0 Blackstone Continues to Sell Boston Holdings

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Office building at 125 Summer Street (click for details)

Our city is on the move, and along with it, some noteworthy addresses. 100 High Street and 125 Summer Street are the latest towers to announce that they are under agreement to be sold by Equity Office, Blackstone. The sale is expected to close in September.

The BBJ, reporting on Blackstone’s portfolio activity, notes “the private equity firm, which acquired its Greater Boston property portfolio in 2007 when it bought Equity Office Properties Trust for $39 billion, has reached an agreement to sell five office properties in Greater Boston to a Canadian real estate investment firm. The deal is the latest move by New York-based Blackstone as it disposes of the local real estate portfolio it bought before the financial crisis.”

More information is available on the Boston Business Journal’s coverage, here.

0 Boston Office Demand Remains Strong

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: NAIOP

Our own Chris Sower participated in a panel discussion this morning in the Seaport for NAIOP. Demand showed little sign of letting up for office space in Boston through 2015. Tenant-in-the-market demand is up nearly 70 percent from 2012.

From Banker and Trandesman:

Greater Boston’s busy development scene shows little sign of slackening through 2015 with strong demand for commercial and multifamily properties, analysts predicted at an industry event Thursday. Tenants are in the market for 4.4 million square feet of office space in downtown Boston, an increase of 69 percent from 2012, said Rebecca Galeota, a senior vice president at Cassidy Turley. “The flight to urbanization only plays to the strengths of our city,” she said.

0 Marine Park’s Bronstein Center Targeted for Commercial Use

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

What does it take to convert a former munitions building to full commercial use?

Well, some history of the site according to Wikipedia. The Department of Defense purchases the site in 1920 and split it up between the Navy Annex and the South Boston Army Base. During World War II the site was used as a machine shop, power plant, barracks, dry dock warehouse.

Post World War II the annex was used to store ships and in 1074 the City purchased the site and it became the Boston Marine Industrial Park. As our city expand we need to accommodate more commercial use and less industrial use and Jamestown is looking for approvals to do so.

The Boston Business Journal reports, “last year, Jamestown Properties bought the Boston Design Center from Millennium Partners for $72.7 million and the adjacent Bronstein Center for $48 million. The 1.4-million-square-foot complex is located at 21, 23, and 25 Drydock Ave. at the far end of the Seaport District.”

Details on Marine Park and the potential commercial conversion, head over to the BBJ’s website.

0 Smart Parking Meters Coming to Boston

Posted on June 17, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Globe

Do you have a $10 roll of quarters in your car for the City of Boston parking meters? If not, you’re not alone. Boston’s new app would take the place of change and allow you to pay with your smart phone.

According to the Boston Globe, “the city’s Transportation Department is developing a smartphone application that would eliminate the scramble for cash, by using an iPhone, Android, or BlackBerry to pay for a metered parking slot. ‘Two things people have in their pockets: They have a credit card. And they have a cellphone,” interim Transportation Commissioner James Gillooly said. “We aspire to have everybody use a credit card or pay by phone.'”

Additional details on Boston’s smart parking initiative, jump over to the Boston Globe’s website.

0 212 Stuart Street in Bay Village: Demolition, then Condos

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Stuart street office and retail space in Boston's Bay Village

Credit: Boston Business Journal

What is the status of 212 Stuart Street? It is scheduled to be raised and a new 18-unit condominium building will take its place.

The Boston Business Journal is reporting that “the 10,000-square-foot brick building at 212 Stuart St. will be demolished, beginning today. In an email to its members, the neighborhood group said demolition work is expected to take place over the next eight weeks. The property’s owner, Boston’s Revere Hotel, notified the neighbors this week that it secured the necessary demolition permits from the city’s inspectional services department.”

More information is available on the demolition of 212 Stuart St, jump over to the BBJ’s website.

