New Boston Fund

Based in Boston, New Boston Fund is one of the fastest growing private real estate investment, development and management firms in New England. Founded in 1993 by the Rappaport family of Boston, New Boston Fund owns and manages more than 12 million square feet of commercial real estate worth in excess of $1.5 billion. New Boston Fund is also undertaking more than $150 million of development in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

The Challenge

On November 1, 2003, New Boston Fund, along with joint venture partners NDC Development Associates, Inc. and Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services, announced the grand opening of One Brigham Circle, a mixed-use development project adjacent to the Longwood Medical Area in Boston's Mission Hill neighborhood. The One Brigham Circle development was the result of 10 years of collaboration between the Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services and a wide cross-section of the Mission Hill Community. The two-year community planning process also involved neighborhood participants who created the development vision, producing a truly unique and challenging product and opportunity.

It was a tremendous project for the Mission Hill community and a testament to how cooperation between the community, local businesses, and New Boston Fund's development team created a vibrant new destination and a focal point for the neighborhood.

Recognizing the importance of this announcement, PAN designed a strategy aimed at generating high-impact coverage in regional business press and trade publications.

The Approach

With high expectations and the community involvement around the retail development in place, PAN knew that it needed to be flawless in its strategy and execution in order to meet the coverage goals that had been set for the One Brigham Circle announcement.

Two weeks before the grand opening, PAN spoke with Dan McGrath, research associate at New Boston Fund, and John Dragat, a principal at NDC Development Associates, to discuss the grand opening as well as officials who would be participating in the ceremony. It was vital to know program participants so that we could begin outreach to community and daily papers. At that time, we learned that many luminaries would be in attendance, including Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, State Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez (D-Mission Hill), and many Boston city councilors.

We were then able to craft a press release that described the breadth and scope of the project, including the participants. Providing attendee information gave the press release instant credibility and was a critical tool in securing interest from reporters, who otherwise may have viewed the opening as a mundane real estate announcement.

Two key things then occurred the day before the grand opening. First, we forwarded media alerts to Boston broadcast news stations, paying special attention to New England Cable News for its ongoing interest about city development issues. Secondly, we issued the release over BusinessWire, which gave us visibility heading into the weekend. On that day, New Boston Fund President Jerry Rappaport Jr. was interviewed by WBIX AM 1060. The momentum we had strived to create was starting to pay off.

The Results

The One Brigham Circle announcement garnered widespread coverage in publications that mattered most to the New Boston Fund executive team. That is evidenced by stories in top-tier business press and broadcast such as The Boston Globe, New England Cable News and WBIX Business 1060 AM.

Before embarking on outreach, the public relations team and New Boston Fund marketing officials set a goal to secure three pieces of coverage. As listed below, the PAN team surpassed its goal. Of the six regional hits tallied, there were four print stories and two broadcast pieces.

Rather than placing the spotlight on New Boston Fund, PAN recommended to the client to release the news as a celebration of the Mission Hill Community. PAN knew that the project had been a long time coming, and certainly much longer than New Boston Fund's involvement. As a result, it was important to focus on the new addition to the community while highlighting New Boston Fund's contribution to the development.

Ultimately, PAN's decision to release the news as Mission Hill's news provided New Boston Fund with a level of comprehensive coverage in business press and broadcast that it likely would not have secured.

The community story, as PAN sees it, clearly made the difference and propelled the agency's public relations effort.

Top-tier Daily Coverage

• The Boston Globe, Nov. 1, 2003


• The Boston Sunday Globe, Nov. 2, 2003

Community News Coverage

• The Mission Hill Gazette, Nov. 14-Dec. 12, 2003

Regional Trade Publication Coverage

• Globe St.com, Nov. 3, 2003

Regional Broadcast Coverage

• WBIX Business 1060 AM, Oct. 31, 2003


• New England Cable News, Nov. 1, 2003