CREDIT: Courtesy of the Regan Group

CAPTION: An aerial view of Harborview in the Navy Yard.

Amid rumors that the Harborview condominiums in the Navy Yard would be marketed as rental units due to slow sales, the developer acknowledged that new options are now being explored for the residential complex.
“Condo sales aren’t as robust as we had hoped for,” said Jim Borghesani, a spokesman for the project’s developer, the Trammell Crowe Company of Dallas, Texas. “That said, it’s a beautiful building, it’s a beautiful addition to the Navy Yard, and we’re evaluating all of our options as we move forward.”
Located at Parcel 4, the 11-story, 325,000 square-foot development contains 224 residential units and 26,000 square-feet of retail space, as well as 334 off-street parking spaces in a two-level, below-grade garage. Construction was just recently completed, Borghesani said, although he wouldn’t disclose the total cost of the project or how many of the units had been sold.
Borghesani said Boston-based realty company Otis & Ahearn is no longer the marketing agent for the development, adding that the split that came last month was amicable. “Otis & Ahearn did a great job in a tough market,” he said. (Otis & Ahearn representatives were unavailable for comment).
As for the slow condo sales, Borghesani cited the changing real estate market.
“It’s the tightening of the capital market,” he said. “Obviously, mortgages are very hard to come by. Housing sales throughout the slow. These are the market realities that are currently facing all developers.”
Meanwhile, Boston Redevelopment Authority spokesperson Jessica Shumaker said in the case that Trammell Crowe chose to market Harborview as rental units, the BRA would support the developer’s decision.
“If they choose to go that route, we are in support of that,” Shumaker said. “It seems that the cycle is balancing. For a while, the condo market was hot, but now the condo market isn’t so hot. So, rentals might be the best way to go.” Shumaker added that Building 42 (Parris Lanning), a 367-unit development on Eighth Street in the Navy Yard, made the leap from rental units to condos when the condominium market was still strong.
“We need to be flexible, as the market shifts,” she said.
In addition, Shumaker said discounting Harborview, there are currently 121 rental units and approximately 800 condos in the Navy Yard, and that the addition of Harborview as rental units would bring the grand total of rentals to 342.
“We think it’s going to be a healthy mix,” Shumaker said.

Cold Stone Creamery, the ice cream parlor at 100 City Square, is now on the market.
The store opened on Aug. 5, 2004 — marking the first venture in Massachusetts for the company that got its start in Scottsdale, Ariz., in 1988 — has been listed as a “ready-to-own store” on the company’s Web site since the beginning of August, according to Meredith Bryan, the owner and manager of the Charlestown franchise who helped bring the company to the local market
As for what prompted the sale, Bryan said now that the company is established locally, she is instead focusing on its growth throughout the region. Today, there are Cold Stone Creamery 20 stores in Massachusetts.
“It’s very typical for area developers to sell their stores to concentrate on other franchises,” Bryan said. “We have built it into a brand that people know in Massachusetts. Now, we’re in a position to offer the support that new franchises would need.”
Bryan said business is brisk but seasonal and that the Charlestown location hasn’t realized its full potential yet because the store’s emphasis so far has been to provide the best experience for local, walk-in customers.
“We haven’t really tapped into catering and corporate accounts,” she said. “For the new owner to be wildly successful, he needs to draw in the corporate accounts from outside Charlestown.”
While Bryan wouldn’t disclose the asking price, she said that serious parties who are interested in buying the store could reach her at 617-359-8103.

