The Bulfinch Companies, Inc. is an American real estate firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

History

Bulfinch was founded in 1936 by Samuel W. Poorvu, a Lithuanian immigrant who began his career as a bricklayer, and soon started a small company in Boston building and developing Post Offices. Poorvu was dubbed "The Post Office King of America" by the

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

for his role in developing over 100 postal facilities nationwide for the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

. Bulfinch is owned and has been continuously operated by the Schlager family. Since inception, Bulfinch has "developed, acquired, and re-positioned in excess of $4 billion in commercial real estate assets." Bulfinch owns and/or operates nearly 4 million square feet of property, primarily centered in New England. Bulfinch is currently in its third generation of management.

Awards

Bulfinch was awarded the "Distinguished Real Estate Award" by the National Association of Industrial & Office Properties in 2007. Bullfinch has also been awarded commendations by the Mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The City of Cambridge, Massachusetts awarded Bulfinch the Certificate of Preservation Merit. Bullfinch received

LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

Gold Certifications by the

USGBC The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...

. Several Bulfinch properties have earned the

United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

Energy Star Energy Star (trademarked ''ENERGY STAR'') is a program run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that promotes energy efficiency. The program provides information on the energy consumption of pro ...

certification. Banker & Tradesman has identified several Bulfinch sites as "Hot Properties". The American Council of Engineering awarded Bulfinch a silver award for

Cambridge Discovery Park Cambridge Discovery Park (also known as "CDP" or "the Park"), formerly known as Acorn Park, is a office and laboratory campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is located along Massachusetts Route 2, and is aconnected to the Alewife Red Line subw ...

in 2008. Bulfinch received recognition at the 2011 GoGreen Awards for "their work in reducing storm water runoff and improving water quality".

Acquisitions

Osborn Triangle

Located adjacent to MIT's campus in Kendall Square, Bulfinch, in partnership with MIT and Harrison Street Real Estate, acquired three buildings: 610 Main Street North, 700 Main Street and 1 Portland Street "for 1.1 Billion Dollars". The three properties feature 677,000 square feet of lab, office and retail space, with a parking garage that includes 650 spaces. Key tenants include

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

, Lab Central as well as restaurants Sulmona, Café Luna Revela, and Boston Burger.

10 Brookline Place

Bulfinch acquired 10 Brookline Place in 2018 for 153 million dollars. The property consists of six floors with a total of 173,000 square feet of office space with 240 parking spaces available on 1.7 acres of land.

Lifetime Center

In July 2012, Bulfinch acquired the 300,000 square foot Atrium Mall in

Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts Chestnut Hill is an affluent New England village located west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Like all Massachusetts villages, Chestnut Hill is located within one or more incorporated municipal entities. It is located partia ...

from

Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...

, with plans to re-position it as a mixed-use medical office property, partially demolishing it, and then rebuilding and renovating it. The Lifetime Center reopened in Fall 2017 with

Lifetime Fitness Life Time, Inc. is a chain of health clubs in the United States and Canada. History The company was founded by chairman and chief executive officer, Bahram Akradi. The company was incorporated in 1990 as FCA, Ltd., a Minnesota corporation, and ...

and

Dana–Farber Cancer Institute Dana–Farber Cancer Institute is a comprehensive cancer treatment and research institution in Boston, Massachusetts. Dana–Farber is the founding member of Dana–Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Harvard's Comprehensive Cancer Center designated b ...

anchor store In retail, an "anchor tenant", sometimes called an "anchor store", "draw tenant", or "key tenant", is a considerably larger tenant in a shopping mall, often a department store or retail chain. They are typically located at the ends of malls. Wit ...

The Harvard Square Post Office

Samuel Poorvu originally developed the

Harvard Square Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the busin ...

United States Post Office The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

located in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

in 1954. This facility was redeveloped in 2000 by Bulfinch.

The Polaroid Building

The building was the "first modern industrial structure in Cambridge, Massachusetts" and was designed by

Shepley Bulfinch Shepley Bulfinch (Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott Inc.) is an international architecture, planning, and interior design firm with offices in Boston, Hartford, Houston, and Phoenix. It is one of the oldest architecture firms in continuous pract ...

in 1938 for B B Chemical Company. The building was acquired by

Polaroid Corporation Polaroid is an American company best known for its instant film and cameras. The company was founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land, to exploit the use of its Polaroid polarizing polymer. Land ran the company until 1981. Its peak employment was 21,00 ...

and was used as their corporate headquarters for some time. The building is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

since 1982. Bulfinch acquired the property in 2000. The Information Technology group of Harvard University (HUIT) is currently the sole tenant.

Cambridge Discovery Park

is located on the site of the former Arthur D. Little Company headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is an 820,000 SF master-planned development with multiple LEED certified buildings. It is home to

Forrester Research Forrester is a research and advisory company that offers a variety of services including research, consulting, and events. Forrester has nine North America locations: Cambridge, Massachusetts; New York, New York; San Francisco, California; McL ...

world headquarters and the Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

Siemens AG Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...

also leases space in the property.

References

External links

Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bulfinch Companies, The Real estate companies of the United States Real estate companies established in 1936 Property management companies Companies based in Boston 1936 establishments in Massachusetts 1936 establishments in the United States