Author Archives: Wil Catlin

0 Office Tower Proposed in Downtown Boston in Winthrop Square

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Is a new tower coming to downtown Boston, in Winthrop Square? Time will tell, but repurposing the shuttered garage site would be a welcome change.

rendering of new proposed office tower in boston financial district

Credit: The Boston Globe

According to The Boston Globe, the re-imagined tower “of up to 740 feet…would be a new centerpiece on the city’s rapidly changing skyline…The building would occupy one of the last major development sites in the Financial District, replacing a decrepit city-owned parking garage at Winthrop Square with a skyscraper that could cost as much as $900 million to build.”

The Globe article also includes a photo gallery of the proposed downtown Boston tower.

0 Government Center T Station Renovation Making Progress

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T station renovations at Govt. Center in Boston

Credit: The Boston Globe

The Government Center T Station is taking shape.  The glass entryway will be a welcome change for both above and below grade.

From The Boston Globe:

“The most visible sign of progress at the Government Center Station renovation project is the construction of an entryway called a ‘head house,’ which is set to be wrapped in glass and promises to brighten the underground transit hub when it reopens in the spring of 2016.”

“‘I love the project,’ said Brian P. Howland, a resident engineer for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. ‘This is an area that hasn’t had anything happen to it in over 45 years. Putting something like this in this area now is going to have a huge impact.’”

0 ‘Get Paid While You Wait’ in Boston Real Estate

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extra office space in boston for rent

Credit: Kinglet

If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times: A company has outgrown its space and they’re growing. Fast. But, how much space will they need a few years from now is anyone’s best guess. Unfortunately, guessing games won’t cut it. Guess too low and they’re moving again in no time. Guess to high, giving them room to grow, and they won’t be able to afford the rent today.

Countless businesses have sprouted up to solve this challenge. The solutions include incubators and hubs, as well as daily and even hourly rentals, including relative newcomers LiquidSpace and Breather.

There’s another approach that’s picking up steam. Instead of downsizing, a host of new startups have enabled emerging companies to super-size their office space. Companies like PivotDesk and Kinglet, available only in Baltimore for now, help organizations rent out their extra desks, on a month-by- month basis.

While PivotDesk and competitors are still new, the approach isn’t. In fact, in the investing world, it’s an age-old approach known as dividend investing. And fans of this approach aptly refer to it as the “getting paid while you wait” model. Meaning, you buy the stock today and get paid a dividend while the stock slowly grows in value. In the office space analogy, you may only need 2,500 square feet today, but instead, go for 5,000 square feet and rent out the empty desks until you need team.

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0 Modern Office Space Meets Need for Speed

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logo for Cisco systems

Credit: Cisco

Before signing a multi-year office lease, tenants run through a list of questions to ensure the space is “future ready,” meaning it works for their team today, and will still work tomorrow. Will our team fit here in three years? Do we have room to grow? Will our next wave of employees want to work in this part of town? Can they get here easily?

Now, there’s a new question to add: Will it be fast enough?

According to a new research report from Cisco, Internet traffic will increase nearly three-fold within the next five years due to more users and devices, faster Internet speeds, and an increase of video viewing.

Companies of all shapes and sizes, from startups to Fortune 500s, will be part of this Internet evolution. The best companies will be the ones that plan for the future. The report predicts that annual Internet traffic for the year 2018 alone will be greater than all traffic that has been generated globally from 1984 to 2013 combined.

The report also says that by 2018 global broadband speeds will reach 42 Mbps, up from 16 Mbps by the end of 2013; more advanced regions may have average speeds approaching 100 Mbps by 2018. In addition to the increased speed, another major driver of the traffic will be the use of video, particularly high-definition. The report suggests that by 2018, nearly 80 percent of all traffic will be video, with a majority for HD video.

It’s not enough for tenants to see if their team will fit in five years, now they need to determine if their space will meet their increased need for speed too.

0 WeWork Adds 600 Desks at South Station Co-working Space

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south station co-working space at wework

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Temporary workspace provider’s continue to grow to address the demand from the entrepreneurial clientele at 745 Atlantic Street. This comes in addition to news that it will also be adding its first Cafe in Boston at the location.

From the BBJ:

Months after opening a co-working space near Boston’s South Station, WeWork is expanding due to increased demand from startup founders looking to rent workspace in the Boston area. The New York-based boutique office space firm opened its 90,000-square-foot location at 745 Atlantic Ave. near South Station in February and will now add about 600 new desks and 48,000 square feet to that location later this fall. WeWork also has a 50,000-square-foot location in the Seaport District.

