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.

0 Dartmouth Street Office Building in Back Bay Nets $849 per Sq. Ft.

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

$849 per square foot was the trade price of 131 Dartmouth Street in Boston’s Back Bay.

According to the BBJ, “Boston-based real estate investment firm TA Associates Realty is set to acquire 131 Dartmouth St. in Boston’s Back Bay for $315 million…[offering] a long building with large floor plates spanning 371,000 square feet, with a below-grade parking deck at an enviable 2-per-1,000 square feet parking spot ratio. The 12-story building is adjacent to Back Bay Station and located across Dartmouth Street from retail center Copley Place.”

There are 11 Class A office buildings in Boston with floorplates greater than 50,000 square feet, 131 Dartmouth is the 8th largest with 55,363 square foot floorplates:

Building Address	Submarket Name	City	Year Built	Number Of Stories	Rentable Building Area	Typical Floor Size
200 Seaport Blvd	Seaport	Boston	1920	3	804,000.00	268,000.00
401 Park Dr	Brighton/Allston/Fenway	Boston	1928	14	950,000.00	98,573.00
480 William F McClellan Hwy	Charlestown/East Boston	Boston	2006	4	140,000.00	85,091.00
24 New Chardon St	North Station/Beacon Hill	Boston	2000	4	295,318.00	73,829.00
245 Summer St	Financial District	Boston	1974	14	891,814.00	63,701.00
501 Boylston St	Back Bay	Boston	1940	10	607,685.00	60,768.00
197 Clarendon St	Back Bay	Boston	1922	8	448,796.00	56,000.00
131 Dartmouth St	Back Bay	Boston	2002	11	371,016.00	55,363.00
1 Boston Medical Center Pl	South End	Boston	1980		228,257.00	55,000.00
1622-1636 Tremont St	Roxbury/Dorchester	Boston	2003	4	193,000.00	53,404.00
222 Berkeley St	Back Bay	Boston	1991	22	524,195.00	51,655.00

0 Former Hancock Tower Mortgage gets Paid Off

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Banker and Tradesman

Refinance is a hot topic for homeowners and office tower owners. Boston Properties is addressing all their debt that matures in the next two years.

From Banker&Tradesman:

Boston Properties has spent $667.4 million to retire the mortgage on 200 Clarendon in Boston, the 62-story Back Bay landmark previously known as the Hancock Tower…The loan had an outstanding principal balance of $640.5 million at a 5.68 percent fixed rate and was scheduled to mature in January 2017, according to a press release. Boston Properties paid $667.4 million to buy U.S. government securities that will generate cash flow to pay off the loan in October 2016, the company said. The mortgage and liens on the property have been extinguished, Boston Properties said…Boston Properties’ strategy is to pay off or refinance debt that matures in the next two years at above-market rates.

Related Office Space for Lease
Back Bay office space for lease

0 Babson College Readies Downtown Boston Co-Working Space

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

Babson College will be offering a shared co-working drop in center at 100 High Street in the Financial District of Boston. Kerry Healey, Babson President, comments that nearly half of the 16,000 graduates live or work in greater Boston.

This is the first of its kind where higher education is offering a retail presence rather than just a club experience on an upper floor.

According to the Boston Business Journal, “the Wellesley college known for its success preparing entrepreneurs is leasing 9,000 square feet at 100 High St., including 2,000 square feet of ground floor space fronting on the Federal Street side of the building, in the Financial District. Graduate business students will be able to take classes at the site and alumni will be able to work in a co-working setting…The location, scheduled to open before fall 2016, will more than double Babson’s space in Boston.”

You can read the full article on the BBJ’s local website.