The average asking rent for an East Boston apartment jumped 14 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a new report from RentJuice. Maybe the landlords can sense what's coming better than anyone else, like animals before a hurricane. After all, you read the newspapers. No? Oh. Well, be forewarned: Eastie is changing, probably irrevocably, so the reality that rents are going up should come as no surprise. To wit:
· Mayor Menino, who usually gets what he wants in real estate matters, wants to jumpstart stalled residential developments along the neighborhood's waterfront that could add as many as 1,800 apartments.
· He also wants to up inter-neighborhood ferry travel to make Eastie more palatable to techies and other professional types who might not otherwise care for getting to and from one of those new apartments there.
· A lot of residents dig what Hizzoner is trying to do, happy to embrace the idea of East Boston as the new South Boston; or, more specifically, as the new Innovation District in South Boston.
· Finally, the mayor wants to plunk a $1 billion resort-style casino at Suffolk Downs in Eastie.
East Boston is having its moment, in other words. And a long moment, to be sure, as the fresh development gets under way and the infrastructure improvements that come with it take shape. Perhaps that's it then: Wise is the property owner who sees gentrification coming and knows to ask for more. Still, at $1,544, Eastie's average asking rent for the fourth quarter was well below the overall Boston average of $1,691, which was virtually unchanged from the quarter before. Eastie's average was also far away from that of the most expensive neighborhoods: Kendall Square ($2,771); the Seaport ($2,721); and East Cambridge ($2,719).
· East Boston Is Getting a Casino. You Got a Problem with That? [Curbed Boston]
· South Boston Techies Will Rescue East Boston Real Estate [Curbed Boston]
· Is East Boston the New Innovation District? [Curbed Boston]
· Menino's East Boston Development Plans: the Details [Curbed Boston]
· Why East Boston Will Get the Casino [Curbed Boston]