0 Sonos Joins other Boston Tech Companies in Move to Downtown Crossing

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Lafayette center in Downtown Crossing

Credit: LafayetteCCboston.com

Where are hip technology companies signing new leases?  DTX, Downtown Crossing!  Why?  It is a great value option with T access from Green, Orange, Red and Blue lines.

From the Boston Globe:

Instead of expanding in Kendall Square with the Googles and Amazons of the world, Sonos recently signed a lease to move into 170,000 square feet in Lafayette City Center, a downtown Boston office complex that long served as back-office space for State Street Corp.

“Once we saw Lafayette, it was clear to me that it was the best place for us,” said Andrew Schulert, vice president of quality at Sonos, which employs 375 people.

What Schulert saw was a resurgent real estate market in Downtown Crossing, where hip technology companies are joining new retail shops, restaurants, and upscale residential buildings. The interest among tech firms has benefited downtown landlords who are trying to replace dated department stores and other tenants that have left the area.

0 WeWork Plans Café Across from South Station in Boston

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shared office space in cambridge

Credit: Bostinno.Streetwise.co

Café owners lookout; a new provider is opening up with its own customer base.  WeWork continues to forge ahead and cater to the customer by offering additional services at street level  The latest venue is a Café’, by no sense is this a new concept, but it is if you are in the temporary office space business.  This fulfills two goals; first more services to its existing customer base.  Second; a street level presence to attract new customers.  Banking has also seen this in Café 360 by Capital One.

Bostinno.StreetWise.co is reporting a “Small scoop here: In the midst of a Boston expansion, WeWork has also taken street-level retail space in the Hub. The company plans to open a coffee shop at 745 Atlantic Ave., a few floors below its shared workspace in the same building…This sets up a potential barista duel for the hearts and minds of downtown Boston’s startup set. Cambridge Innovation Center, another shared workspace, is also developing a café project on the ground floor of its 60,000-square-foot Boston facility at 50 Milk Street. CIC’s founder and chief executive, Tim Rowe, demurred about a date for its opening.”

The full article details WeWork’s cafe project as well as how it fits in with its larger corporate strategy. You can read it on Bostinno.Streetwise.

0 Downtown Crossing Farmers’ Market: Roche Bros. Can’t Wait

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Roche Bros. farmers market in downtown crossing

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The newest tenant to downtown crossing has opened, kinda, even though their space isn’t ready yet.  Looking for fresh fruit an vegetables, stop by daily from 10 AM to 6 PM!

Roche Bros. to set up a farmers’ market outside of its coming Downtown Crossing location to introduce itself to the neighborhood until the store officially opens in early Spring, 2015.

According to a news release today, printed in the BBJ, “the grocer is setting up five fresh produce stands outside the historic Millennium Tower/Burnham Building where construction is currently underway on the company’s 25,000 square-foot flagship supermarket. The open-air offerings are scheduled to operate seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The produce stands will primarily feature fresh fruits, as well as some vegetables, flowers, and seasonal baked goods. The Roche Bros. team will keep the stands open through October.”

You can read the complete statement and related article on the Boston Business Journal’s website.

0 Boston Companies Face Shortage of Developer, Engineering Talent

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office building in technology square in Boston

300 Technology Square, Cambridge

Are you looking to hire web developers are part of your growth into new office space?  If yes prepare for some competition.  Employers are thinking beyond just salary when it comes to new hires some items that hit the list are:

  • Location, Location, Location
  • Being centrally located Downtown with easy access to commuter rail is top priority
  • Catered food services for all meals
  • Concierge for daily tasks such as meeting the Cable Guy at home.
  • Cool, fun and innovative office environment
  • Health Wellness program – Health club membership

According to the BBJ, “Companies are increasingly trying to make it more attractive for these Web experts to stay at firms. “When these guys are on the market there’s so much demand for them that they’re getting snapped up within a day or two.”

What are you offering and how does it stack up?

0 Storage Space in 2018? 79% of Your Virtual Traffic will be Video

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logo for Cisco systems

Credit: Cisco

When you are thinking about new office space, one thing you don’t have to consider: can your proposed building accommodate the storage demands of your future internet traffic?

Cisco estimates that “video traffic will make up 79 percent of all consumer Internet traffic in 2018.” How are server costs going to adapt to fit this? Cisco’s one to know.