61 North Beacon Street

NOW LEASING!

    14,000 - 28,000 Office/R&D/Flex Space

  • Completely renovated; delivering in 2018
  • Third & fourth floors available; 14,000 SF/floor
  • New tenant entrance with lobby
  • Passenger elevator
  • Heavy-duty freight elevator (8,500 lbs capacity)
  • 12’ ceiling height
  • Heavy load‐bearing floor capacity
CONTACT: 
   Alex Plaisted, 617-912-7057,  alex.plaisted@cbre-ne.com
   Matt Furey, 617-912-6973,  matthew.furey@cbre-ne.com

    2,200 SF Retail

  • Street level corner endcap
  • Over 50 feet of glass frontage
  • Potential outdoor patio
CONTACT: 
   Rob Robledo, 617-912-6869,  rob.robledo@cbre-ne.com
   Roberto Cordero, 617-912-6818,  roberto.cordero@ cbre-ne.com
​

​61 North Beacon Street is a 71,000 SF, 5-story brick building, built in 1925 as the New England regional headquarters for International Harvester - company that produced heavy vehicles and farm equipment.  Beginning in the 1980’s, it also served as the world headquarters for New Balance, prior to their new headquarters located on Guest Street.  61 N. Beacon features an attractive, red brick facade with original architectural details such as stone lintels, cornice, and arched windows, but nonetheless, it was badly in need of upgrades.  The building has a large parking lot on the eastern side, and is located just east of Boston Volvo's former location at 75 N. Beacon.


Village Automotive Group completed an adaptive-reuse of 61 N. Beacon Street to create a mixed-use building which now houses the relocated Boston Volvo dealership.  The new location includes service write-up area on the basement level (accessed through the rear of the building), main showroom on street level with an additional showroom space on the second floor.  The existing service facility at 75 N. Beacon Street will remain where it is currently.  A space within the building’s first floor has been set aside for a neighborhood-scale, small retail area which we anticipate will house a small eatery or other local retail establishment.  Floors 3 and 4 will continue to house tenants’ space for office or other commercial uses.

To maximize efficient access, the project included the demolition of a single-story brick warehouse, constructed in 1995, located directly behind and adjacent to 61 N. Beacon.  This resulted in a net reduction of 6,391 square feet of total building space on the lot.

Since the project entails relocating the existing dealership from the adjacent parcel, there are no changes in traffic patterns.  We are excited to have created a modern, urban dealership while allowing us to upgrade a tired building with wonderful history, while also retaining the 89 jobs presently housed at Boston Volvo Village.  Boston's Auto Mile is an important part of the area's legacy, a tradition Village Automotive has been proud to continue for the past 27 years.
​
​
Project Fact Sheet - click to enlarge.
Click images below to enlarge.
Click titles below for more information.
Historical Images

​The Wisconsin Historical Society has some great images of the building on their site, from the McCormick glass negative collection.

Boston Branch House | Photograph | Wisconsin Historical Society

Exterior view of an International Harvester Company branch building. Large show windows line the first floor along the sidewalk. A large electric sign on the roof reads, "International Harvester Motor Trucks" and street railroad tracks run down the street. Residential houses are in the far background.

Snowy Street Under International Harvester Truck Sign | Photograph | Wisconsin Historical Society

Cars and houses along a snowy street as seen from under a neon "International Harvester Trucks" sign. Image ID: 10381 McCormick Glass Negative Series. This image is issued by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Use of the image requires written permission from the staff of the Division of Library-Archives.

IH Boston Branch House Showroom | Photograph | Wisconsin Historical Society

McCormick-Deering tractors, plows, and other agricultural implements are arranged on display in a showroom. A sign advertising cream separators hangs on the wall, reading "McCormick-Deering Primrose Separators. Good equipment makes a good farmer better." Image ID: 84232 This image is issued by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Boston General Line Branch | Photograph | Wisconsin Historical Society

Two well-dressed men are standing outdoors among Farmall tractors which are loaded on railroad cars. Original caption reads: "M.E. Merseran, manager, and H.W. Martin, assistant manager, Boston general line branch." Image ID: 58888 This image is issued by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Use of the image requires written permission from the staff of the Division of Library-Archives.
Building History
International Harvester (IH), a national retailer in farm equipment and motor trucks, began manufacturing tractors in 1906 and motor trucks in 1907.  By 1911, the company was the leading producer of tractors in the United States.  During the early 1900s, the company expanded - constructing showrooms and offices, locations which allowed customers to view and purchase equipment without relying solely on catalogues. 

International Harvester had outgrown its previous headquarters on Commonwealth Avenue in Brookline.  Between 1924-1926, the company designed and built a New England Regional Branch Headquarters located at 61 North Beacon Street in Allston, MA, constructed by Aberthaw Construction Company of Boston, a firm still in operation today with an office in Lowell, MA.  The building was part of a series of International Harvester buildings across several adjacent parcels, including the original service station building and storage warehouse.

The new four-story building included showroom and offices on the first floor, repairs department, implement showroom and offices on the second floor, plus ample storage for equipment on the third and fourth floors. The new building contained loading platform and a freight elevator on the east elevation to accommodate rail shipments of new machinery.  

The building served as the IH New England Regional Branch Headquarters for nearly fifty years, until its closing in 1974.  In 1975, the property was occupied by United States Scientific Instruments.  Beginning in the 1980s, it also served at the world headquarters for New Balance Athletic Shoes prior to their new world headquarters on Guest Street.  A one-story brick addition to the rear of 61 North Beacon Street was constructed in 1995 to house shoe assembly space.

Historical Significance
​The International Harvester building is important to Allston in many ways.  It is architecturally and historically significant for its associations with the early twentieth-century development of Allston-Brighton.  This area has significant, historical associations with Boston's early twentieth-century automobile industry and is part of its larger Auto-Mile heritage.  The project will return this historic commercial building back to its original use - as an automobile showroom.  

For context on the importance of Boston’s Auto-Mile, the Brighton-Allston Historical Society writes:

"The headquarters of the auto industry in Boston for over a half-century was the Auto-Mile.  By 1929, no less than 117 automobile-related businesses flooded the area.   Even at the depths of the economic turndown, the Auto-Mile was home to no less than 54 car dealerships.  Truck dealerships also located in the general area, tending to cluster at the western end of the district.  By 1932, some seven truck dealerships had taken up residence on North Beacon Street, west of Union Square, including the Mack Motor Truck Company, the General Motors Truck Company, and the International Harvester Company of America.

The Auto Mile went into rapid decline in the late 1970s as many dealers moved their establishments to more accessible suburban locations.  While there were still 21 dealerships in the general area as late as 1975, by 1981 only 11 remained.  The Packard Motor Company building has been converted to condominiums.  The neighboring Oste Chevrolet building has become a Star Market. While a handful of auto dealerships still inhabit the Commonwealth and Brighton Avenue strip, they are but a pale reflection of the auto sales industry that once lined Boston’s thriving Auto-Mile."
Vintage Advertisements
Picture
The Boston Daily Globe; March 7, 1926; pg. A95
Picture
The Cambridge Sentinel; May 10, 1930
Picture
The Boston Daily Globe; October 3, 1926
Picture
MIT Yearbook Ad, 1927
Photos & Presentations
Click button below to read more about the renovation, our public outreach process, progress photos and before & after photos.