Development, Land Use and Permitting

Nutter represented the full service real estate firm Related Beal on a range of complex issues involving Parcel 1B, a development project which includes the first large-scale 100 percent affordable and workforce housing development in downtown Boston in the past 25 years, as well as a 220-room hotel, ground floor retail space, and parking. Work included air rights leasing, title, acquisition, zoning, and environmental matters, as well as state and City of Boston entitlements, real estate tax stabilization, and hotel financing.

We represent an affiliate of Related Beal LLC in its redevelopment of a core asset of six existing, historically sensitive buildings in the urban core of the City of Boston to be known as Congress Square, which will result in a total of 530,800 SF of total development containing a mix of office, residential and hotel use. One of the buildings has been nominated for designation as a City of Boston Landmark, which has required intensive efforts with the City and local historic constituents to enable redevelopment.

We represent Boston Properties (BP) in BP’s redevelopment of the existing Hancock Garage and the redevelopment and refurbishment of the adjacent Back Bay train station located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, MA known as the Back Bay/South End Gateway Project. Both of these properties are owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and are the subject of a long term ground and air rights lease to BP. Currently, in addition to substantial upgrades to the Back Bay Station, the project is planned to be a mix of office, residential and retail. As planned, there will be one office tower, two residential towers, with retail and parking on lower floors. The feasibility of permitting and constructing the project in and over active rail, light rail and interstate highway in a historic and dense area of Boston adds an interesting level of complexity. In total, the project could have a combined 1.3 million square feet of office, retail and residential space constructed. Nutter's role in the project was zoning, permitting, air leasing, and ground leasing.

We have represented ND in the acquisition, permitting, and financing of multiple projects in the Greater Boston and Eastern Massachusetts areas. These projects have included:

Station Landing, Medford: Handled permitting and approvals for this mixed use transit-oriented project near Wellington Circle, just outside of Boston, as well as drafting significant amendments to the Medford Zoning Ordinance to allow the development. We also handled compliance with state environmental issues and completed a DCR (formerly Metropolitan District Commission) agreement for community benefits and project mitigation.

Market Street, Lynnfield: Handled Chapter 40R rezoning, Development Agreement with the Town of Lynnfield, mitigation agreements with the Town of Wakefield and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, and related approvals.

Other projects for this client over the years have included the Ink Block in Boston, the Bridges at Andover, Chapter 40B residential development of Arbor Point at Woodland Station in Newton, Forge Park in Franklin, Fort Point Channel in Boston, MetroNorth Business Center in Woburn, Lake Williams Corporate Center in Marlborough, Blueview Corporate Center in Canton, Mansfield Corporate Center in Mansfield and New England Business Center in Andover.

Nutter represented Lincoln Property Company and Phoenix Property Company in a joint venture with an institutional capital partner in connection with the acquisition of development rights and the permitting and transactional aspects relating to this multi-party mixed-used development. 

New construction mixed-use development project totaling 499,500 square feet. The project includes a 12-story multi-family apartment building containing approximately 300,000 square feet and 304 first-class rental apartment residences, including 22 on-site affordable units and additional off-site contributions to Boston’s affordable housing stock. Resident amenities include a rooftop pool, Skydeck, gym and wellness studio. The apartment building also contains 22,816 square feet of space that can be used for retail, restaurant and/or office space. The adjacent Hotel Component, located a shared podium, was developed into a 12-story Hyatt Place hotel with 294 rooms. There is a one-level underground parking garage beneath the apartment building and garage that can accommodate up to 450 cars. The mixed-use development is situated on Massport’s “Parcel K” and was constructed pursuant to 3 separate 99-year ground leases entered with Massport.

We represent FRIT in the permitting of several new phases of the large, transit-oriented, mixed-use project called Assembly Row in Somerville, MA, including negotiation of a creative approach with the planning board to meet the city’s new inclusionary affordable housing requirements through a combination of on-site units and cash payments over time to a community-based nonprofit organization which purchases and preserves existing affordable housing in established neighborhoods near schools, shopping, and transit.

We represent an affiliate of Mark Development in its redevelopment of a city block in Newton, MA which will result in four- and five-story buildings with a total of 212,000 SF development containing a mix of residential, retail, restaurant, and community space. This is a transit-oriented development located just .01 miles from an MBTA commuter rail station. Approval for the project was obtained in June 2017. Project required the locus to be rezoned and a special permit obtained to allow for density and height. Project required 14 hearings before the Newton City Council. The project approvals were appealed by adjacent neighbors. We recently won this case in the Land Court.

