0 Office Space Trends: The Cozy Cubby

Office space continues to evolve with creative new designs that appear years past would have been nonstarters. Dyer Brown has introduced the cozy cubby.

Office Cubbies

Image Credit: Boston Globe

From the Boston Globe:

Dyer Brown, an architectural firm, has designed cubbies as workspaces for the Boston offices of Criteo, a tech company…[carrying an aesthetic that’s] a bright pink cubby covered in comfy cushions.

The cubbies are “a very welcoming, inviting space that you want to be in,” said Jen Taylor of Dyer Brown architectural firm. “As people spend more time in the office, comfort is a priority. Creating these informal amenity spaces that replicate the comforts of home can help companies attract and retain talent…The bold color contrasts with the cozy vibe, and ties in with ‘‘the energy and excitement’’ of the company’s fun, young office culture, Taylor said.”

0 Office Environment Can Impact Health and Productivity

Green and environmentally safe office buildings in Boston

Credit: Boston Globe

The environment that surrounds us impacts our health, this is a fair statement and most would concur. The offices that we work in need to be as healthy as possible due to the amount of time that we spend indoors. Consulting firm Arup, at 60 State Street, has worked very hard to provide a healthy work environment for staff and clients.

From the Boston Globe:

Arup installed motorized sit-to-stand desks, showers to accommodate people running or biking to work, quiet zones and collaboration areas to encourage movement and minimize distractions, and a filter to reduce the amount of chlorine in the drinking water. The cleaning routine has also been intensified, with light switches and door handles wiped down regularly.

“We spend 90 percent of our time indoors, yet we spend almost all of our time thinking about outdoor air pollution,” said Joseph Allen, director of the three-year-old Healthy Buildings program at Harvard University’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, which has studied the benefits of keeping employees in top form. “What we’re doing here is quantifying what people intuitively know. When you’re stuck in a conference room that’s too hot, there’s no ventilation, you don’t perform as well.”

0 600 ft. Boston Harbor Garage Tower Gets Green Light

The city of Boston gives the “Green Light” for Chiofaro’s 600 foot Harbor Tower project.

rendering of Boston harbor garage project

Credit: BBJ

Boston Harbor real estate

Credit: BBJ

From the Boston Business Journal:

The city-approved plan allows for a 600-foot tower at the site of the Boston Harbor Garage, a 1,380-space, 70-foot parking garage owned by Chiofaro, with 50 percent of the project site required to be open space. It also allows for a 305-foot, 22-story tower at the site of James Hook & Co. seafood restaurant on Northern Avenue, which would call for 30 percent of the lot as open space.

The plan covers 42 acres of downtown waterfront — of which about 22 acres is filled tidelands, while the remainder is the harbor — and 26 separate land parcels. The public process to develop a planning vision for the waterfront began in 2013.

0 1000 Boylston Looks to Heighten Back Bay Silhouette

Back Bay office building on Boylston st.

Credit: Bisnow

Back Bay could be getting some more height at 1000 Boylston Street from Weiner Ventures.

From Bisnow:

The parcel is a block away from the 254-foot Hilton Back Bay and 360-foot Sheraton North Tower as well as the 756-foot Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences under construction. The 52-story Prudential Center tower is two blocks down Boylston. The complex would be on four different parcels, three of which are Mass Pike air rights plots.

If completed, 1000 Boylston will feature 182 apartments and 160 condominiums above a six-story podium composed of retail and parking. Its prominent location near the intersection of Boylston and Massachusetts Avenue is particularly complex due to the limited amount of ground the tower has for foundation.

0 Garage Space will be Transformed by Rise of Autonomous Cars

This is a true shift on how our relationship with our car will change in the upcoming years. The concept that you will drive to work and your car will park itself amongst its peers, without the vast amount of vehicle circulation space that our current public garages demand, is real and is coming to a garage near you.

Boston garage

Credit: Bisnow

From Bisnow:

Researchers predict Americans will own fewer cars within the next 20 years as automated vehicles become ubiquitous on American roadways, and developers are already preparing for the shift in future projects.

Some developers in urban centers are cutting out garages altogether to make units more affordable. Others are turning to automated parking lifts, which reduce the square footage needed per car by about 80%. These automated lots cost less to construct and can be easily repurposed if parking demand falls.

0 Seaport Office Market Expands with Growth of 22 Boston Wharf Rd.

Boston Wharf road office building

Credit: Banker and Tradesman

The Seaport office footprint continues to grow upward. 55,000 square feet is being added to the top of 22 Boston Wharf Road.

According to Banker&Tradesman, “Bentall Kennedy, the real estate manager for landlord Multi-Employer Property Trust, is overseeing construction of two floors of open-format office space totaling 54,712 square feet. Another 55,000 square feet is available on the seventh and eighth floors in space previously occupied by TRO Boston and Red Thread…The space will be ready for tenants to begin interior fitouts as soon as this fall, said David Fitzgerald, a partner at CBRE/New England which is representing ownership.”

The full article is available on the Banker and Tradesman website, here.

0 Leather District Redevelopment Might be on the Horizon

Leather District real estate

Credit: B&T

Change could be coming to the Leather District in the form of development.

From Banker and Tradesman:

125 Lincoln St. includes office space on the top floor…The property, occupying an entire block in the transforming Leather District, could be suitable for a mixed-use redevelopment, said Matthew Pullen, an executive managing director for NGKF. Current zoning allows up to 223,880 square feet of development on the site.

The property is 100 percent leased and generates net operating income of $2 million. Leases have landlord termination options that would enable a redevelopment to begin as early as 2018, according to marketing materials.

0 Harbor Way Key to Seaport Square Development

Harbor Way lot in South Boston

Credit: Boston Globe

The Seaport has evolved as a live, work and play destination recent years and WS has an interesting spin on, Harbor Way.

From the Boston Globe:

Seaport Square is a 23-acre parcel that stretches from Northern Avenue to Summer Street and represents the last chance for the district to save itself from becoming a sea of generic office and condo buildings and a playground for those who can only afford it.

WS thinks Boston’s answer to Manhattan’s High Line is the Harbor Way, a tree-lined pedestrian promenade that will connect Summer Street to the water’s edge by Fan Pier. The thoroughfare will extend a third of a mile through Seaport Square and hook up with the HarborWalk in an attempt to finally make the Seaport District pedestrian friendly.

0 50 Boston Startups Set to Make Waves in 2017

200 Clarendon Street Boston

Credit: Built in Boston

Reflecting back before looking forward, Built in Boston notes, “in 2016, Boston’s tech sector flourished, with startups maturing alongside the city’s legacy industries while a steady trickle of venture capital poured into industries like edtech, food-tech, fintech, digital media and healthtech…”

Click through to Built in Boston article to view its list of 50 start-ups in Boston to watch in 2017.

0 South Boston Office Space Planned for 105 W. First Street

Proposed South Boston office building

Credit: BBJ

Southie is looking to have a new office building at W. First Street totaling 266,000 square feet.

A recent BBJ article notes the South Boston building’s proposal includes “space for a retail, cafe or restaurant; a “convener” space that could host a co-working-style office; and an enclosed pedestrian connector that will connect West Second and West First streets in South Boston.”

More information is supplied in the complete article on the Boston Business Journal’s website, here.