0 Updates Coming to Boston’s Financial District

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Wil Catlin

rendering of congress street redevelopment

Credit: Bizjournals.com

More new retail, office and hotel options are coming to the Boston Financial District, centered around the intersection of State Street and Congress Street.

According to the BBJ, the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s agenda for its Thursday City Hall meeting includes the following projects:

A public hearing to discuss a proposed 23-story, 346-room“micro hotel which is designed to meet the changing needs/habits of today’s urban travelers” at 240 Tremont St. in the Theater District.
A public hearing to discuss Simon Property Group’s (NYSE: SPG)residential and retail expansion projectat 5 Copley Place, a proposed 52-story tower that includes 542 units of residential space spanning 680,000 square feet, a 54,000-square-foot addition to Neiman Marcus and a 60,000-square-foot addition of restaurant and retail space.
Scheduling a public hearing about Related Beal’s Congress Square project.
Approving and extending the Simmons College institutional master plan in the Fenway neighborhood.

0 Tower Height Contended on Boston Harbor Garage Site

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Wil Catlin

rendering of the proposed towers at Boston Harbor

Credit: Boston Globe

The Boston Waterfront will continue to change and be the gateway to our city. City Hall has moved to the positive side, but it appears not all the abutters are for the size of the Harbor Garage site.

From the Boston Globe:

Boston Redevelopment Authority officials said they plan to recommend Wednesday that a skyscraper on the site of the Boston Harbor Garage be allowed to reach up to 600 feet. That would essentially match the taller of the two buildings Chiofaro has proposed for the property and would be far taller than any other neighboring building overlooking the harbor.

But Chiofaro would not get everything he wants: City officials will propose to limit development at the garage site to 900,000 square feet. The two-building complex proposed by Chiofaro last year would total 1.3 million square feet, with a mix of offices, residential units, and other uses…Chiofaro declined to comment, so it’s unclear whether the smaller building area would limit the developer to one tower instead of two.

0 Boston Park Plaza Hotel Gets Modernized

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Park Plaza Hotel

A Back Bay building at 50 Park Plaza has just gone through a $100M upgrade. The 90 year old Boston Park Plaza Hotel has been brought up to today’s standards.

Patch.com lists out the on-site upgrades, including the following:

•   Replacement of the hotel’s roof, exterior facade and sidewalk surrounds
•   Creation of 5,500 square feet of prime retail space
•   Installation of a state-of-the-art HVAC system
•   The addition of STRIP by Strega, an all-new 5,700 square foot high-energy steakhouse concept by Boston-based restaurateur Nick Varano
•   The addition of Off The Common, the Boston Park Plaza’s new restaurant and lounge
•   Additional guest services include complimentary use of the brand new David Barton Gym fitness center, FedEx Office Print & Ship Center, and 50,480 square-feet of exceptional meeting space

0 Boston Waterfront Redevelopment Planned for Lewis Wharf

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Lewis Wharf is looking to make a splash in the Boston waterfront with their redevelopment.

From the BBJ:

Boston-based real estate firm JW Capital Partners has proposed redeveloping and rehabilitating a 225-space parking lot on Lewis Wharf, a waterfront site in the the city’s North End neighborhood…The centerpiece of the proposed development is a 300-room luxury hotel surrounded by 2.4 acres of public outdoor space along the waterfront, along with an updated Harborwalk area. The site would also host the Boston Sailing Center and include a below-grade 380-space parking garage to replace the above-ground parking garage at 28 Atlantic Ave.

0 Indoor Farmers’ Market in Boston will Open July 30th

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Government Center and North Station have a new amenity: Boston Public Market, a year-round, 28,000-square-foot indoor farmers’ market. The market will consist of 35 different providers with operational hours from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

Credit: Boston Business Journal

From Bizjournals.com:

The 28,000-square-foot non-profit market at 100 Hanover St. — above the Haymarket MBTA station — will house over 35 farmers, fishermen, and food producers from Massachusetts and throughout New England, selling items such as farm fresh produce; meat and poultry; eggs; milk and cheese; fish and shellfish; bread and baked goods; flowers; and an assortment of specialty and prepared foods…The Boston Public Market is a public-private partnership made possible with the support of Massachusetts and the commitment of over $9 million in private philanthropy from various donors.

