0 Kendall Square Initiative Submitted by MIT

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Wil Catlin

From MIT

MIT has presented their update plan for Kendall Square in Cambridge. Kendal Square is currently one of the hottest office markets nationally with record rents for Class A & B office space. Major tenants include Microsoft and Google.

From MIT:

The Kendall Square Initiative aims to create a vibrant mixed-use district featuring six new buildings on what are now MIT-owned parking lots in the East Campus/Kendall Square area, including three buildings for research and development, two for housing, and one for retail and office space. The plan will produce approximately 250 net new housing units for graduate students and approximately 290 new housing units for market use, more than 100,000 square feet of new and repositioned ground-floor retail, and nearly three acres of new and repurposed open spaces — in addition to providing research and development space in support of Kendall Square’s growing innovation district.

The Initiative was developed as a result of approximately seven years of internal and external dialogue. The Cambridge City Council approved new zoning for MIT’s properties in the East Campus/Kendall Square area in 2013, laying the foundation for the advancement of the mixed-use proposal.

0 GE Eyes Seaport Office Space in Boston

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Globe

“We Bring Good Things to Life” was an advertising slogan used by General Electric between 1979 and 2003.[1] It was designed by the advertising firm BBDO led by project manager Richard Costello, who would later go on to become head of advertising at General Electric. The slogan was designed to highlight the diversity of the products and services the company offered. The slogan, after its many appearances in GE advertising, was responsible for increased popularity and a new image for the company.

Will GE claim Boston’s Seaport as their new corporate home? A recent article on the Boston Globe notes, “Boston and state officials have been talking frequently with each other and with General Electric Co. about relocating its global headquarters to the Seaport District, according to people familiar with the matter.”

0 Boston Office Rents Hit Decade High

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts holds a few distinctions aside from high office rents and expensive homes; Massachusetts is the highest educated state, and as such, holds the potential to attract top talent.

According to the BBJ, “rents for large office space in Greater Boston hit their highest levels in at least a decade in the fourth quarter of 2015, with the vacancy rate dropping to its lowest level since 2007…The total vacancy rate fell to 13.8 percent from 14.3 percent the previous quarter.”

You can read the full article, here.

0 Harvard Business Grads Moving to Tech, Startups

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Harvard grads are more likely to choose startups to begin their career rather than the traditional path of large corporations.

According to the BBJ, “one in five MBA students in Harvard Business School’s 2015 graduating class have entered the technology sector, the highest level since 2000 — that is, the year the dot-com bubble was about to implode.”

The Boston Business Journal article continues, noting “the newest crop of graduates also possessed a more entrepreneurial streak than their predecessors. Nine percent of graduates accepted offers from startup companies, nearly double the percentage from the previous year, according to statistics recently published by HBS. Another 9 percent started their own businesses, up from 8 percent in 2014. There were 915 students in HBS’s 2015 graduating class.”

You can read the full article on the Boston Business Journal’s website.

0 ‘First’ Boston Office Skyscraper gets New Owner

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Wikipedia

The Ames Building at 1 Court Street will be getting a new owner. The building is known as the Boston’s “first skyscraper”.

From Wikipedia:

The Ames Building is a skyscraper located in Boston, Massachusetts. It is sometimes ranked as the tallest building in Boston from its completion in 1893 until 1915, when the Custom House Tower was built. However, the building was never the tallest structure in Boston. The steeple of the Church of the Covenant, completed in 1867, was much taller than the Ames Building. Nevertheless, it is considered to be Boston’s first skyscraper.

Located at 1 Court Street and Washington Mall in downtown Boston, the Ames Building was designed by the architectural firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge inRichardsonian Romanesque and paid for by Frederick L. Ames. It is the second tallest masonry load bearing-wall structure in the world, exceeded only by the Monadnock Building in Chicago, completed that same year.[2] It is thirteen stories high with a three-story granite base and sandstone and brick. The sandstone is from the Berea formation in Ohio and was supplied by Cleveland Quarries Company. Construction was completed in 1889, but interior work was not completed for occupancy until 1893. It became the corporate headquarters for the Ames families’ agricultural tool company.[3]

The Ames Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 26, 1974.

0 322-story Office Tower Carrying ‘sails’ proposed for Seaport

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Globe

Sails are coming to the Seaport are of Boston, if developer Jon Cronin has his way with the BRA.

From the Boston Globe:

The 250-foot-tall building, designed by architect Howard Elkus, would feature a twisting, angular design out toward the World Trade Center and Boston Harbor. It was inspired, in part, by the city’s recent push for bolder design in the booming Seaport, Cronin said, which has prompted other developers to move beyond the boxy looks that characterized many of the neighborhood’s earlier projects.

“We had already designed a striking yet cost-efficient tower until I attended Mayor [Martin] Walsh’s speech last December urging developers to build more architecturally significant buildings,” said Cronin in a statement. “We decided to meet that challenge.”

0 New Converse Building Sold for $150M

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: B&T

Boston is getting a new landlord: a German pension fund just purchased the new Converse HQ in Brighton, MA. Boston continues to see an inflow into all asset classes against all price points.

Lovejoy Wharf:
• 232,000 Square Feet
• 197,000 of office
• 45,000 of retail
• 23,200 is the typical floor size
• 10 Stories

A Banker&Tradesman article notes that “at $800 per square foot, the transaction [for Boston’s Lovejoy Wharf] is slightly higher than the $750 per foot range for Class A office buildings that have sold in Boston this year. Approximately $8 billion in Greater Boston office deals have taken place in 2015, including nearly three-quarters to foreign investors.”

You can read more on the sale of the new Converse HQ on Banker&Tradesman, here.

0 Boston’s Building Boom Modernizes Skyline

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Curbed

Credit: Curbed[/caption]

What do you think about some of Boston’s newest buildings gracing our skyline?

According to Curbed, Boston “is in the midst of adding about 8,000 new apartments and condos over the next three years, doubling the amount built in large luxury complexes since the 1960s. Just last year, the city approved construction projects totaling more than $3 billion. By the beginning of 2015, some 14.6 million square feet of new buildings were rising in Boston.

You can read the full article on Curbed.com

0 Boston VC Funding Reaches Record Level

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Massachusetts VC’s had a very busy 2015 with 531 deals at a record amount of $7.42 billion.

From the BBJ:

According to calculations by Seattle-based venture capital research firm PitchBook, it was the highest-ever annual venture capital investment in at least 15 years.

Massachusetts VC funding is in-line with that of New York, which saw $7.65 billion invested across 775 deals.

However, the San Francisco Bay Area still remains at the top — with a whopping $34 billion invested across 1,900 California companies, according to PitchBook.