Much of what you find when you search Pierce Boston is aimed at condo buyers: broker pages, floor plans and sale prices.
That leaves a gap, because the building is mostly rentals. Of its 30 floors, the published breakdown puts 240 rental apartments on floors 3 through 17, with 109 condominiums above them on floors 19 through 29, and retail on the first two. If you are renting here, you are renting in the larger and lower part of a building whose top third is owner-occupied.
A building split between rental floors and owner-occupied condos changes a few things for renters, and one of them works in your favor.
How the building is divided
| Floors | What is there | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Retail | n/a |
| 3 to 17 | Rental apartments | 240 |
| 18 | Resident amenity level (lounge) | n/a |
| 19 to 29 | Condominiums | 109 |
The floor ranges in the table come from public building records, and our own guide to living in Fenway independently records the 30 stories and the 240 rental units. Floor 18 holds the residents' lounge, which sits between the rental and condo floors.
The building was completed in 2018, and the apartments come as studios, one-, two- and three-bedrooms.
Who your landlord actually is
At Pierce Boston, the building's own rental operation runs the rental floors, and the individual condo owners do not.
There are two ways to rent in a building that also has condos. In the common one, you lease a single condo from the individual who owns it. In the other, the building has its own dedicated block of rental apartments run by one operator. Pierce is the second kind.
Renting one condo from its owner usually means an individual landlord, lease terms written for their situation, repairs handled by whoever they call, and condo-association rules you still have to follow. Renting from a building's own rental operation means standardized lease terms, an on-site leasing office and professional maintenance. Our apartment vs. condo guide covers that comparison in full.
Neither is automatically better for every renter, but the second is considerably more predictable. At Pierce the rental floors are run as a single managed block, so if you are renting here through the building, that is the arrangement you are getting. If you find a Pierce unit advertised by an individual rather than the leasing office, you are looking at the other kind, and it is worth knowing which before you tour.
Do renters get the pool?
Yes, renters at Pierce Boston get the rooftop pool.
The building's own rental leasing page lists the rooftop pool among the amenities for apartment residents, describing it as a glass-enclosed rooftop pool and deck. The same page lists a resident parking garage, a fitness center, a business lounge, a game room, and a pet grooming station with a washing spot.
So the marquee amenity is open to the rental floors, which you cannot assume in a hybrid building.
We left out the longer amenity list from the condo-sales pages, since an amenity on a sales brochure is not a commitment to a tenant. The rental page's shorter list describes what renters are offered.
What to confirm in the lease rather than the brochure
Confirm amenity access, hours, guest policies and any separate charges in your lease and the building rules, because a marketing page is not a lease.
If a specific amenity is part of why you are choosing this building, ask for it in writing and check that it appears in the documents you sign. That applies most to the pool, where you should confirm hours and any closures, and to parking, because a garage existing is not the same as a space being available to you at a price you have seen.
Why the address on your listing may not match the building
The condominium side of Pierce Boston uses 188 Brookline Ave. The rental leasing office and the developer, Samuels & Associates, use 200 Brookline Avenue. Both addresses point at the same building, so a condo unit for rent and a building-managed apartment can show different street numbers.
If a map app sends you somewhere that does not look like a leasing office, that is usually why. For a tour, use the address the leasing office gives you.
What to ask before you sign
- Is this unit leased by the building's rental operation or by an individual owner? The answer shapes your lease terms and who handles repairs.
- Which amenities does my lease actually include, and are any charged separately?
- Is the pool open year-round or seasonally, and what are the hours?
- Is a parking space available with this unit, and at what monthly cost?
- Do any condo-association rules apply to residents on the rental floors, and can I see them?
- What floor is the unit on, and what is directly above and below it? On floors 3 to 17 that question covers both other apartments and, higher up, the transition toward the condo floors.
If you are weighing this building against an older walk-up elsewhere in the neighborhood, our guide to living in Fenway works through that trade-off, and you can compare both on Spot Easy's Fenway apartment listings. The game-day parking situation that comes with this part of the city is covered in parking in Fenway as a renter.
FAQ
Are the apartments at Pierce Boston condos being rented out? No. The building has a dedicated block of 240 rental apartments on floors 3 through 17, separate from the 109 condominiums above. If you see a Pierce unit advertised by an individual rather than the leasing office, ask which it is.
Can renters use the rooftop pool? The building's rental leasing page lists the rooftop pool among amenities for apartment residents. Confirm the access terms and hours in your lease.
Why does Pierce Boston show two different addresses? 188 Brookline Ave is the address the condominium side uses, and 200 Brookline Avenue is the rental leasing address. They are the same building.