New luxury housing, two-story Chanel planned for Newbury Street

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A rendering of No. 6 Newbury shows the luxury condominiums with a Chanel storefront on the first two floors on Back Bay's Newbury Street.

By Johanna Kaiser, Town Correspondent

A new luxury building is underway on Newbury Street, offering six condominiums and a new storefront for one of the street’s high fashion staples.

The new six story, 49,000-square-foot building, called No. 6 Newbury, will be built where a parking garage on the corner of Newbury and Arlington Streets has sat to house two- to four-bedroom condos and a 10,000 square foot House of Chanel on the first two floors.

“We acquired the garage with the idea of running the garage, but the idea to redevelop became clear. We worked really hard to make this idea possible.” said Peter Bassett, one of the developers.

Chanel's new home is designed to resemble Coco Chanel’s famed Paris apartment with an exterior façade of French white limestone and black etched moldings designed by architects Peter Marino and Richard Bertman.

The condos--two two-bedroom duplexes and four tree- to four-bedroom units--will range from 3,000 to 4,500 square feet, will have floor to ceiling windows, and owners will be able to request specific designs, finishes, flooring, cabinets, and other materials, said developer Nader Golestaneh.

"Some folks are looking for units that are new and contemporary--floor-to-ceiling windows, crisp architecture design," Bassett said of the new building, which is the first new construction on the block in 75 years. "These units are unique.”

Bassett and Golestaneh said they worked collaboratively with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, and abutters to design the project, which has been approved by the city.

"It was kind of a team effort that got it here,” Golestaneh said.

The units are expected to sell for between $3.5 million and $6 million depending on the size of the unit and design requests, according to Golestaneh.

Construction of the building is expected to begin in late spring with units expected to be ready for February 2013. No date has been set for Chanel's move.
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E-mail: johanna.yourtown@gmail.com