0 Mayor Walsh Focuses on Four Neighborhoods for Boston’s ‘New Innovation District’

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Where will our next round of innovators set up camp? Some hot spots in Boston and Cambridge are simply too expensive so Marc Bernsau of the BBJ has provided a great comparison of various Boston locations with their respect pro’s and con’s combined with market price. Where can you find a low $20’s rent per square foot?

In a previous post on Boston’s new innovation district, we discuss Mayor Marty Walsh’s recently-formed task force, which is considering an innovation district in four specific Boston neighborhoods: Bowdoin-Geneva and Fields Corner in Dorchester, Dudley Square in Roxbury, and East Boston.

Credit: FieldsCorner.org

The accompanying article on the Boston Business Journal notes, “Gilad Rosenzweig, founder and executive director of Smarter in the City, thinks Roxbury has the potential to be a home for startups.”

0 Wanderu Explains Selecting Downtown Crossing HQ (Video)

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Why is Downtown Crossing (DTX) such a hot market? Price, access, infrastructure and vibe. Wanderu chose DTX over all other options in the city because it checked all 4 boxes.

Click over to watch the video on the Boston Business Journal.

0 MA Ranks 3rd for Expected IPO’s in 2015

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Wil Catlin

South Boston office building at 281 Summer St.

Massachusetts ranks 3rd nationally behind California and New York for 2015 IPO’s from Tech Firms.

The BBJ notes, approximately “588 tech companies across the nation are in the IPO pipeline, running roughly equal to the 590 tech firms that were in the pipeline at this time last year, according to a new report by CB Insight…Massachusetts has the third most tech companies in the IPO pipeline: 44…The top Massachusetts companies include Bit9 of Waltham, Actifio of Waltham, Veracode of Burlington, Simplivity of Westboro, and Dataxu of Boston.”

You can read the full article on the Boston Business Journal’s website, here.

0 Final Meeting for South Boston Waterfront Sustainable Transportation Plan

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Wil Catlin

If we can’t get to and from our workplace in a reasonable amount of time, we will find a job that we can. Boston continues to grow its daytime and bedtime population and we need to constantly improve transportation infrastructure.

From the Boston Business Journal:

“One of the central goals of the transportation plan is to improve access and mobility across multiple modes of transportation for residents, workers and tourists throughout the neighborhood, which in theory will maximize economic growth and vitality along the waterfront and, as the draft plan says, “enhance the public realm.” The draft plan also highlights expanding community connections within South Boston and the South Boston Waterfront and enhancing mobility inside the Waterfront itself.”

0 Boston’s Next Innovation District? Four Neighborhoods Marked as Candidates

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston.com

Where will the innovation district go next to accommodate tomorrow’s new technology startups? One of the key components is access and infrastructure; if you can’t get there without a car, it’s not going to be viable.

According to the BBJ, “a task force created by Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh has been focusing on how to replicate the success of the Innovation District in other parts of the city…the group officially recommended the city focus those efforts on the following four neighborhoods: Dorchester’s Fields Corner, East Boston, Dudley Square in Roxbury to Uphams Corner in Dorchester, Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood in Dorchester.

More information on the administration’s plan for the new innovation district are available on the Boston Business Journal’s website.

0 Perspective on the Boston Real Estate Tax Increase

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Bostinno.Streetwise.co

What are your taxes going up to in Boston? 200 Clarendon Street, The John Hancock Tower, takes the prize with the largest bill at $20,204,640 or $11.51 per square foot. The building last traded 4 years ago for $930,000,000.

To provide some perspective (or piece of mind) on the impending tax hike, Bostinno.streetwise.co posted stats on six notable Boston buildings:

Highest Gross Tax 
• Address: John Hancock Tower, 200 Clarendon St.
• Gross tax: $20,204,640
• Land assessed value: $111,925,200
• Building assessed value: $536,074,800
• Total: $648,000,000
• Land sf.: 73,143
• Year built: 1976
• Year remodeled: 2012
• Gross area: 2,082,040
• Floors: 62
• Owner: BP Hancock LLC
• Zip code: 02116
Continue reading →

0 Alexandra Hotel in Boston’s South End Goes Up for Sale

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

The Church of Scientology of Boston has decided to sell — rather than renovate — the Alexander Hotel on the corner of Mass. Ave. and Washington Street in the South End. The asset was acquired in 2008 for $4.5 million and is no longer large enough to accommodate the church’s needs to in excess of 50K square feet.

A BBJ article notes “the property has not yet been listed for sale, but several developers have already been in touch with the church…A listing broker was not disclosed.”

You can read the Boston Business Journal article on its website.

0 Boston Real Estate Valued at More than $100B

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Boston is a $100 billion dollar city and the hub’s office tenants will be paying for it. Expect your office lease rates to rise with the new year’s tax bill.

Credit: The Boston Globe

From the Boston Globe:

“With the [Boston] real estate market surging, the total estimated value of its residential and commercial property jumped over that threshold for the first time and has climbed to a total of $110 billion, according to a new city assessment…The increase will mean significantly higher tax bills for many property owners next year, although the extent of those increases will not be known until tax rates are set in the coming days…To stave off sticker shock, the city’s assessing department has already begun reaching out to owners in some neighborhoods where values have increased the most.”

0 Co-Working Office Space Coalition Opens in Downtown Crossing

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Wil Catlin

co-working coalition in downtown crossing Boston

Credit: Bostinno.Streetwise.co

Coalition is the latest to enter the shared workspace environment, opening in Downtown Crossing at 101 Arch Street.

Coalition opened in Boston’s Downtown Crossing neighborhood in February. “The setting is no doubt part of Coalition’s charm. At 101 Arch St., the 7,060-square-foot office boasts a fantastic view over The Hub and no shortage of restaurants and bars nearby for post-work winding down. (The area has also attracted collaborative working spaces in the area including WeWork, Techstars and even CIC Boston/Space with a Soul.),” according to an article on Bostinno.Streetwise.co. “Coalition aims to differentiate by partnering with MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge and other similar organizations to give young entrepreneurs the chance to work with seasoned local professionals. It’s a pretty impressive community, too, with venture capital and private equity investors and veteran entrepreneurs (with two to four founded firms under their belts) alike.”

Follow the link to read the complete Bostinno.Streetwise.co article.

0 Co-working Office Space Remains an Active Market: WeWork Valued at $6B

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Wil Catlin

WeWork clearly has identified a market for growth within the co-working office environment. With locations from Israel to Seattle, WeWork is on the move with a mission “to create a world where people work to make a life, not just a living.”

co-working office space in Cambridge at WeWork

Credit: Bisnow

A BisNow article states WeWork is “on the verge of closing a $300M to $600M financing round that could value the shared workspace provider at a whopping $6B. The start-up hit 1.5B in market value last month after securing $150M and suggesting that the next round would kick off in 2015.”

Additional information is provided by Bisnow on it’s website, here.