Author Archives: Wil Catlin

0 Boston Office Spaces: Rent and Construction Climbs in 2013

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Office building at 110 Chauncy St in BostonThe price per square foot for office space in Boston is headed up in all sub markets and in all building classes.  Last year many areas rebounded while others continued to lag behind. 2013 marks the change; with demand strong, rents will continue to rise.

A Boston Business Journal report on the 2013 market growth, referencing a Jones Lang LaSalle’s Spring Skyline Review, notes, “Boston is seeing favorable trends in demographics and exposure to growth sectors…The Hub’s downtown submarkets appear to be entering a new chapter in each of their respective history books with the Financial District seeing results in filling up the low-rise portions of towers, as well as a transformation into a true work-play-live submarket.”

For more information perspective on the national office market, read the BBJ’s Supply and demand to tip scales in 2013.

Related Commercial Real Estate Listings
Current office space available in Boston

0 Back Bay Air Rights Project a Go on Parcels 12 & 15

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Airial view of Boston's back bay

Photo Credit: MA Transportation Blog

So where is Parcels 12 and 15? They are located above and along Interstate 90 at the intersection of Boylston Street and Massachusetts Avenue in Boston’s Back Bay. In time Boston will continue to see projects like this bridge neighborhoods together that have been separated by our roadways.

An editorial in yesterday’s Boston Business Journal states, “the Massachusetts Department of Transportation has selected a joint venture of Samuels & Associates and Weiner Ventures to build an air rights development on Parcels 12 and 15…on Parcel 15, a 400-foot high-rise hotel and residential building will be set back from Boylston Street, with a low-rise retail building along the street. On Parcel 12, a mid-rise residential building will be located on Boylston Street and a two-floor retail building will cross the Turnpike along Massachusetts Avenue. The project will create 230 apartments, a 270-room hotel and 50,000 square feet of retail space.”

Follow this link to the BBJ for their complete coverage, or jump over to the MA transportation blog for its official posting.

0 Facebook Interested in Cambridge Office Space

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office_space_in_technology_sq_cambridgeIs Facebook returning to its roots?  The Kendall Square office market is vacancy rates at a record low with Class A rents in the $50’s per square foot.

An exclusive report on the Boston Business Journal quotes a source with knowledge of Facebook’s growing interest in Cambridge office space, “they want to have a larger footprint here…they want to be near MIT to recruit staff and they want to be next to similar firms.”

The article also notes that Facebook currently has four employees in a temporary office space at 711 Atlantic Ave. in Boston’s Financial District.

For additional details on Facebook’s search for Cambridge office space, click through to the BBJ exclusive.

0 Back Bay Building Purchased by Fisher College for $12M

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Back Bay building on Arlington St in Boston

Photo Credit: Boston Business Journal

 

Another office building trade has occurred in Back Bay. This sale falls outside of what we have seen in the recent past by investors, this in an owner occupant as well as an expanding college.

The Boston Business Journal reports that Fisher College has purchased 10-11 Arlington St. for $11.7 million. The article contends the building “will be able to provide offices for faculty and staff, as well as additional services and resources to its students.”

For more information on the specifics of the purchase of 10-11 Arlington Street, follow this link to the Boston Business Journal.

0 Is One Lincoln Street Stagnation a Sign of Larger Trend?

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State Street Financial Center at 1 lincoln

Photo Credit: Boston Business Journal

The office market is in the midst of an upswing as it pertains to rents, but from the value side, buyers are cautious. Have we peaked or is there more to come?

The Boston Business Journal article reported on the relative stagnation, noting that “twenty months after One Lincoln Street ­— also known as the State Street Financial Center — was put up for sale, the skyscraper remains on the market for $1.15 billion.”

Follow the link to read more about One Lincoln Street.

0 Boston Innovation District Adds 200 Companies in Three Years

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Map of Boston's innovation district

Photo Credit: innovationdistrict.org

Rents are above $40.00 PSF, vacancy is below 4 percent for Class B space, but the good news is the Innovation District is humming. Companies are willing to pay a premium to be located among their technology peers; as it pertains to recruiting, applicants would much prefer to be there than outside the city.

A Banker & Tradesman report, quoting the Boston Redevelopment Authority, states “in the past three years, more than 200 new companies and 4,000 new jobs have moved to Boston’s Innovation District.”

The article also notes that technology companies are leading the charge, accounting for 30 percent of the area’s new job growth.

For more insight, jump over to Banker & Tradesman’s coverage of the growth of Boston’s Innovation District.

0 Marine Industrial Park to House New Spec Building

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6 Tide Street in Boston's Industrial Park

Photo Credit: Boston Business Journal

As rents have continued to rise and vacancy has dropped, landlords are becoming more bullish on the office market future.  Spec buildings, previously considered a thing of the past due to the high cost of construction (compared to the cost of renovating an existing structure) are reemerging in the Hub’s commercial landscape with a new addition to Boston’s marine industrial park.

The Boston Business Journal reported, “Danvers-based Kavanagh Advisory Group is expected to break ground by year’s end on the first new building in six years on the eastern edge of the Hub’s Innovation District.”

Details on the spec building are available on the BBJ’s coverage of the new development at Marine Industrial Park.

0 Jos. A. Bank Signs Lease in Boston Financial District

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Office building at 70 Franklin Street in Boston

Photo Credit: Boston Business Journal

Men’s clothing retailer Jos. A. Bank has moved in the retail space on the corner of Franklin Street and Arch Street in Boston’s financial district.

According to an article on the Boston Business Journal, the fashion retailer “has signed a 10-year lease for nearly 5,000 square feet at 70 Franklin St. in Boston’s Financial District.” Additional details on the space and terms of the agreement are available on the BBJ.

To view available commercial real estate listings in Boston’s financial district, follow this link.

0 New Tower Considered in Back Bay

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Back bay tower site

Photo Credit: Boston Business Journal

Will Back Bay be home to another Boston Properties skyscraper?  The location would be atop the John Hancock garage at Back Bay Station.

A report in the Boston Business Journal describes the proposal, “Boston Properties, owner of the John Hancock and Prudential towers, is floating a proposal for a skyscraper to be built on air rights atop its garage near Back Bay Station…a conceptual idea for a building could include office space and other mixed-uses above the parking garage at the corner of Stuart and Dartmouth streets.”

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