Skanska USA purchased three separate parcels. Skanska has developed the 101 Seaport Blvd. office building that features anchor tenant PricewaterhouseCooper's headquarters. WS Development owns a floor of retail space at that property. Skanksa is nearing completion on the Watermark Seaport residential project across the street that also includes one floor of retail space owned by WS Development. Skanska also recently broke ground on its third Seaport project, 121 Seaport, a major office project where WS Development will own the first two floors of retail space when construction is completed.

A sale is pending on property on the eastern side of the Seaport Square property with Chinese investment group Celona Capital, which intends to build approximately 850,000 square feet of residential space. As part of that project, WS Development will own approximately 150,000 square feet of retail space at the site. In total once all projects are completed, WS Development will own approximately 500,000 square feet of retail space on seven adjacent blocks in the Seaport, not including the 2.8 million square feet of development it will build on the 12.5 acres it has now acquired.

Marks says that his firm as part of the land deal now owns Seaport Park, which is currently under construction, and a small pocket park called Q Park on Boston Wharf Road, along with eight undeveloped parcels that are currently parking lots. The overall development plan for the properties has been approved, but Marks says that WS will have to go before the city to secure site plan approvals for the developments.

When asked what prompted his firm to pay the hefty price for the remaining parcels from its longtime partners, Marks says, “I honestly think it is the most important undeveloped land in the city. It is at the heart at the piece of land that touches the Financial District, it touches the waterfront, it touches Fort Point Channel, it touches the Convention Center, it is immediately adjacent to the federal courthouse, to the ICA, so there is very important development all around this parcel, but nothing that stitches it together.”

For a purchase price of $359 million, his firm now has “the great opportunity and great challenge of doing the stitching of bringing everything together to complete the development of the Seaport. This is a tremendous opportunity to transform that part of the city,” Marks says.

Jeremy Sclar, president, WS Development says of the land deal in the Seaport District, “The privilege to reshape this land—in our hometown—is surpassed only by the obligation, which we take to heart, to build something for the ages. We will give this our all.”

Marks says that the firm will now hire architectural firms and landscape designers “to re-envision” what could be developed at the Seaport properties. He estimated that at full build-out the future development at the newly acquired Seaport parcels will cost approximately $2 billion to complete, not including the land purchase.

While WS may partner with others on some components of the future Seaport developments, the company, which has more than 20 million square feet of existing space and an additional four million under development, does not plan to sell any of its newly acquired Seaport properties.

“We are not merchant builders, we are building for long-term generational assets and that is our plan here,” Marks says.

He notes that although WS acquired Boston Global Investors' interest in the 12.5 acres, BGI will be retained to play a role in overseeing infrastructure development, including the construction of a Roman Catholic chapel, as well as advisory services.