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Boston Scientologists put Hotel Alexandra on market after long delay

Boston Scientologists put Hotel Alexandra on market after long delay

Boston Glove: Boston Scientologists put Hotel Alexandra on market after long delay

http://www.bostonglobe.com/business...-long-delay/zbf1ykdAEoTV7W0aglfobN/story.html

* * * * * BEGIN EXCERPT * * * * *

After a long delay, the Boston branch of the Church of Scientology will finally list for sale the decaying but historic building in the South End that it once hoped to convert into a new headquarters.

The church had previously declined to sell the five-story Hotel Alexandra, at the corner of Washington Street and Massachusetts Avenue, until it found a permanent replacement. But spokesman Kevin Hall said the church decided to put the property up for sale while the real estate market is still strong.

“We just want to get it done,” Hall said. “We had hoped to fix it up faster. ...Hopefully, [the buyer] will be a professional developer who has experience dealing with the city.”

Though it is in poor condition, numerous developers have been clamoring to bid on the Alexandra, which was built in 1875. Hall said the Scientologists several times tried to “swap” the Alexandra with a developer in exchange for another building, but failed.

City development officials cheered the news, saying the refurbishment of the building is long overdue. For years, nearby residents and business owners had complained to City Hall that the church was sitting on the property, saying the boarded-up Alexandra was a drag on the neighborhood.

“This is a building that has a lot of history, and it's a really important gateway between the South End and Lower Roxbury,” Boston Redevelopment Authority spokesman Nick Martin said. “We would love to see it activated.”

Martin said the city would be open to a variety of potential uses for the structure.

“Given how long the property has sat vacant or underutilized, we don’t want to be terribly proscriptive about it,” Martin said. At this point, he added, “anything would be better than nothing.”

The Boston branch of the Church of Scientology bought the Alexandra — and the adjoining “Ivory Bean” row house — for $4.5 million in 2008, promising to return the crumbling eyesore to its former glory after decades of neglect, fires, and abortive development proposals.

The church had hoped to fund the renovation with proceeds from the sale of its former headquarters on Beacon Street. But the sale of that building took longer than expected and yielded $10.5 million in 2013—far short of what the church needed to renovate the Alexandra. Scientology requires its regional chapters to be financially self-sufficient, but forbids them from borrowing money.

The Boston branch is currently leasing temporary space in Quincy Center. Marc LaCasse, the church’s real estate attorney, expects it to reach out to some of the more than 50 developers who have expressed interest. Hall added that the church has already received “much higher” offers on the building than the $5.5 to $6 million estimate a developer gave the Globe in July.



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HT - The Wrong Guy on WWP: https://whyweprotest.net/threads/bo...by-church-of-scientology.110391/#post-2563104
 
That building had a lot of unique and interesting history, from murder to Masons.

Those condos make Dave's office look like a dump.
 
448 Beacon St. history

(Wow, this sure has become a quite thread.) :yawn:

I came across a site that does a great job of documenting most of the buildings in Back Bay, Boston.
There is a substantial history of 448 Beacon along with some old photos. The place sure went through a wide variety of uses.
I hope some of you Boston exes find this interesting.

http://backbayhouses.org/448-beacon/
 
Re: 448 Beacon St. history

myrklix said:
(Wow, this sure has become a quite thread.) :yawn:

I came across a site that does a great job of documenting most of the buildings in Back Bay, Boston.
There is a substantial history of 448 Beacon along with some old photos. The place sure went through a wide variety of uses.
I hope some of you Boston exes find this interesting.

http://backbayhouses.org/448-beacon/
Click to expand...

"He went searching for Mrs. Slater, and shot and killed Mrs. Slater’s butler, Emile Knabe, who had sought to stop him."

That was the ghost!
 
New Boston Org Building Announced

Just posted to the boston.com website:
https://www.boston.com/news/local/m...ing-allston/RadojNR8JmWmPBEOxxRYIL/story.html

And the full story at the Boston Globe (limited viewing) website:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business...for-million/s5JsZRz6SWuHxYMsbIrrIP/story.html

What's surprising is that Int is lending them money until the Alexandra is sold. The article says it's sold but, in fact, only has some interested parties.

The new location is nowhere near a high foot traffic area. On Google Maps you can see it's a place someone would really want to get to. I suppose they could spin it that thousands of cars drive near the new location given that it's a stone's throw from the Mass. Turnpike. :roflmao:

Text of Boston Globe article:


The New England branch of the Church of Scientology will move its headquarters to Allston after purchasing a large office complex near the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The local Scientologists have purchased the office building at 212-214 Lincoln Street and several surrounding properties for $15 million, church spokesman Kevin Hall confirmed.

“It gives us a stable place where we can help people with our services while not having to be in the real estate business anymore,” Hall said.

Hall said the church has not settled on a move-in date yet, but would likely need time to design changes to the interior. It is currently leasing temporary space in Quincy.

