0 Office Buildings Planned Near Faneuil Hall

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Wil Catlin

rendering of office space on Quaker Lane in Boston

Credit: The Boston Globe

Quaker Lane in Boston? Must admit, some would have no idea where it is located. Well, changes are coming. This road is surrounded by the former Fidelity headquarters that was sold and is located near the intersection of Congress and State Streets. The proposed plan is to add retail services on the ground for, renovate the offices above and add residential component.

From the Boston Globe:

“A Boston real estate firm is proposing to redevelop a drab cluster of office buildings near Faneuil Hall into a more modern commercial complex with restaurants, stores, hotel rooms, and residences.”

“Our plan is to rejuvenate the entire block through a mixed-use redevelopment strategy,” said Stephen Faber, executive vice president of Related Beal. “These buildings and this location present us with the opportunity to . . . create a real destination.”

0 Boston Office Towers Experiencing Strong Leasing Activity

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Wil Catlin

One International Place in Boston

Some of Boston’s largest office towers have experienced strong leasing activity in either attracting new tenants or renewing their existing ones. Some building highlight are the following commercial spaces:

·         One Financial Center – Owned by Beacon Capital
·         One Federal Street – Owned by Tishman Speyer
·         International Place – Owned by The Chiofaro Company
·         John Hancock, 200 Clarendon Street – Owned by Boston Properties

“A Boston Business Journal analysis of some of the largest towers in the city shows that many are enjoying their highest occupancy rates in years, although the good times haven’t come easy. Financial filings indicate these landlords have been working on overdrive to keep their properties filled, with many having to thread some impressive needles in order to head off or counter major lease expirations before they bite.”

You can view the BBJ’s status update “based on recent loan-servicer filings, on some of the biggest office properties in Boston’s downtown market,” here.

1 Greater Boston Co-Working Office Spaces Get Boost

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

Co-working won’t change the need for companies to have office, but rather it will bring those that are in home offices and garages into a dynamic environment.

The BBJ is indicating that Bostonians are likely to “see a surge in co-working spaces around Massachusetts thanks to funds made available to residents in select cities across Massachusetts. The spaces, which typically feature a variety of entrepreneurs in shared office space that doesn’t require a long-term lease, have become such a big part of the Greater Boston’s startup scene. But new grants available to entrepreneurs in Massachusetts’ 28 Gateway Cities— from Everett and Worcester to Fall River — aim to spread the concept of co-working spaces beyond Boston, Cambridge and Somerville.”

You can view the full article on the Boston Business Journal, here.

0 Transportation Startup Bridj Nets $4M in Outside Funding

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Bridj

Are you tired of seeing full busses drive past you every morning? Well, Bridj is looking to solve that for you and they just landed an addition $4m along with the former commissioner of Chicago Transportation Department.

From Bizjournals.com:

Bridj launched beta service this past June in the Boston area and its CEO has previously said that it would add more cities in the future…The startup said the new funding and the addition of Klein will allow Bridj to expand nationally and beyond. Other investors in the latest round include Andy Ross andPeter Aldrich, early Zipcar investors.

Alternatively, follow the link to view Bridj’s Boston schedule.

0 Boston Ranks 2nd in Tech Employment, VC Funding

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Wil Catlin

office space on JFK blvd in Cambridge MA

Office building at 30 John F Kennedy Boulevard, Cambridge

The greater Boston market is strong for tech jobs and VC funding into tech company. When clients as why the rapid rent growth from 2010 to now? Supply and demand to the absorption by venture backed tech companies.

According to a report in the Boston Business Journal, “Boston with its more than 145,000 tech jobs trails only Silicon Valley in terms of total high-tech employment, noting that Greater Boston experienced a 4.3 percent growth in high-tech jobs over the year. Silicon Valley had year-over-year tech-related job growth of 5.2 percent and employed a little over 213,000 people in the industry, the report noted. But the results aren’t much of a change from last year’s report, which stated that the Boston area was No. 2 in terms of tech jobs and No. 4 in venture funding…The Boston area also scored big in venture funding during the second quarter of this year, accumulating a total of $441.6 million in funding during the time period, according to the report. San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Manhattan all snagged more venture capital funding than the Boston area.”