0 FinTech Program for Burgeoning Boston Financial Services Startups

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Entrepreneurs: do you have an idea focused on the Financial Services sector? Look no further, Fidelity and Amazon would like to help back fledgling Boston startups through a new program, tagged the Fintech Sandbox.

A Boston Globe editorial highlights the target:

“Fintech entrepreneurs have a unique problem, which is the high cost of data to help them build applications,” said David Jegen, managing director of Devonshire Investors, the private investment arm of the Johnson family, which controls Fidelity. “They raise $2 million of venture capital funding, and then spend $500,000 of it buying market data from Bloomberg or Thomson Reuters. Or they show up to customers, who say, ‘Nice app, but it hasn’t been tested on robust data sets.’ We think that is a problem we can help solve.”

0 Downtown Crossing Office Building May Become Boston Landmark

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Downtown Crossing office space on Washington Street in Boston

Credit: Boston Business Journal

As I tour the Financial District with clients many ask about this building located and 276-278 Washington Street or 7 Water Street which is bordered by Washington, Water and Devonshire Street. According to public record, the ownership is a Fidelity Company.

The Boston Business Journal reports that in order for the 9-story building at 276-278 Washington St. to become a historic landmark, “the process in Boston can take up to a year. The designation procedure is initiated by the submission of a petition, which is followed by a preliminary hearing before the commission, the preparation of a study report on the proposed landmark, and another public hearing. To be designated, a property must receive a two-thirds majority vote from the commission and be confirmed by the mayor and City Council. When a property is designated a landmark, any physical changes must be approved before they are undertaken.”

Additional details on the building are available in the full BBJ article, here.

0 UberBoat to Provide Limited Water Service in Boston

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Uber

Need a ride to the airport or a harbor island from the Financial District? Walk toward the waterfront at get within .25 mile of the water and open Uber. This is pilot program only from June 4th to June 15th.

Boston Magazine notes that “in order to access the UberBOAT option, users have to be within a quarter-mile of the harbor. When they are close enough, the app will then display an UberBOAT icon on the screen. From there, people can simply “place a pin” on a map , indicating where they want to be picked up near the docks, and hit the “Request” button. Soon after, a boat will appear. “Once your request has been accepted, the captain will give you a call to confirm your location and provide additional details on reaching the dock,” the company said.”

Jump over to Boston Magazine to read the complete article and to view an interactive map of the water taxi operation area.

0 Boston Micro Hotel Made to Fit Along Seaport Boulevard

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: The Boston Globe

What’s new coming to the Seaport? Micro rooms. Yes, soon you will be able to get a hotel room that is about half the standard size. The location is will be along Seaport Boulevard near the Barking Crab.

From The Boston Globe:

“John B. Hynes III is proposing to develop a Yotel, whose rooms — Yotel calls them “cabins” — have set a new benchmark for efficiency from London to New York to Amsterdam…The rooms in Boston would range between 160 and 200 square feet, Hynes said, or roughly half the sizeof traditional rooms at the nearby Westin Waterfront. The 307-room Yotel is to be built along Seaport Boulevard, across from the John Joseph Moakley US Courthouse.”

0 App for On-street Parking in Boston

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

How would you like to Uber a parking space? App is trying to make it happen. Not too sure the Massachusetts driver would be willing to wait for the next owner of the space to show up and claim it. If I don’t have the App and see the person getting into their car and pull up behind them the old fashioned way can I claim it?

The BBJ described the app as follows:

“Developed by former Harvard Graduate School of Design professor Kostas Terzidis, the app lets drivers with a coveted space name their own price for a space. Then a driver, using the app, can claim the space by clicking it on a map and paying for it within the app using a credit card or bitcoin. The driver seeking the space can anonymously message or call the driver who has the space and let them know they’d like it. They can also watch the driver approach the space on a map within the app, much like users of Uber can watch their ride arrive. The person who has the space would wait until the other driver arrives and then the space swap would take place.”