Pierce Atwood attorney Gareth Orsmond played a leading role as part of a team that secured a waterways license for Cronin Holding’s 150 Seaport Boulevard project, a 250-foot tall, 22-story mixed use development in Boston’s Innovation District.  Gareth defended Cronin in multiple lawsuits brought by the Conservation Law Foundation and worked with former Massachusetts Governor William Weld to reach a settlement.  The project, built around an iconic building designed by Elkus Manfredi, will break ground in the spring of 2018 and will bring about significant public benefits, including 46 units of deeply subsidized senior housing and long-term funding to provide waterfront and Boston Harbor experiences to disadvantaged children from the City of Boston. 

Provided advice to client regarding the Massachusetts Permit Extension Act.

On behalf of Atlantic Gardens, LLC, we closed a deeply-subsidized eight-building, 32-unit affordable housing deal in Quincy, Massachusetts. The transaction required several loans and grants – both public and private – in exchange for long-term affordable housing restrictions. The City of Quincy put nearly $2 million of its affordable housing trust funds into the project.

Pierce Atwood acted as lead lender’s counsel to Bank of New England in connection with a $30.9 million loan transaction for the construction a 107,000-square-foot cold storage facility at 40 West Commercial Street in Portland, Maine. We also provided construction and zoning advice.

Pierce Atwood represented Cambridge Trust Company in closing on its $110 million commitment to the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP). MHP will use the funds to finance multifamily rental housing, with a focus on supporting low- and moderate-income households and nonprofit developers in the communities that Cambridge Trust serves. MHP estimates that the bank’s new initiative will help finance the construction of 1,400 rental apartments over the next 10 years.

We received two favorable appellate decisions on behalf of our developer client, Montrose School Park, LLC, in a series of cases challenging permits for a residential cluster development in Beverly, Massachusetts. Browne v. Conservation Commission of Beverly, 85 Mass. App. Ct. 1121 (2014) (unpublished) and Browne v. Planning Board of Beverly, 91 Mass. App. Ct. 1125 (2017) (unpublished).

We received a favorable trial decision from the Superior Court on behalf of our client, 246 Main Street Realty, LLC, holding that the plaintiffs failed to prove adverse possession of a portion of the parking lot for the client’s commercial building.

Representing Cronin Development LLC in permitting and development of a 235,500 square foot, eight-story, laboratory and R&D facility at 24 Drydock Ave. in Boston’s Seaport District.

We received a favorable trial decision from the Land Court on behalf of a private client, overturning a special permit that authorized an abutting owner to replace a residential cottage on Nantucket Harbor with a commercial use.

Representation of Urbanica, Inc. and its affiliate UHomes LLC in connection with the acquisition and construction financing for a multifamily residential project to be located at 90 Antwerp Street, Brighton, Massachusetts.

Representation of the Skating Club of Boston in the acquisition and development of a new, state-of-the-art, three-rink, 4,000-seat skating facility on University Avenue in Norwood, Massachusetts. We have assisted the Skating Club in all aspects of site acquisition, title matters (including clearing some old reciprocal easements for an office park that was never developed), zoning, wetlands and MEPA permitting, payment in lieu taxes agreements, and development agreements. We also represented the Skating Club in the sale of its existing facility at 1234 and 1240 Soldier’s Field Road in Boston.

Pierce Atwood served as permitting counsel to a real estate development firm in connection with an affordable housing project in Boston's South End. This important project will include dozens of new homes for moderate-income, first-time homebuyers.

Represented landowner Kendall F. Crocker III in successfully preserving an historic farm and approximately 300 acres of land located on Jewell Hill in Fitchburg, Ashby, and Ashburnham, Massachusetts. The land, known locally as Crocker Farm, was sold to The Trustees of Reservations and is now permanently preserved through a conservation restriction so that it can provide valuable scenic and public recreational opportunities for generations to come.  Mr. Crocker, the Trustees, and all three municipalities worked together to preserve the land through a combination of donor fundraising, grants awarded to the municipalities through the Commonwealth’s Land Grant Program, and a sales price substantially below the appraised value.

Represented an affordable housing provider in completing the purchase, rehabilitation, and preservation of 32 units of heavily subsidized low-income housing through the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, MassDevelopment bonds, and low-interest loans from the City of Quincy’s Affordable Housing Trust. The development, known as Bersani Circle, is the culmination of more than a year’s worth of work with the City of Quincy and various lender and tax credit investment entities, and will provide affordable housing at a time of great need.

Representation of the Town of Westwood (MA) in connection with the redevelopment of Islington Center, Westwood, Massachusetts.

Pierce Atwood represented the City of Somersworth, New Hampshire, in the development of a major solar photovoltaic (PV) installation on the 26-acre Somersworth Sanitary Landfill Superfund Site, including negotiation of a Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement and ground lease. The energy produced by this project will be sold to the City under the state’s group net-metering program, resulting in both economic and environmental benefits. The project will be New Hampshire’s first solar array located on a former Superfund Site. Ameresco, Inc., a renewable energy asset developer, owner and operator, is developing the project.