The full article is available on the BBJ website.

0 State Requests Proposals for Parcel 13 in Back Bay

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

Is now the time for Parcel 13? Well yes it is. Between residential, retail and office developments there is strong demand for more new development projects. Our city population continues to grow along with our daily workforce population. More companies are seeking locations that allow their employees live, work play environments that don’t include driving, but rather rely on public transportation or models like ZipCar and HubSpoke.

From the Boston Business Journal:

Known as Parcel 13, the site represents 54,500 square feet of air rights over the Massachusetts Turnpike, adjacent to the MBTA’s Hynes Convention Center Station on the Green Line. State officials say the site will accommodate up to 320,700 square feet of development that could include a mix of housing, dorms, retail and hotel uses.

0 Burnham Building in Downtown Crossing: AOL First to Move In

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Wil Catlin

AOL employees wait to go into the Burnham building in downtown crossing

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The former Filene’s building in downtown Boston has welcomed it first tenant, AOL. AOL moves into the rejuvenated downtown crossing area of Boston and becomes the new building’s flagship name for now.

The Boston Business Journal indicates, “AOL officially became the first tenant to move in to the renovated Burnham Building in Boston’s Downtown Crossing this morning…The New York-based media and tech company moved about 50 employees into sixth floor office space…Next Monday, 600 employees from advertising firm Arnold Worldwide and its sister agency Havas Media will move into about 125,000 square feet of the building, at the corner of Washington and Summer streets.

More information on the Burnham Building’s prospective tenants are available on the BBJ’s website.

0 Boston’s Highest-Valued Commercial Real Estate, According to Uncle Sam

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

We all look up and see new office towers in Boston and an abundance of high-priced commercial real-estate, but what are they taxed for all of that luxurious space? According to the BBJ, “the city’s commercial tax rate is $31.18 per $1,000 of assessed value, down from $31.96 last year. For fiscal year 2014, which ended June 30, the city collected $1.1 billion in commercial tax levies. The assessed value of a property does not always reflect the actual value since the data is lagging. For example, One Beacon, the 34-story tower at the edge of the Financial District, recently sold for $561.5 million, but is assessed at $341 million.”

A slide show exhibiting Boston highest-taxed buildings is available on the BBJ, here.

0 Full Block of East Cambridge Office Space Eyed

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Wil Catlin

East Cambridge lab space continues to be sought over by some heavyweights in the life sciences. The BBJ is reporting that “Bristol-Myers Squibb is on the hunt for up to 200,000 square feet of office and lab space in Cambridge, the latest major life sciences firm to crowd into one of the hottest commercial real estate markets in the country…the New York-based pharmaceutical giant, which already occupies 60,000 square feet of space in Waltham as well as 400,000 square feet in Devens, is targeting new research and administrative space in East Cambridge’s Kendall Square neighborhood, home to some of the biggest drug and technology developers in the world.”

Additional details are available on the Boston Business Journal

0 Kendall Square Office and Lab Space in High Demand

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Wil Catlin

office space on binney street in east cambridge

Credit: BBJ

East Cambridge is host to some of the best know pharma and tech companies. Lab space has become a very limited commodity and Amgen is in the hunt for 150k RSF. According to CoStar the lab vacancy rate among the 17 buildings is 7.1 percent on a direct basis or 17.3 percent including sublets.

The BBJ puts the competitive Kendall Square real estate market in perspective:

The East Cambridge office and research market includes only 6.4 million square feet — meaning…three deals alone could lock up about 10 percent of the neighborhood’s entire inventory when all is said and done. The activity, along with strong leasing among major information-technology players, is fueling a pricing surge in East Cambridge that has seen average annual rents surpass $58 per square foot, by far the highest in the region and among the highest for any neighborhood in the country, according to market data provided by Cassidy Turley in Boston.

The full article is available on the Boston Business Journal, here.