Author Archives: Wil Catlin

0 Seaport Parking Lot Marked for Condos

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Parking lot at corner of Congress and Farnsworth Street

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Does this look like your parking space in the Seaport?  If so, this could be home to a new condo project, and gone would be the surface-level parking near the Boston Children’s Museum.

A BBJ editorial provides some context for the project, noting, “Redgate Real Estate Advisors is in talks with the owner about buying the 4,939-square-foot lot at 338 Congress St. at the corner of Farnsworth Street. The parcel is assessed at $495,500, but would probably fetch more than five time that amount if sold.”

Additional details are available on The Boston Business Journal’s website

0 MBTA Commuter Rail Heading to Seaport District

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Commuter rail tract to seaport

Credit: Boston Globe

Connecting North Station to South Station would be great, but better would be Back Bay to the Seaport.  Boston is on track to continue to invest in infrastructure that better our places to work and live.  The use of track 61 will be a welcome addition to those that travelers to and from the Seaport/Innovation District.

The Boston Globe is reporting that “the state, with no fanfare, has set aside tens of millions of dollars to launch an innovative train service on a dormant rail line between a pair of the city’s most vital neighborhoods: the Seaport District and the Back Bay…The service should be ready to go in just two years.”

Jump over to the Boston Globe to read more: Rail Service between Seaport District and Back Bay

0 $66M Theatre District Hotel Proposed

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Hotel in Theatre Distict, Boston

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Is our Theatre District going to look like Times Square? Specifically, What do you think about a 3-story digital sign for Stuart and Tremont Streets?

According to the BBJ, “Amherst Media Investors is planning to present plans to the neighborhood for a 21-story boutique hotel and the installation of a three-story digital sign for Stuart and Tremont streets, across from the W Hotel & Residences…Under the latest proposal, Amherst Media has reduced the number of hotel rooms to 202 from 240 but added two stories or 17 feet. The revised project will consist of 117,000 square feet of space, an increase from the 101,000 square feet previously proposed.”

Additional analysis on the proposed hotel is available on the Boston Business Journal.

Related Commercial Real Estate Listings in Boston
Theatre District Office Space for Lease

0 Financial District Tower Proposed Again

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Proposed office tower location in Financial District Boston

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Round two for the proposed tallest building in Boston; the BRA might be offering the 47,738 square-foot parcel up for sale. The market rents in Class A Financial District buildings continue to move up as vacancy rates continue to drop.

According to the BBJ, “Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who had previously sought proposals to build a 1,000-foot tower with 1.3 million square feet of office space at the Winthrop Street Garage site on Devonshire Street between Winthrop Square and Federal Street, confirmed the BRA’s plan to seek a developer for the 47,738-square-foot parcel.”

Additional details can be found on the Boston Business Journal’s article, Menino Tower to get Second Chance

0 188 High Street may become Niche Hotel

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188 High Street Boston

Credit: Boston Herald

Today it offers parking for three cars wide, tomorrow it could offer two twin beds or a queen.  The is the parcel know as 188 High Street which will be under review for a new 15 story glass façade hotel.

According to the Boston Herald, “a 60-room hotel is being proposed for a narrow paved lot on Boston’s High Street, across from the towering International Place in the Financial District…Developer Ronald Luccio Jr. plans to build an estimated $6 million, 15-story, glass-faced building for the moderately priced, limited-amenities hotel, where rooms would be small.”

The full article is up on the Boston Herald website.

0 Sublease-market Risks Brought to Light with First Marblehead Corp’s IRS Problems

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First Marblehead Corp logoShould I sublease space or go direct to the landlord? That is a common question in the industry and the answer truly depends. If you are considering a sublease you need to consider the financial capacity of the sub lessor. After all, you could be paying your obligation, but if they aren’t covering the shortfall then you could find yourself looking for new space.

