LStar Management Takes Ownership of SouthField Development as New Master Developer

Weymouth, MA – LStar Management has closed on its purchase of LNR South Shore to become the new owner and master seveloper of SouthField. The SouthField Redevelopment Authority unanimously approved the sale at its May 11 meeting.

As the new owners of the project, LStar will take the lead in achieving the full vision of SouthField as a vibrant, master-planned community with new commercial and residential development, recreational amenities, and a town center. Of particular focus will be the addition of new commercial development to ensure that SouthField becomes a major commercial destination on the South Shore.

“We’re tremendously excited to take ownership of SouthField, which is in many ways the most exciting and promising development opportunity in New England,” said Kyle Corkum, a managing partner at LStar. “We see in it the potential to be one of the most desirable places in Massachusetts to live and raise a family — a thriving, transit-oriented community located just minutes away from downtown Boston.”

The deal comes following critical reform legislation that was passed in 2014, which was aimed at jumpstarting development at SouthField after years of delays. That legislation has already prompted new investment, including an agreement with Pulte Homes of New England LLC to construct Transit Village, a new 200-condominium development at SouthField. That project is scheduled to break ground later this year.

LStar Management is an independent, privately held real estate investment firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in late 2007, LStar has acquired or controls more than 50,000 lots and land for 25 million sf of commercial development in 13 states.

LStar currently manages 14 master-planned communities across the country. It has a long history of turning around projects that have been stalled or troubled — a strong track record that company leadership will bring to Massachusetts to ensure the success of SouthField. LStar’s managing partners, Kyle Corkum and Steve Vining, are both Massachusetts natives.

“We have taken on projects where logistical hurdles, regulatory issues, and other challenges have ground progress to a halt. We are proud to say that we turned those projects into major success stories,” said LStar’s Corkum. “We’ve done it before and I am confident when I say that we’ll do it again. As someone who grew up in this area, this project is particularly important to me, and we are looking forward to getting to work.”

Among LStar Management’s many successes are the turnaround of the Edenmoor (renamed Walnut Creek) planned community in Lancaster County, South Carolina (a suburb of Charlotte), which had previously been described as the “poster child for communities impacted by the economic downturn.”

Due to LStar’s reforms and improvements, Walnut Creek is now a hotly pursued, No. 2 best-selling community in the Metro Charlotte area. The Charlotte Business Journal wrote about the project, marveling “what a difference 18 months and a change in owners make.”