QUINCY – A Newton businessman has bought the former A.J. Wright building for $4.4 million – his fifth purchase of a Quincy Center building in the past three months.
Adrian Shapiro, who runs several businesses in the Boston area and is a member of the nonprofit Russian Benevolent Society, now owns more than 4 acres of property on Quincy’s Parkingway next to the city-owned Ross Garage. Shapiro said he wants to help the city transform its downtown into a bustling hub of residential and retail activity.
“It should be as famous as any other city in any other direction,” Shapiro said last week. “It’s just a matter of time.”
Last week, Shapiro finalized his $4.4 million purchase of 100 Parkingway from Atlantic-Quincy Realty. The property consists of a one-story strip of storefronts with 11,646 square feet of retail space. The building, constructed in 1965, once housed an A.J. Wright store. There is also 34,298 square feet of land.
Sean Kenealy, president of Quincy-based Key Realty, which has brokered all of Shapiro’s downtown purchases, said Shapiro now owns four buildings on the Parkingway. Last month, Shapiro bought three other properties on the Parkingway, including the IHOP restaurant and the building that once held an Outback Steakhouse restaurant, for $14.6 million from Atlantic-Quincy Realty.
Shapiro’s Parkingway properties, comprising 230 parking spaces and 155,700 square feet of retail space, are next to the Ross Garage, which Mayor Thomas Koch wants to leverage along with the city-owned Hancock Lot to push downtown redevelopment. The mayor has been in talks with Shapiro about the future of their properties.
In September, Shapiro bought the building at 1-13 Cottage Ave. and 1500-1530 Hancock St. for $4.1 million. The property, which currently holds several retailers and a lodging house, is across the street from the proposed site of West of Chestnut, the name given to developer Gate Residential’s plans to build two six-story buildings containing 169 new apartments and 12,000 square feet of ground-floor restaurant and retail space.
Shapiro said he would like to redevelop his properties and attract national chains such as Panera Bread and Five Guys Burgers.
“Any business would be honored to be here,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro is the treasurer of the Russian Benevolent Society, a nonprofit in Allston, and he owns a a number of businesses in and around Boston, including a Russian grocery store called Baza Gourmet Foods and Spirits in Newton. Shapiro said he has overseen development projects in the past, but he did not provide any specifics.
Shapiro’s five Quincy Center purchases are among 12 downtown buildings that have been sold to new owners since February. The dozen properties sold for a total of about $40 million.
Kenealy said the recent acquisitions show that there’s a lot of interest from private investors in downtown redevelopment. And he said the property sales will likely keep coming.
“The activity remains strong,” Kenealy said.
Source: http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20141217/NEWS/141217122