June 14, 2014
Upper Echelon deal for Seaport
Cottonwood Management’s $900 million-plus, three-tower development in the Seaport District will be the first bearing the name and aesthetics of its new Echelon luxury lifestyle brand.
The Los Angeles real estate company unveiled the project’s moniker — Echelon Seaport — at a groundbreaking yesterday. The 1.3 million-square-foot Seaport Boulevard project will encompass 733 luxury condos, apartments and innovation units, and 125,000 square feet of upscale restaurants and luxury and boutique retail.
Cottonwood chairman and CEO Alex Shing called Seaport Square the hottest area of the country. “When I see my other peers, whether it’s in New York or Los Angeles, I tell them arguably the most valuable square mile in the United States is probably Seaport Square,” he said. “You’ve got GE, State Street, (John) Hancock … Vertex, and the list goes on. ”Construction of Echelon Seaport is expected to last 36 months.
The project will have more than 50,000 square feet of residential amenities, with two outdoor pools, an indoor spa pool, fitness center, a pair of sky lounges, courtyards and private terraces. The towers will surround a programmed plaza with some of the retail and restaurants, a pedestrian bridge, multiple levels of outdoor seating, artwork, and trees and other landscaping. Cottonwood said it will announce other amenities, a designer and innovation initiatives when it opens its condo sales office this fall. Limited partners in Echelon Seaport include investors from South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China, according to Shing.
Cottonwood opened a Boston office in March at 101 Seaport Blvd., from which it will manage its East Coast activities. Shing said: “We are looking into a number of (local) projects, and also a number of very reputable local developers have also approached us to see if we would partner and collaborate with them.”
