Luxury rental tower in ‘NorthPoint’ bought for $200 million, despite being mostly empty
Developers are betting on the future of “live-work-play’’ neighborhood in Cambridge.
How hot is the apartment market right now?
Here’s how hot: Prudential Real Estate Investors just shelled out $200 million for Twenty/20, a newly luxury apartment tower in Cambridge that is still leasing up, with most of its units still empty.
Not bad for a tower that cost a reported $147 million to build and which just opened in June in the city’s budding NorthPoint neighborhood down by the Charles.
With more than 80 percent of its apartments still seeking tenants, Twenty/20 is now pulling out all the stops to bring in new residents, including a free rent deal.
Sign a lease for October and you can live rent free for the month.
Better yet, tour the tower, sign on the dotted line before you leave, and get a thousand dollars off the following month’s rent, noted Christina Fantone, general manager of Twenty/20.
A nearly $8,000-a-month penthouse on the tower’s top floor is still available for rent, with three bedrooms and killer views of the Charles.
“We opened our doors on June 1st and every day if feels more and more like the community it is meant to be,’’ Fantone said.
‘A very social environment’
As it markets itself to prospective renters, the new tower is highlighting its Cambridge location near Kendall Square and two T stations, great views, and a growing community of residents.
Twenty/20, named for the tower’s 20 floors and its address on 20 Child St., also offers an all-you-can-eat buffet of amenities with a stress on helping residents get to know each other.
There is a regulation-sized half basketball court called Hoops, a gym called Fit and an unplugged library called Think, complete with a fireplace ready to snap, crackle and pop on cold fall and winter nights.
“It’s a nice, calming environment,’’ Fantone said.
Story continues after gallery.
See inside the Twenty/20 luxury tower, including the views from the penthouse:
A social room features a billiard table, a bar, a giant four-panel TV, and hookups for gaming systems.
There is also an outdoor courtyard on the roof of the fourth floor of the broader base of the building, with the tower rising up beyond that another 16 stories.
The courtyard includes a giant fire place and lounge chairs.
“It is a very social environment – there is the opportunity for a lot of mingling,’’ she said.
Investment balloon
Meanwhile, Twenty/20 is not alone in attracting buyer interest, with investors from across the country flocking to snap up luxury apartment towers in Boston, Cambridge and the suburbs.
The Boston area is on track to see more than $4.5 billion in apartment tower and building sales by year end, compared to $1.4 billion last year, real estate firm JLL reports.
Lofty and steadily rising rents is a big attraction for investors, with Twenty/20 no exception.
A “flat’’ – a studio with a separate but partly open space for a bedroom called a “nook’’ – starts at $3,000 a month. With high ceilings and more expensive flooring and cabinetry, it is all of 423 square feet.
A more traditional studio will put you out $2,300 to $2,600 a month.
One bedrooms start at $2,700 and go up to $3,300 for 780 square feet, while two bedrooms start at over $4,000 and feature a couple different choices of layouts.
A roommate-amenable version has bedrooms at separate ends of the apartment with common living space in between, while the more family-friendly layout has the bedrooms together down a hall.
A renters’ market?
Of course, all the new luxury rental towers out there mean there is also a lot of competition for renters out there as well.
Prospective tenants are often checking out more than one address and may be headed out to tour another high-rise after they have seen Twenty/20, Fantone said.
Despite the competition, Fantone sees the tower steadily filing up over the next 18 months.
And so far, the new owners, who just spent nearly $200 million for the tower, have no complaints.
“The Boston metro area offers solid, long-term growth prospects thanks to an expanding job market and a thriving biotechnology and pharmaceutical presence,’’ said Kevin R. Smith, head of Americas for Prudential Real Estate, in a press release.
“We expect that Twenty|20 will benefit from the transformation of NorthPoint into a dynamic, urban ‘live-work-play’ community over the coming years.’’
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