The Boston Business Journal wryly reports, “First Marblehead Corp.’s blasé mention this week that it might, possibly, probably owe the IRS some $300 million would be bad enough if the potential fallout was confined to its own operations. So listen up, all of you subtenants over at 31 St. James Avenue and 800 Boylston St.”

The BBJ’s extensive look at First Marblehead Corp’s IRS issues is available on its website: First Marblehead’s IRS headache

0 East Berkeley Street to House New 11-Story Office Building

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80 E. Berkeley St in Boston

Credit: Patch

Our city continues to grow, expand and evolve. The Druker Company is proposing a 290,000 RSF building on East Berkeley Street to replace a surface lot and auto repair facility. With rents continuing to push north and available options dwindling, the market is ready for new inventory.

Patch is reporting that “the Boston Redevelopment Authority will host a public meeting on Wednesday night to go over the details of the project…The proposal from developers The Druker Company, Ltd., calls for 290,000 square feet of office space on ten floors, 18,000 square feet of retail or restaurant space on the ground level, and a parking garage with 200 spaces.”

Southend Patch has the full article available on its website.

0 Seaport Traffic Growing

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Summer Street office building in Boston's seaport district

321 Summer Street

This is a citywide problem that is not just plaguing the Seaport. As we know, Boston is an old city with both old and new infrastructure. The solution is changing the habits of our commuting population, do we need our car at work every day? Perhaps the city and or employers can offer incentives to keep our cars at home? In London, there is a toll to enter the city during rush hour and as a result that reduces the number of passenger vehicles on the roadways.

The Boston Globe recently looked at how the growth of the Seaport submarket is playing out on the roadways:

“While the morning commute is tolerable, everyone seems to head out at 5 p.m., creating bumper-to-bumper traffic along the main spine on Seaport Boulevard, spilling out onto Atlantic Avenue, and clogging side roads throughout the area…’All this growth wasn’t supposed to happen until 2025,’ said Mayor Thomas Menino. ‘It’s a wonderful success. Because of the success, we’re having a problem. It’s amazing to me.’”

The complete article is available on the Boston Globe’s website: Seaport District Faces Gridlock

0 The Importance of Business Collaboration

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Office building on State Street in Boston

255 State Street in Boston

There is something to be said for water bubbler conversations, old fashion face time. In the era of telecommuting and Aps for this and Aps for that companies are trying to their staff be in a position to share ideas with their peers.  The idea seems simple enough, but how do you make it a reality? The question I have for you is do you know what your neighbor does?

A Boston Globe article about business collaboration stresses the advantage of physical networking, even in a world of virtual industry:

“Here’s how it’s supposed to work: Two years ago, Guzzi called Niraj Shah, the cofounder and chief executive of Wayfair, a Boston-based furniture and home goods Internet retailer that generates more sales than Crate and Barrel online. They met over breakfast at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel’s Asana, where Guzzi persuaded Shah to join the chamber. The chamber landed a star e-commerce company, one that now employs more than 900 people in Boston — a 50 percent increase in just a couple of years. Wayfair got fresh connections and a far stronger voice in Boston’s business community.”

The full globe editorial is available on their website: Bostonglobe.com

0 Office Prices Soaring in Boston’s Innovation District

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Office rents have increased in excess of 40 percent in the last two years in the Innovation District. What will happen as those leases start to roll in 2014, will those tenants be able to afford the new rents?

Boston's innovation district at night

Credit: InnovationDistrict.org

A recent editorial in the Boston Globe noted the challenges facing small businesses and occupants of the Innovation District:

“The Innovation District is in danger of becoming a top-heavy boutique neighborhood because it targets price-sensitive businesses, but has no way of providing stable rents. There’s no consensus about who should pay to keep office rents affordable at the very low end — developers, large companies, area institutions, or the city itself could all conceivably handle the job — and, even if consensus did exist, there’s no means of enforcing it.”

Jump over to the BostonGlobe.com for the full article.

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