Entertainment
Developer Plans $100M 'Hollywood East' Hub in Boston Suburb
RISE Development aims for deal to build movie studio by end of summer.
Developer has proposed a large movie and TV production studio to be located south of Boston in estimated $100-million project.
Rendering courtesy Gensler
A Boston-based developer would like to turn a suburb of the city into Hollywood East, with plans to build an estimated $100-million movie and TV production studio.
RISE Development seeks to close a deal and start construction by the end of the summer to convert a Braintree, Mass., industrial park into the hub. It said the project will cost roughly $100 million to build, not including land costs, and is set for completion in the spring or summer of 2025.
A major Boston-area residential and commercial developer, RISE is buying the park from Onshore Properties, which has lined up state and local permits for 275,000 sq ft in new construction in a pair of buildings. The developer plans to put seven sound stages in the building, as well as other film production operations.
A 20,000 sq ft building that is currently on the site will demolished.
RISE also is working with commercial real estate firm Newmark on financing needed to break ground, while assembling a team of project subcontractors.
“We would love to break ground before the end of the year,” Anthony Aiello, said RISE executive vice president. “There are a lot of well-capitalized institutions that spend buckets of money on this type of investment. The market feedback has been well received.”
RISE’s contracting arm will oversee the project and field bids from union subcontractors in various trades, including steel, concrete, excavation, electrical and plumbing.
Gensler will lead the project design and planning work. Under agreements hammered out by the previous owner, RISE will be required to pay Braintree andthe neighboring town of Weymouth for traffic upgrades as well as for a new rail system that will link the two municipalities and Holbrook.
RISE will work with New England Wildlife Centers and Braintree to design and build trails and create educational as well as recreational uses for them.
The planned studio project will represent the first major film hub of its kind so close to Boston, with previous area projects that are significantly smaller. The closest potential rival is New England Studios, which has four soundstages in Devens.
The planned Braintree film hub will be just 17 miles from Logan International Airport. Overall, once up and running, is is projected to employ 800 union workers and generate $1.5 million in permit fees and $8 million in local taxes for Braintree over a decade.
As RISE pushes towards a groundbreaking in the next few months, one plus has been a “leveling off” of construction prices,” Aiello said. “It’s a relief from the escalation we have seen over the past few years.”
The developer-contractor, which has specialized in building housing and labs, spent about one year exploring plans and doing research before finalizing the studio project, he said.
“We spent a lot of time doing our homework and to make sure this is a feasible project,” he said.