0 Fenway Office Space for Startups: Launchpad at Landmark Center

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Where is the next hot spot for companies on the move that don’t what long term leases? Landmark Center.

Credit: BBJ

110,000-square-feet of office space in Fenway will soon be available to Boston startups in need of office space in the city. According to the Boston Business Journal, “the space at 401 Park Drive has been designed as a bridge for startup tenants that have outgrown incubator or coworking space but don’t feel comfortable signing a long-term office lease…Samuels will break up the 110,000-square-foot eighth floor of the Landmark building into smaller units, ranging in size from about 2,000 square feet to more than 30,000 square feet, to create the launchpad, which it’s calling “Hatch Fenway.” The launchpad will also feature common areas and shared conference room space.”

You can read more on Hatch Fenway on the BBJ’s website.

0 More Seaport Office and Retail Space Coming to Fort Point Garage

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Wil Catlin

22 Boston Wharf Road in Boston Seaport

New Seaport office space is coming thanks to Berkeley Investments. According to the BBJ, “Berkeley Investments has plans to add two office floors atop the Stillings Street parking garage at 22 Boston Wharf Road…[and] is also proposing to add street-level retail to Boston Wharf Road, which is a relatively short connecting road between Congress Street and Seaport Boulevard, as well as additional windows along the side of the building that abuts the Q Street park.”

The building at 22 Boston Wharf Road currently includes 241,124-square-feet and has been assessed at $26.435 million, based on information in the BBJ from the city assessor.

0 netBlazr Unveils Fast Unbundled Internet for Boston Multi-Tenant Buildings

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Wil Catlin

TELCO costs have continued to tumble and now the there is a pay-as-you-go model for residential internet. Will the jump to commercial be soon to follow?

According to an article on FinancialContent, “netBlazr’s [new] Concierge is an ultra-premium, unbundled Internet service with speeds up to 10 times faster than cable and large telecom providers (above 300 megabits per second). netBlazr uses a building’s existing infrastructure and is available to select large multi-tenant buildings.”

0 When’s the Right Time to Move Your Office?

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Inc.com

Our firm just moved, Monday June 15th was our first day in our new office. We chose to stay in the same building after touring the market and evaluating the options and listening to the feedback from our internal teams.

The location was great, but how we used the space needed to change. My simple suggestion: understand what you need.

Inc.com recently posted a list ‘Reasons to Move–and Reasons to Stay’ to help companies understand when it’s time to move to new office space:

RETENTION 
Pro: Don’t underestimate how happy a tricked-out new space can make employees.
 Con: Sometimes retention requires staying put.

RECRUITMENT 
Pro: The battle for talent never ends, and a brand-new office in a desirable location can be a major draw. Con: Expect that some current employees will need to be sold on the move–especially if their commute would be changing.

ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
 Pro: Move to a great new space–and get paid for it? Where do I sign? 
Con: If incentives are tied to certain metrics related to job creation or retention and your company can’t meet them, be prepared for negative PR and a possible backlash.

0 Seaplane Commute from Boston-to-NYC?

Posted on June 18, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BetaBoston

Logan Airport and South Station might soon compete with a dock in Boston Harbor for New York bound travelers. If Dan Wolf, CEO of Cape Air has his way he will be offering NYC travelers trip via seaplane.

Cape Air CEO Dan Wolf says that he’d like to start flying seaplanes “within the next two years”… Wolf says that the trip from Boston’s waterfront to a seaplane dock on the East River in Manhattan would take about an hour and fifteen minutes, eliminating the travel by taxi or car to and from the airport in each city, not to mention lengthy security lines. “We’d like to start by doing four trips a day in each direction,” Wolf says, using a single-engine Cessna Caravan that seats nine passengers.

You can read the complete article on the Boston Globe’s BeteBoston site.