August 23, 2022
BY: GREG RYAN (Boston Business Journal)
McGrath Realty is seeking to sell a waterfront property that was long home to Lynn’s Porthole restaurant but that it has repositioned as the future site of a luxury condo building.
The firm has priced the 3.7-acre property, located at 98 Lynnway, at $20.5 million. McGrath Realty has some of the necessary approvals to redevelop the property as an 80-unit condo project, according to a spokesperson for The Synergy Group, the Winchester-based firm that is marketing the site.
McGrath Realty owner and founder Patrick McGrath bought the parcel from the Porthole’s owner in 2018 for $1.45 million. The restaurant, famous for its fried pickles, had been in operation for 51 years at the time of the sale, the Lynn Item reported at the time.
“After four years of working with the city of Lynn and the state of Mass. to get this project approved, working with the engineers and architects to come up with the plans, and razing the previous property, the timing is no longer right for me and my team to build this development, but we’re optimistic that we can find a developer who will be the perfect fit,” McGrath said in a statement on Monday.
The proposed condo plan is still awaiting approvals from two state agencies, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation and the state Department of Environmental Protection, according to the Synergy spokesperson. But McGrath expects to have both of the approvals within weeks, she said.
The project is named Harbor98. It is to include a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units with balconies, as well as 156 parking spots. Synergy has already created a marketing package that includes logos, a website and a list of potential buyers who have registered for information about the units. Other features of the future complex include a courtyard with a pool, a fitness center and a movie theater.
Earlier this year, McGrath sold a newly built, 72-unit apartment building in Lynn named Cove164 for $24 million. Synergy worked on that project as well.