of ‘green’ and a touch of ‘red’ to the community palette of Boston Landing.”
“We’re grateful to the Transwestern team for their efforts and creativity in bringing the opportunity for the Celtics to partner with New Balance Development and build a world class training facility to fruition,” said Celtics Team President Rich Gotham. “We look forward to being part of the community, excitement, and energy at Boston Landing.”
The lease at 46 Life Street in Boston’s Brighton neighborhood brings the Celtics’ practice facility back to the city for the first time since the team moved to Healthpoint in Waltham in 1999. This world-class sports facility will include two state-of-the-art parquet floor basketball courts; leading edge audio-visual technology throughout the facility; expanded strength and conditioning, training, and recovery facilities; best-in-class locker rooms and players’ lounge; physical therapy areas, sports science and nutrition facilities. It will also house an expanded media work room, press conference and broadcast facilities along with a flexible hospitality area designed for community relations activities, partner gatherings and other guest events and work space for the team’s coaching and basketball front office staffs.
“NB Development Group has established itself as one of the city’s most dynamic ownership groups by positioning Boston Landing as the city’s new western gateway,” said Steve Purpura, Executive Managing Partner, Transwestern Consulting Group. “The vision of Boston Landing as not just an office setting but a health, wellness and fitness area for residents and tenants took a major step forward with the Celtics joining the Boston Bruins and New Balance global headquarters.”
The Boston Celtics practice facility will be the latest dramatic element at Boston Landing — at 55 feet in the air cantilevered out to the edge of the Mass Pike. The Celtics new practice home, including the team’s 17 NBA championship banners, will be highly visible from the Massachusetts Turnpike with a forty foot glass wall enclosing the practice courts that face the approximately 130,000 daily commuters. The practice facility will encompass approximately 70,000 square feet.
Boston Landing is a 15-acre mixed-use development in the Allston-Brighton neighborhood of Boston that also includes the new world headquarters of New Balance Athletics, Inc. and the Warrior Ice Arena – the new Boston Bruins practice facility that opened in 2016. A commuter rail station will be completed on the Framingham-Worcester line in Spring of 2017. In addition, the development will include additional office buildings, retail and restaurant space, a hotel and a sports complex.
Transwestern Partners Steve Purpura and Chris McCauley represented NB Development Group, working closely with the owner’s internal real estate team of Jim Halliday and Erin Harvey. Transwestern Partners Michael Joyce and Tom Ashe represented the Celtics.
ABOUT NB DEVELOPMENT GROUP
NB Development Group is a commercial real estate company based in Boston, MA. The group’s professionals bring Boston-based experience in the fields of development, permitting, construction management, asset management, leasing, and marketing. NBDG is currently managing the development of Boston Landing, a mixed-use project located along the Massachusetts Turnpike in Brighton, MA. Through expert entitlement and permitting strategies, Boston Landing is transforming a vacant industrial area into a vibrant, transit-oriented district. Boston Landing encompasses more than 15 acres of land and will include uses such as office, retail, hotel, recreation, parking, commuter rail, and residential with a total build-out of more than 2.5 million square feet.
ABOUT THE BOSTON CELTICS
A charter member of the Basketball Association of America (which evolved into the National Basketball Association) since 1946, the Boston Celtics have won a record 17 NBA Championships, including eight (8) in a row from 1959-1966, winning their first title in 1957 and their most recent in 2008. The Celtics have long stood for equality, and respect, including hiring the first African American Coach and starting the first all black starting five. In addition, 39 former Celtics players, management or staff have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In December 2002 the team returned to local ownership for the first time since 1963. For more information on the Celtics, log on to www.celtics.com.
ABOUT TRANSWESTERN
Transwestern is a privately held real estate firm of collaborative entrepreneurs who deliver a higher level of personalized service – the Transwestern Experience. Specializing in Agency Leasing, Management, Tenant Advisory, Capital Markets, Research and Sustainability services, our fully integrated global enterprise adds value for investors, owners and occupiers of all commercial property types. We leverage market insights and operational expertise from members of the Transwestern family of companies specializing in development, real estate investment management and research. Based in Houston, Transwestern has 34 U.S. offices and assists clients through more than 180 offices in 37 countries as part of a strategic alliance with BNP Paribas Real Estate. Experience Extraordinary at transwestern.com and @Transwestern. For updates from the Boston office, follow @TranswesternBOS.
