0 Evolving Office Real Estate Trend Shaping Boston Workspaces

Shared London office space

Credit: Bisnow

Some tenants now use a model where they lease less space and rely instead on on-demand conference room and meeting space. This model changes the square foot requirements per office worker, and has become a great resource for small to mid-sized office tenants.

From Bisnow:

These shared office spaces provide “temporary meeting space, conference rooms and event space to companies that would traditionally have leased or rented that space through their landlord. The goal is to offer employers a temporary solution on a need-by-need basis, giving office occupiers more flexibility to pursue cost-saving initiatives such as shrinking their square footage.”

One of the reasons these third-party space providers are gaining popularity within the industry is because they offer more than mere space — they provide hospitality services and create an experience that users would not otherwise get.

0 Boston Skyline is Slated for Change

The Boston Skyline is on track to change by 2020.  It will introduce some new players to the top ten and maintain some existing ones.

Curbed just posted a map of the 10 tallest buildings it expects to stand over Boston in 2020:

Boston office towers in 2020

Credit: Curbed

  1. 200 Clarendon
  2. Winthrop Square Tower
  3. Prudential Center Tower
  4. Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences One Dalton Street
  5. Millennium Tower
  6. South Station Tower
  7. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
  8. One Boston Place
  9. One International Place
  10. Boston Harbor Garage tower

You can read more about the 10 buildings on Curbed, Boston.

0 Boston Commercial Real Estate Market Ripe for Investors

Boston Skyline over the Charles

Credit: Commercial Observer

The Boston area real estate market continues to offer investors a relative bargain compared with other markets when you consider rents, office space availability, workforce, employment numbers, and new construction.

Commercial Observer lists out the top ten reasons why investors should keep their eye on the area:

  1. Office vacancy is the lowest it’s been since before the Great Recession.
  2. Office asking rents are the highest they’ve been since before the Great Recession.
  3. These higher rents include even Class B space.
  4. Job growth in the Boston region is exploding—just look at GE.
  5. And look at the biotechnology industry.
  6. Boston’s office landlords are upgrading existing spaces and adding relatively little new inventory.
  7. Eataly, etc.
  8. The hotel market is one of the nation’s hottest—and tightest.
  9. As for Boston’s multifamily market, it’s nearly impossible to find one with better fundamentals.
  10. The region remains a relative steal.

 

0 Winthrop Square Deal Proposed by Mayor Walsh

Winthrop Square redevelopment

Credit: Bisnow

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is pushing for the Winthrop Square Tower and is offering tighter restrictions on future tower developments as a concession.

From Bisnow:

Mayor Marty Walsh’s proposal would bar future developments (except Millennium’s) from casting a shadow over the Common, Public Garden and Back Bay’s Copley Square. The plan would also call for new zoning in the Financial District and Downtown Crossing. The shadow change also needs state approval by Gov. Charlie Baker and the state legislature due to the changes it would bring to the Massachusetts’ 1990 shadow law.

0 Davis Co. Returns to Boston Seaport District, Purchases 88 Black Falcon Ave.

Once a seller and now a buyer, the Davis Company is buying 88 Black Falcon Ave. for $60 million. The borders of the Seaport District submarket haven’t changed physically since Davis sold Back Falcon in 2006, but tenants desire to be there has changed. The Seaport office market has blossomed and is now one of the hottest markets in the country with a diverse tenant mix of TAMI, law, and life sciences.

Seaport office building on Black Falcon

Credit: Bizjournals

According to a recent article from the Boston Business Journal, “the low-rise complex spans a combined 376,000 square feet, about evenly split between office and warehouse/R&D space, at the far edge of the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park…Davis Cos. plans to put “tens of millions of dollars into the property,” said CEO Jon Davis, and has tasked architecture firm Dyer Brown with creating a warm industrial aesthetic. Planned improvements include bolstering 88 Black Falcon’s structural underpinnings, adding WiFi throughout the property, and creating a bike storage area and fitness facility. Davis aims to complete work by the second quarter of 2018.”

You can read more on the BBJ, here.

0 Does Boston’s Financial District Office Market have a Bright Future?

Boston's financial district office buildings fill the skyline

Image Credit: fineartamerica.com

Yes, the Financial District can rest assured it will live to lease more space. Remember, this is the largest concentration of office space north of New York City, combined with great access via water shuttle, commuter rail, T, bus or car. Change is inevitable, however, and the Financial District landlords will need to continue with capital upgrades and tenant amenities to meet what today’s TAMI tenants and traditional tenants are seeking.

Banker and Tradesman notes, “the booming tech market has provided a lifeline of sorts, with a range of companies from established firms to startups decamping from more expensive space in Cambridge and its environs to the more budget-friendly lower floors of the Financial District’s tall timber, almost all of it built in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.”

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Office space for lease in Boston Financial District