Monthly Archives: November 2014

0 Facebook’s Cambridge Office Space Hits One-Year Mark

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Facebook office space in Kendall Square

Credit: Facebook

So you have just been funded and you are in the hunt for the perfect office to grow the team.  Have a look at the new digs for Facebook in Cambridge for some ideas.

Ryan Mack, the site lead for Facebook Boston notes in a blog post, “we look forward to hosting some of these events at the Facebook office, where we have a newly expanded space to support our growing engineering team. In the coming year we’ll continue hiring experienced engineers for our Boston team to work on data infrastructure, core systems services, location, and language runtimes, as well as new grads.”

You can also check out photos of Facebook’s office space in Cambridge on its site.

0 Boston Harbor Garage Towers Discussion Continues

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Rendering of the proposed towers at Boston Harbor Garage

Credit: Bostinno/Streetwise

How many towers can the 1.3 acre site on the waterfront support?

Graphic renderings of the proposed Boston Harbor Garage towers were recently unveiled; the towers would replace the Harbor Garage on India Street.

From Banker & Tradesman:

“‘They told us that being allowed to build that much would be considered a valuable business opportunity by any experienced developer,’ Lee Kozol, chair of the Harbor Towers Garage committee, said in a statement. The economic analysis has been submitted to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which is reviewing conceptual plans for the project…for the project to go forward in its current form, the BRA would have to waive maximum height and minimum open space limits for waterfront developments.”

0 How Do You Feel about Office Beacons?

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Office beacons in Boston real estate

Credit: OfficeBeacon.com

Does your office use beacons like Digitas to figure out your movement with the office?

From Digiday:

“DigitasLBi…has installed 120 beacons — devices that communicate with nearby smartphones via Bluetooth technology — in its Boston office in order to identify how and where its employees congregate. The goal is to learn how to improve office design and meeting scheduling.

‘the most immediate goal…was to use data collected from the beacons to establish a baseline for how the office’s 700 employees currently meet with one another.'”

Does this sound like a model for efficiency or will it yield a new mode of employee resentment?

0 Boston Office Market is Positioned for Continued Growth

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The Boston office and retail market is expected to continue its upward march.

Boston office market trends

Credit: multihousingnews.com

According to an editorial on MultiHousingNews.com, “developers completed approximately 4.2 million square feet of office space over the last 12 months as compared to merely 1.4 million square feet in the previous year. Around 5.2 million square feet currently under construction in the metro area is expected to come online throughout 2016. According to Marcus & Millichap, approximately 3.2 million square feet of office space is set for completion by the end of 2014—a 1 percent increase from 2013—with new inventory being heavily concentrated in the Boston/Suffolk County and Route 128 North submarkets.”

For a detailed indicator of the Boston office market direction, jump over to the MultiHousingNews website.

 

0 Seasoned Fort Point Landlords Ready to Cash Out

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The Seaport is for sale!  The landlord’s that have participated in the lease of up to 3.7 million square feet of new tenant space since 2010, are looking to cash out and move onto new opportunities.  Class B rents have surpassed the $40.00 per square foot mark on Summer Street.

Boston's fort-point neighborhood in the downtown Seaport district

Credit: cityofboston.gov

Banker and Tradesman points out that “nearly 750,000 square feet of office space is currently on the market, or nearly one-fifth of the neighborhood’s office inventory. The six properties include the Thomson Reuters office portfolio, an assemblage of 10 buildings containing 414,000 square feet of brick-and-beam space.The transactions will go a long way toward determining whether Fort Point can retain its status as an Innovation District, or whether rents set by the new owners will force startups to look elsewhere.”

Additional information on the transformative Fort Point neighborhood is available on B&T’s website.

0 What will it cost me to move into my new office space?

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Humboldt moving, logoWhat would it cost to move your company from Downtown Crossing in the Financial District to the Seaport?  Let’s assume you are in 3,600 rentable square feet and moving into something similar.

According to Humboldt Moving and Storage, you can use the following as a guide:

• The cost per square foot would be $3.00 + for an average, and it is usually + on a commercial office move.
• This does not include packing, crating, panel systems, or any special services.
• Tenants will usually perform their own packing.  Rental crates will average around $5.00 each.  Figure 3-6 crates per person.  Legal and accounting firms will require more due to paper record keeping.
• Workstations will usually run $200 plus each to disassemble and reassemble.
• Based on a 25 person office with 20 workstations your move would cost $15,300.00 or $4.25 per square foot.

cost of moving offices in Boston

0 How to Price Out your New Office Space

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So, you have just secured your next round of funding and you are off to the races.  As part of your upcoming spend, you need to get an office that exudes the culture of your vision while being easily accessible for your growing team.  You find it and your new headquarters will be in the heart of Downtown Crossing, DTX.  What’s next, what are the associated costs?

office cost projections
Figure the space is 3,600 rentable square feet with 25 workstations.

how to price out office space in Boston
Office space is quoted per square foot per annum, but P & L’s are not.  The following breaks down the all the various expenses based 5 years of occupancy.

0 Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market: Marked for an Overhaul

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Faneuil hall and quicy market in downtown boston

Credit: ABCNews

Faneuil Hall is set for change.  Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp will be looking to convert some of the office space to a boutique hotel in the South Market Building.

From ABCNews:

“Quincy Market, the granite-columned marketplace just behind red-brick Faneuil Hall, is part of one of the world’s top tourist destinations, attracting visitors seeking a taste of revolutionary history and a cup of New England clam chowder…after four decades, the market’s operator says Quincy Market — along with the two brick buildings along either side that house office space and retail chains — is past due for an overhaul.”

“Among its early plans are transforming existing office space in the South Market building into a new, 180-room boutique hotel; installing the Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo on the top floor of Quincy Market; and redesigning the building’s crowded food court with more open space, sit-down restaurants and, possibly, moveable bars. Along the marketplace’s familiar cobblestone paths, the company wants to possibly introduce ping pong tables, shuffleboard and performance spaces for live music and poetry and book readings.“

0 Office Rent Increases Expected in Prime Boston Locations

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Blackstone_logoIf you need more space or if your lease is near the end of the term, now is the time to secure office space in Boston.  Buildings are trading hands and the new owners will be looking for a return on their investment and will push rents.  In 2007 when Blackstone bought Equity, rents rose 44 percent and other landlords followed suit.

A report on nerej suggests an optimistic future for landlords; “all signs are in place for another major rent move rivaling The Blackstone Effect of 2007. As of Q2 2014 when everything started, vacancy for class A and B buildings in core downtown Boston (defined as Back Bay, Seaport and CBD) was at 8.4%. In Q4 2006, vacancy was at 8.3%. In Q2 2014 average rent for Boston’s core downtown market was $50.32 per s/f; this is $8.56 per s/f higher than Q4 2006…The momentum in the market is similar to 2007. Based on 2007 actual experience, and a move similar to 2007, it would be reasonable to see a “rent pop” up to the $70 per s/f level for core assets. 2007 peaked at $60.15 per s/f. 2015-2016 should add another $10 per s/f, which would result in average rent of $70.15 per s/f during the next 2 years.”

More information is available on the nerej website, here.