In November, the local Church of Scientology listed for sale the historic Hotel Alexandra in the South End, which it had bought in 2008 and promised to renovate into a new headquarters. The improvements never materialized, in part because the church struggled to sell its longtime former headquarters on Beacon Street in the Back Bay. The proceeds of that sale had been intended to fund the renovation of the Alexandra.

The church’s decision to list the five-story building at the corner of Washington Street and Mass. Avenue is a significant reversal.

The Alexandra has not yet been sold, but interest in the property is high, according the church and its real estate lawyer.

An abortive effort by the New England Scientologists to rent space in the Newmarket industrial area of Boston last year ended in a lawsuit, with the landlord accusing the church of repeatedly revising the terms of its lease.

Hall said the church would work with the Allston buildings’ existing tenants “to make them happy,” but could not say whether they would be allowed to remain.

Hall said the church had borrowed some of the $15 million from the International Church of Scientology, which typically requires its regional chapters to be financially independent. The New England group will pay back the central church with the proceeds of the Alexandra sale, he said.
​
 
Wow, that place looks huge. And in good shape.

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.358...3EEFk8dr-AyqgiLT7Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1

And so much parking. Makes me think about actually getting back involved. Just so I can park. ;)

No foot traffic though, that's for sure.

If they're smart, they'll let most of the existing tenants stay. They need the income more than they need all that space. A few months of org board chinese schooling and the rest of the tenants will probably leave on their own anyway.
 
Church of Scientology purchases new headquarters in Allston for $15 million | The Boston Globe

The New England branch of the Church of Scientology will move its headquarters to Allston after purchasing a large office complex near the Massachusetts Turnpike.

The local Scientologists have purchased the office building at 212-214 Lincoln Street and several surrounding properties for $15 million, church spokesman Kevin Hall confirmed.

“It gives us a stable place where we can help people with our services while not having to be in the real estate business anymore,” Hall said.

Hall said the church has not settled on a move-in date yet, but would likely need time to design changes to the interior. It is currently leasing temporary space in Quincy.

In November, the local Church of Scientology listed for sale the historic Hotel Alexandra in the South End, which it had bought in 2008 and promised to renovate into a new headquarters. The improvements never materialized, in part because the church struggled to sell its longtime former headquarters on Beacon Street in the Back Bay. The proceeds of that sale had been intended to fund the renovation of the Alexandra.

The Alexandra has not yet been sold, but interest in the property is high, according the church and its real estate lawyer.

An abortive effort by the New England Scientologists to rent space in the Newmarket industrial area of Boston last year ended in a lawsuit, with the landlord accusing the church of repeatedly revising the terms of its lease.

Hall said the church would work with the Allston buildings’ existing tenants “to make them happy,” but could not say whether they would be allowed to remain.

Hall said the church had borrowed some of the $15 million from the International Church of Scientology, which typically requires its regional chapters to be financially independent. The New England group will pay back the central church with the proceeds of the Alexandra sale, he said.

Source:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/business...for-million/s5JsZRz6SWuHxYMsbIrrIP/story.html

New England Church of Scientology purchases new $15m headquarters in Boston neighborhood

  • The regional branch will be located at an office complex in Allston
  • Move comes a month after the church put up the Hotel Alexandra for sale
  • Church purchased the historic hotel in 2008 and had hoped to renovate it
  • But it struggled to sell a longtime base that was meant to fund the remodel
  • Finally sold the property in 2013 but for $2million below asking price
Continued here:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ology-purchases-new-headquarters-Allston.html

Church of Scientology Buys New Allston Headquarters for $15 Million

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2015/12/15/church-of-scientology-allston-headquarters/

Report: Church of Scientology moving New England headquarters to Allston Rock City

UPDATE 1:46 p.m.: A new Facebook group titled Allstonians Against Scientology has already been formed.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/937828722962347

http://www.vanyaland.com/2015/12/15...ew-england-headquarters-to-allston-rock-city/

HT - The Wrong Guy on WWP: https://whyweprotest.net/threads/sc...a-hotel-to-buy-allston-office-complex.130901/
 
myrklix said:
OW - I wonder if you have the right building. Looks like you might have something on Everett St. I came up with the following image on Lincoln St. Not as pretty.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.357...4!1sa1gEVC03xOoTZI4hg-058Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Looks like it's behind that nice looking building on your map link. What do you think?
Click to expand...

The article said 212-214 Lincoln Street. The big building is 214. The small one is 218. https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3577704,-71.1374283,19.56z
 
As nice as it looks on the outside I'll bet that building has issues. Because of the windows I'm sure it has heating issues.

Kevin Hall, what a dork, says they want to get out of the real estate business but buy a building with tenants. They don't have the public to support such a building and already have inspired a protest group.

Davey must have a plan here. They bought the Alexandria for peanuts, I don't expect, because it continued to deteriorate, that they will even get their money back.
 
Shall we place some bets on how long it'll take for them to move into this place? Months? Years? With so few staff and public I imagine the effort to get the place ready for a move-in will be huge.
On second thought, frankly, I really don't give a shit how long it takes.
I might go by for a look some day since I drive near that location on the occasional trip to the New Balance outlet store in Allston.
 
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