A parking lot in Boston sells for $40 million.

[Tennesseer]

Very pricey real estate in Boston.

A parking lot in Boston sells for $40 million. Yes, $40 million.

The parking lot at the corner of Newbury and Dartmouth streets is paved with plain asphalt. But it could just as well be gold.

This week, a Chicago investment firm paid $40 million for the nondescript lot, which covers barely one-third of an acre, scooping up what is effectively the last open land in the Back Bay’s high-end shopping district.

An arm of L3 Capital, which specializes in retail development, beat out a wide range of bidders to buy the property from a family that had owned it for more than a century and earlier this year decided to cash in on what turned out to be a very shrewd long-term investment.

Complete Boston Globe article here: A parking lot in Boston sells for $40 million. Yes, $40 million.

[dannylion]

So, it's basically a 1/3-acre building lot.  The fact that it is currently a parking lot is likely irrelevant unless there is some requirement that it be maintained as a parking lot in perpetuity.  Even then, it could be turned into a cash cow in a city probably short on parking by constructing a parking structure to maximize the ROI.  

[empress of self-improvement]

I am not one bit surprised. Someone spent a crapton on a single lousy parking space,I believe it was in the Back Bay. The lot is on the corner of Newbury St. which is snooty town shopping. Not surprised AT ALL

[busymom]

Wow!  I'm sure the family that owned it is VERY happy.  

[NoNamePerson]

Something is worth only what someone else is willing to pay for it or so they say!!  

[chiver78]

Newbury and Dartmouth is also four blocks from the Common (Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth) so that's going to drive up the value as well. will be interested to see what becomes of the space.

[Deleted]

Jul 6, 2019 15:20:33 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Newbury and Dartmouth is also four blocks from the Common (Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth) so that's going to drive up the value as well. will be interested to see what becomes of the space.

I think you missed a heck of an investment opportunity in your backyard 😉

[chiver78]

Jul 6, 2019 22:10:23 GMT -5 @aj said:

Jul 6, 2019 15:20:33 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Newbury and Dartmouth is also four blocks from the Common (Arlington, Berkeley, Clarendon, Dartmouth) so that's going to drive up the value as well. will be interested to see what becomes of the space.

I think you missed a heck of an investment opportunity in your backyard 😉

this may not mean as much to you as to the locals, but my grandmother told us a story when we were kids - about how her grandfather had given away a plot of land "out in the sticks" to a newlywed couple as a wedding gift. that plot of land until a few years ago held the Atrium Mall, a snooty high end collection of stores in one of the wealthiest areas of the state. 

[NoNamePerson]

Jul 7, 2019 7:46:26 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Jul 6, 2019 22:10:23 GMT -5 @aj said:

I think you missed a heck of an investment opportunity in your backyard 😉

this may not mean as much to you as to the locals, but my grandmother told us a story when we were kids - about how her grandfather had given away a plot of land "out in the sticks" to a newlywed couple as a wedding gift. that plot of land until a few years ago held the Atrium Mall, a snooty high end collection of stores in one of the wealthiest areas of the state. 

My EX's uncle used to buy land so far in the boonies back in the 60's that people laughed at him. He would just sit back and say somebody will want/need it one day. That ole geezer died filthy rich. Mostly from land in the boonies but also owned a building supply store and sold materials to builders who bought up some land for subdivisions. For ages he was the only building supply place in town and they sold everything  - sorta a pre cursor to HD and Lowes - minus the garden centers. Win Win