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A veteran Boston development company is teaming up with a major area healthcare provider on a new facility. Work started in July 2011 on a medical complex for the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. The complex, located at 800 Huntington Ave. in Boston, will join other healthcare and hospital facilities in the established Longwood Medical Area, explains Peter Spellios, senior vice president of The Beal Companies LLP, the building’s owner and developer. Comp­letion is scheduled for 2012. 

“Beal has a long history of building and operating medical office and life science facilities,” Spellios says. “The Massa­chusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary is a very sophisticated and strong partner. We’re bringing together the strengths of two well-respected Boston organizations with very long histories to build a fantastic facility.”

The project involves expanding an existing building owned by Beal on the site to include a 90,000-square-foot outpatient medical clinic and surgical facility. Plans include adding a third story to the existing two-story concrete building and building a 60,000-square-foot parking structure with roughly 150 parking spaces, according to the company.

Suffolk Construction Company of Boston is the construction manager hired by Beal to complete the project. The construction manager, developer and tenant were all involved in the preconstruction process. “Suffolk and our experienced design team had an active seat at the table helping us to meet the needs of the tenant,” Spellios says.

Suffolk Construction offers preconstruction, general contracting and construction management services and has performed projects in 37 states. 

“We are proud of our partnering app­roach and have made great strides to foster an environment of collaboration, co­operation and respect with architects and subcontractors,” the company says. “Our robust, historical databases and in-depth knowledge of the markets we serve gives us a unique edge on cost projections, and our disciplined pre-planning means we think through every contingency, quantifying and managing risk for our clients early on.”

Overcoming Obstacles

Close collaboration during preconstruction helped members of the project team plan ways to overcome projected challenges such as a congested site. “The Longwood Medical Area is one of the most successful research and medical neighborhoods in the country and has almost zero vacancy and very high barriers for development,” Spellios says.

Longwood Medical Area includes the Harvard Medical School and other Harvard teaching hospitals, as well as a number of institutions not affiliated with Harvard.

The project also requires the installation of complex mechanical, electrical and plumbing infrastructure. “The challenge was to build a facility that can integrate significant parking and infrastructure needs in a way that is aesthetically pleasing to neighbors and the surrounding community without sacrificing a first-class patient experience. We have met that challenge,” he adds.

Beal and its partners will accomplish that goal in part by building the garage partially into a hill next to the site and burying utilities. “We’re working very closely with the construction manager to make sure the construction plan we submitted to the city is adhered to, and remain in constant communication with the community and our neighbors,” Spellios says.

Development Expertise

The 800 Huntington Ave. project is one of the newest in a long line of successful medical-related developments for Beal, which was established in Boston in 1888. 

“We’ve developed a significant exper­t­ise in complex commercial uses such as medical office and life science spaces, and have the expertise both internally and through a network of relationships that helps us work efficiently and effectively with best-in-class operators such as The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary,” Spellios says.

Beal’s medical and life science experience includes being one of the first companies to develop and lease wet laboratory space in Cambridge, Mass., and its surrounding suburbs. In addition to life science and medical work, the company also develops properties in the commercial and residential sectors. 

Beal currently owns and manages more than 3.5 million square feet in the greater Boston area, Spellios adds.

The company acts as a principal and invests in property both on its own behalf as well as for institutional and individual partners. Its services include acquisition development, asset management, financing, construction management, consulting and brokerage.

Achieving Economic Benefits

Beal credits its ability to identify value for customers and move quickly on projects for its continued financial success. “Beal believes that anything is possible as long as it is achieved with integrity,” the company says. “In striving toward our goals, we have linked profitability with unquestionable quality, and our strategy is one of prudent risk-taking.  

“We are committed to achieving real economic benefits from our projects and to providing the same high level of service to our partners and clients that we devote to our own account.”

Notable recent projects include:

• The Clarendon, a 33-story mixed-use project on a former post office site in the Back Bay area of Boston, developed in partnership with The Related Companies. The site includes 178 rental apartments, 102 condominiums, a parking garage, a new post office, retail shops and a restaurant. This is the first high-rise development in the Back Bay in more than two decades, the company says.
• One Kendall Square, owned and managed by Beal in conjunction with Rock­wood Capital, is a 600,000-square-foot mixed-use office, retail and laboratory project on more than 10 acres of land in East Cambridge. 
• Seaport Center, a 458,000-square-foot office building in Boston’s Seaport district, was acquired by Beal and the Rockpoint Group in 2006, rebranded and aggressively marketed. Tenancy at the Seaport Center increased from 30 percent to more than 90 percent since Beal and Rockpoint acquired the property. Tenants include JP Morgan Chase, Monster Worldwide, and Fid­elity subsidiary Boston Coach.  

Community Involvement

The Beal Cos. involvement with the Massa­chusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary extends beyond the new medical complex. The Infirmary is one of a number of organizations the company has raised money to help support.

“We are deeply involved in our community, enthusiastically channeling our energies to civic and cultural endeavors with the same focus and intensity as our professional services,” the company adds. “We have always stressed the im­portance of giving back to the community, involving ourselves in several philanthropic and charitable organizations throughout New England.”