Press Release

Boston, MA, March 9, 2023 – Burns & Levinson recently provided pro bono representation to The Record Co., a non-profit that provides recording studios and rehearsal space for musicians in Boston, in its successful bid to open a new music rehearsal space at 55 Morrissey Blvd. in Dorchester for the hundreds of musicians displaced by the closure of the Sound Museum at 155 N. Beacon Street in Brighton (due to redevelopment of the building). The Record Co. was chosen by the Arts Stay Here Coalition to build and operate the interim music rehearsal facility through an independent committee review process.

Burns & Levinson partners Robert Chow, who co-chairs the firm’s Venture Capital & Emerging Companies Group, and Michael MacClary, who co-chairs the Real Estate Group, negotiated the license agreement between The Record Co. and Center Court Mass, LLG, the property owner at 55 Morrissey Blvd. With a large footprint that was previously home to a commercial radio station, the space is ideally suited to be turned into a music rehearsal facility, and the two partners have worked together to make the building ready for move-in and use by musicians. The firm also advised The Record Co. regarding contractor and musician sublicense agreements. The space opened March 1.

The deal marked over a year of community and advocacy work involving Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, the Arts Stay Here Coalition, Boston City Councilor Liz Breadon (District 9), and the Boston Planning and Development Agency to secure both the immediate two-year interim rehearsal space at 55 Morrissey Blvd. with The Record Co. and Center Court Mass, and the long-term plan to build a permanent home for the displaced musicians in Allston-Brighton.

The 55 Morrisey Blvd. space will offer over 80 rehearsal rooms at an affordable rental rate, ample free parking for musicians, and is easily accessible via public transportation.

Chow has served as pro bono counsel to The Record Co. for over a decade, and was instrumental in guiding the organization through the financing, development and construction of its own recently completed facility at 960 Massachusetts Ave. – featuring four recording studios, 15 rehearsal and writing suites, and a community meeting and training room – which opened in January 2021.