We represent Wood Partners, a national multi-family housing developer, in the permitting and development of many multi-family residential developments consisting of over 1,700 units in the Boston area.

We represent developer/owner 1265 Main Street, LLC on the redevelopment of the former Polaroid Office/RD Campus into a 1,280,000 sq. ft. mixed-use office and retail center, immediately adjacent to Route 128 in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Nutter represented The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc. (BWH) in the completion of the zoning and land use permitting required to enable the redevelopment of a portion of the 2.61 acre former Massachusetts Mental Health Center (MMHC) site as a 383,250 square foot state-of-the-art research and clinical facility known as BWH's “Center for Transformative Medicine” (“CTM”), formerly known as the Brigham’s "Building for the Future".  Nutter assisted in the modification of the existing approvals for CTM for an additional story and increase in size of 24,580 square feet to be added mid-construction to assist BWH in responding to changing hospital needs. The construction of CTM has now been completed and is fully occupied.  Nutter continues to assist the client in ongoing permit modifications and permit compliance issues related to this and other properties within the Longwood Medical Area.

Nutter advised Brighton Marine on all aspects of the development of The Residences at Brighton Marine, a $46 million project that created 102 units of affordable housing in Boston with a preference for veterans. Nutter provided counsel on all aspects of the project, including the original strategic planning, the permitting, the formation of the joint venture with WinnCompanies, the ground lease to the joint venture, and the financing.

We represent Hilco Real Estate in the zoning and redevelopment of four industrial properties in Watertown, Waltham and Avon, Massachusetts.  We are also currently working on the redevelopment of two large former manufacturing projects in Waltham. We also assisted with the acquisition of a large power plant in Boston, MA that will be redevelopment into a mixed-use project.

Nutter represents Janco Development, the owner and developer of a 75 acre waterfront mill complex in Plymouth, MA. The master plan calls for the redevelopment of over 1.5 million square feet of mill buildings and new construction that will overlook Cape Cod Bay. The site will feature a marina with a deep water channel and a 400-foot solid filled pier, 675 residential units and 600,000 square feet of commercial space, in addition to a 300-slip marina. The site hosts the southernmost MBTA train on the South Shore offering rail to Boston and is one of the largest transit-oriented, mixed-use developments in the region. The site was the first and largest smart-growth district under MGL c 40R. Nutter's role in the project is smart growth zoning, permitting, acquisition, disposition, environmental, historic, and leasing.

We represent of The First Church of Christ, Scientist in the disposition via both deed and ground lease of multiple properties in Back Bay, Boston, and advice regarding permitting aspects of significant improvements to the Plaza and other Church-retained property.

Nutter drafted new zoning for overlay district, defended the new zoning against judicial challenge, and secured approvals from the local planning board, conservation commission, county commission, water district, and environmental impact statement reviews for HSL’s 160-acre intergenerational campus in Dedham, MA with over one million square feet of space.

Land assembly, public entity formation and development of a regional commuter rail, bus and MassDOT facility within a federal superfund site, involving brownfield redevelopment agreements with state and federal agencies.

Developed parking garage, commuter rail and regional bus transportation center with retail space for regional transportation agency and Fitchburg Redevelopment Authority.

Obtained state and local approvals for several projects, including a waterfront hotel, waterfront restaurants, marina redevelopment and other commercial and water-dependent uses. These activities included adjudicatory proceedings and judicial review of state permits and licenses.

Drafted the governing agreements for the permitting of mixed-use development projects on public authority owned properties in South Boston and East Boston.

Nutter represented Convention Data Services (CDS), a Cape Cod-based SaaS company that provides event solutions and support services to over 250 tradeshows worldwide, in the development of its corporate headquarters.

Obtained state permits and approvals for a mixed-use development on the South Boston Waterfront, containing restaurants, offices and transient boating slips.

Obtained permits and approvals for major marine and air freight terminal within a Designated Port Area in Boston. Representation included successful defense of administrative and judicial appeals.

Represented Regional Transit Authority in connection with the development of a parking garage serving MassDOT commuter rail station and housing development in downtown Haverhill.

Represented a local redevelopment authority in connection with redevelopment of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, successfully handling the drafting of a revised Reuse Plan and zoning by-laws; the negotiation of a Disposition and Development Agreement with the master developer; the acquisition of roughly 550 acres of land for economic development purposes and 225 acres for recreational and open space purposes; the resolution of issues pertinent to CERCLA, M.G.L. Chapter 21E, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act; and the drafting and adoption of regulations necessary to implement the revised Reuse Plan and revised zoning by-laws.