During the last two weeks of August, USS Constitution's crew of 63 active duty U.S. Navy Sailors have been joined by two groups of chief petty officer selected for a week of training and transition that will culminate in sailing demonstrations of the ship.
Each group of 150 chief petty officer selected (sailors in the E-6 paygrade selected for advancement to the E-7 paygrade) is comprised of service members serving in all warfare communities from regions worldwide, and spend four days at the ship. The sail demonstrations are scheduled to take place today Aug. 30, and tomorrow, Aug. 31, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
"There is no place in the Navy that you can better teach about heritage than aboard 'Old Ironsides,'" said the ship's senior enlisted advisor, Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman (SS) Don Abele. "Coming up on 210 years old, it is the only original Navy warship still in existence. You can go to a lot of other places rich in history, but none quite like what we have here, which includes not only historic landmarks in the area, but the ship herself."
This is the 10th year USS Constitution has hosted this annual event, which is a small part of the six-week induction process that oversees the transition from first class petty officers to chief petty officers. The overall program focuses on teamwork, leadership and mentoring.
"In the fall of 1997, the ship's 200th anniversary, 64 CPO (chief petty officer) selects participated in the first-ever Navy-wide CPO indoctrination held on the ship," recalled former USS Constitution Commanding Officer Cmdr. (retired) Chris Melhuish. "Ten years on, looking back, it is obvious that our long-range goals were met, and the event is now firmly cemented in the overall Navy calendar of key events."
While many things have changed with USS Constitution's program for chief petty officer selects, a few have not.
"We still have them doing heavy tasks," Abele remarked. "Hoisting up our sails is extremely arduous work. You're looking at a couple of thousand pounds of canvas and the wooden yards they are lifting."
During the underway demonstrations in August, the ship were pulled by tugboat through Boston Harbor to Dear Island. There, USS Constitution raised six sails — an operation that requires a great deal of teamwork and muscle — to transit under her own power.
"Last year, with just five of our sails set, we were able to get up to 3.5 knots," noted Abele. "That's pretty impressive, considering the size of the ship and that we were dragging the tugboat through the water."
On the way back to its berth at the Navy Yard, the ship rendered a 21-gun salute to the nation, firing her two saluting batteries off Castle Island.
These sailing evolutions are a highlight of each year for the crew, who spend months preparing for these two weeks.
"Beginning last winter, we started doing classroom training on the theoretical knowledge of sail," Abele explained. "As soon as the weather cooperated with us, we got the ship rigged and started performing sail training, so that when the CPO selected got here the crew was ready to set the sails and sail the ship. The crew's primary responsibility during these weeks is teaching the job they just learned - sailing the ship."
During their brief stay on the ship, the days of those selected begin at 4:30 a.m. and are filled with sail training, performing community service projects and standing safety and security watches
"They are long days," Abele said. "During the four days they are here, they will march about 30 miles, displaying their Navy pride, as they visit historic sites such as Paul Revere's house and the Bunker Hill Monument."
Bringing hundreds of Sailors to the ship to teach them about their service's heritage while enhancing their leadership skills is well worth the effort — and pays off great dividends -— year after year.
"The challenges are coordinating the two weeks of events," Abele said. "It is a very tight schedule, trying to give the CPO selected as much as possible without overwhelming them, where it all goes by so fast it's just a blur. It's also a challenge to take 150 people from all over the world, and bring them together as one team to sail the ship safely.”
Abele added, "The reward is to take 150 people from all over the world and bring them together as one team. If we can do it, then any organization, any chief's mess, can do the same thing."
The grade of chief petty officer was established in 1893. The 300 CPO selects visiting USS Constitution are a small fraction of the Navy's thousands who are scheduled to advance to the paygrade of E-7 on Sept. 16.

On Friday morning, Navy Yard-based Super Duck Excursions treated 49 seniors from the John F. Kennedy Family Service Center to a complimentary tour of the Boston Harbor on board one of its amphibious vehicles.

Three students from the Harvard-Kent Elementary School — Mckenzie Dollosa, Libin Huang and Afewerqi Taffere — have had their video postcard selected to air on the children television program “Arthur” on Tuesday, Sept. 4, on WGBH Channel 2 at 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. The video postcard, developed by the students at the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club, is entitled “Health Patrol.” Mckenzie, Libin and Afewerqi were the 2006 Harvard-Kent Leadership Scholarship recipients.
The leadership-scholarship program is a collaboration between the Harvard-Kent Elementary School and the Harvard-Kent Leadership & Scholarship Partnership, Inc., a local non-profit organization providing funding and other support. Each year funds are raised to award six $1000 scholarships a year to students in the third, fourth and fifth grades. Children are nominated by teachers based on academic effort, on-task behavior, and evidence of leadership and school spirit, as well as attendance, financial need and parent support. The vision of the Harvard-Kent Leadership Scholarship program is to give children in a culturally-diverse, urban school the opportunity to translate the dream of a college education into a reality.
Current and former winners are enrolled in a Leadership Scholarship Club along with their parents and guardians. The Club nurtures the students through special events, field trips, and social gatherings. “Postcards From Buster” was one of the special events for the young scholars.
WGBH will also post “Health Patrol,” along with “Charlestown Mystery Kids” on the “Postcards from You” Web site (http://pbskids.org/buster/pfy/index.html).
Don’t’ forget to watch!