Pembroke Buys Boston Community for $170M
This deal represents Pembroke's first acquisition in the metro area.
Pembroke has acquired Proto, a 280-unit multifamily community in Cambridge, Mass., for $170 million, as reported by the Boston Business Journal. The seller was BXP, which developed the property in 2018.
Located in the city’s Kendall Square neighborhood, a major life science and technology node, the property offers studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Monthly rents average $3,691 a month, compared with $3,083 in 2021, according to Yardi Matrix data.
Proto includes community spaces for entertaining and work, an onsite concierge, landscaped terrace, fitness center, pet spa and bike storage. The first two floors are retail space.
The property offers access to the Kendall Square MBTA station, and its sustainability features include LEED Gold certification, EV parking and all electric Energy Star appliances in all units. The property is currently 95 percent occupied.
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Pembroke President Edward Johnson said in a statement that this residential acquisition is part of a portfolio diversification by the company, to complement its office and mixed-use holdings. Those tend to be in top metro markets, and Pembroke is pursuing residential assets in those same metros.
Proto is Pembroke’s first acquisition in the Boston area since launching its diversification strategy. In addition to this purchase at 88 Ames St., Pembroke’s Boston portfolio also includes a pair of office towers Seaport East at 255 State Street and West at Commonwealth Pier at 245 Summer Street.
A major Boston-area project for Pembroke has been the redevelopment of the former Seaport World Trade Center into Commonwealth Pier. Opening in 2026, Commonwealth Pier will offer a mix of restaurants and retail, new public spaces connecting Boston Harbor with the Seaport neighborhood, and programming for visitors.
Commonwealth Pier will also be a new home for Fidelity Investments and the Museum of American Finance, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institute.
Newmark’s Co-Head of U.S. Capital Markets Robert E. Griffin Jr., Executive Managing Director Michael Byrne, Senior Managing Director Thomas Greeley and Director Devlin Man brokered the deal. Currently Pembroke has about 9.8 million square feet under management in the U.S., Western Europe, East Asia and Australia.
Boston’s rents remain stable
Boston multifamily fundamentals began to soften recently, as advertised asking rents inched down 0.1 percent on a trailing three-month basis through September, to $2,942, according to the Yardi Matrix report on the metro.
Yet rents were up 1.5 percent year-over-year, well ahead of the 0.6 percent U.S. gain, the same source shows. Occupancy in stabilized assets remained healthy, at 96.2 percent in August. That represented a 40-basis-point drop over 12 months, but remained above the 94.7 percent U.S. average.
Developers completed 4,820 units in Greater Boston in 2025 through September. Another 14,325 units are underway, despite the fact that starts have slowed. Investment remained steady, with $2.1 billion in Boston-area assets trading through September.