Nutter defended several shorefront owners in litigation concerning access to the waters of Cape Cod Bay. The courts ruled that the original developers did not reserve beach rights for the inland owners and further confirmed that the shorefront owners owned their land out to the mean low water line.

The Department of Environmental Protection issued a summary decision determining that our client had made changes to their property without properly obtaining a license under the Waterfront Protection Act, Chapter 91. We successfully overturned that decision in a G.L. c. 30A appeal to the Superior Court, winning a remand to the Department for a trial.

A group of neighbors appealed our client’s special permit and change of zone for a large development project. Knowing the value of time to a project, we successfully moved to accelerate the case to a trial within six months and strategically managed the case to keep to that schedule. We defended the special permit and after a three-day jury-waived trial, we obtained a judgment determining that none of the plaintiffs had standing, successfully upholding our client’s permits and doing so in an expedited manner.

Our client sought a zoning map amendment for a large development project and a group of neighbors filed a protest petition under G.L. c. 40A, § 5. After the municipality granted the amendment, the neighbors filed an appeal to the Land Court seeking a determination that their protest petition met the statutory criteria that would have required a higher vote threshold for the map change. We prevailed on cross motions for summary judgment and obtained a judgment upholding our client’s zone change.

Nutter recently secured a victory in the Massachusetts Appeals Court in an opinion that upheld the granting of a special motion to dismiss a suit that sought to enforce an alleged contract for the sale of a multi-million dollar water-view property in Chatham. The Appeals Court also ruled that the property owner was entitled to recover its appellate legal fees from the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs’ complaint alleged that the defendants’ failure to countersign the plaintiffs’ written purchase offer breached a promise that had been made by the defendants’ local attorney and real estate broker, and that the defendants became legally obligated to sell the property when the plaintiffs submitted a signed written offer and tendered a deposit check. On appeal, the plaintiffs changed their theory and claimed that an email from the defendants to their real estate broker discussing terms that the defendants wished to see in any deal could be combined with the plaintiffs’ later purchase offer to create a contract and satisfy the writing requirement of the statute of frauds. The Appeals Court rejected the theory, affirmed the lower court decision granting the defendants’ special motion to dismiss the case, and ruled that the plaintiffs would have to pay the defendants’ legal fees on appeal. The key holding was that, even though the unsigned form of the purchase offer came from the defendants’ attorney, it always remained an offer to purchase that the defendants were free to accept or reject, and that it was never an offer to sell. 

Nutter has represented National Development and its affiliates in connection with acquisition, disposition, permitting, financing, leasing and land use litigation matters relating to projects in Greater Boston and Eastern Massachusetts, including MarketStreet at Lynnfield, Bridges at Andover, Station Landing in Medford, Arbor Point at Woodland Station in Newton, Forge Park in Franklin, Fort Point Channel in Boston, MetroNorth Corporate Center in Woburn, Lake Williams Corporate Center in Marlborough, Blueview Corporate Center in Canton, Mansfield Corporate Center, New England Business Center in Andover, and various other office, research and development, shopping center, mixed-use and assisted living projects.

Nutter represented Bright Marine in its residential development at 1485 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, MA. 102 residential rental units located on the Brighton Marine Health Center campus, steps from the MBTA Green Line, containing both affordable housing and workforce housing units, all with a preference for veterans. The project includes a below-grade parking garage containing 47 spaces, and 40 spaces are located at grade. Nutter's role in the project was permitting, joint venture formation, leasing and financing.

Nutter represented Edgewood Retirement Community Inc., The Baldwin Senior Living, and Edgewood Senior Solutions Group Inc. in connection with the acquisition of a 15.1 acre property in Londonderry, NH, where it plans to build an all-new, one-of-a-kind senior living community called The Baldwin.

Nutter served as legal counsel to Griffith Properties, LLC and DRA Advisors in a joint venture in the acquisition, financing, and permitting for redevelopment of 580 Pleasant Street in Watertown, MA.

Nutter represented Mark Development in its approved mixed-use development at MBTA Riverside Station includes 10 buildings. Plans call for 582 residential units with 102 of those affordable units along with an 11-story, 527,000-sf office tower, plus a 150-room hotel to replace the Hotel Indigo. 65,000 sf of retail space and a "hidden" parking garage with 3,000 spaces. A public park and outdoor amphitheater are in the plans. Nutter's role involved smart growth zoning, permitting, ground leasing, joint venture formation and construction. 

Nutter represents shorefront owners in litigation on Cape Cod.