0 Two Office Buildings in Back Bay Listed for $1.5 billion

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Boylston Street commercial real estate Back Bay

Credit: Boston Globe

The Boston commercial real estate market continues northward with no signs of letting up. 222 Berkeley Street and 500 Boylston Street are set move in a record trade at over $1,150 per square foot.

From the Boston Globe:

The buildings total about 1.3 million square feet in size. A sale for $1.5 billion would put the price at nearly $1,150 per square foot, far higher than the selling prices of other commercial properties in Boston’s key business districts, which rarely top $700 per square foot…The Back Bay buildings are owned by a Blackstone subsidiary, Equity Office Properties, and share an underground parking garage. They are near the Public Garden, the Orange Line and commuter rail trains at Back Bay Station, and dozens of high-end retail shops.

0 Luke’s Lobster Opening in Back Bay

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Wil Catlin

A new food option is coming to Back Bay on Exeter Street. Look out Downtown, Back Bay has it: Luke’s Lobster!

From Bostinno:

Luke’s Lobster will be opening at 75 Exeter Street, at the base of the Avalon Communities. The new outpost will be a casual seafood shack – similar to its other locations in NYC, Philadelphia, DC, and Chicago. The menu will focus on fresh lobster, crab and shrimp rolls, along with a selection of chowders and bisques…The seafood shack is known for sourcing all of their lobster from Maine and, in addition to their affordable $16 lobster rolls, the restaurant also offers a tasty lobster grilled cheese sandwich for only $12.

0 Marine Industrial Park, Copley Place Developments Gain Approval

Posted on June 9, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Our city’s developers continue to expand available options for office, retail and housing. Locations range from:

·         Simon’s Copley Place in Back Bay
·         Skanska’s Parcel Q-1 in the Seaport
·         Residential project at 14 West Broadway in South Boston
·         Residential project on East 5th in South Boston
·         The Jewish Community Housing in Brighton

Credit: Boston Redevelopment Authority

The BBJ reports “the Boston Redevelopment Authority has granted approval to 177,845 square feet of development across the city, totaling $65.8 million in new development costs and including 129 residential units in South Boston and Brighton…In addition to the three new development projects it approved, the BRA authorized revisions to two projects, including the $500 million, 542-unit residential and retail expansion in Copley Place.”

We are in the midst of the largest transformation of our city since the ’70’s.

0 Is Boston an Architectural Eyesore?

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Office Building in Back Bay at 111 Huntington Ave.

No Boston isn’t ugly and as a matter of fact, it’s beautiful. Opinions are just that, opinions and each of us are allowed to express ours despite who it might offend.

Boston Magazine has a strong one, noting “the dirty little secret behind Boston’s building boom is that it’s profoundly banal—designed without any imagination, straight out of the box, built to please banks rather than people…Renderings of 30 Dalton show how its panel-and-glass motif will create a relentless gridded box of windows from floor to sky: Click, copy, and paste. A few weeks after 30 Dalton’s miniature arrived on the site, the backhoes arrived to carve a foundation out of what had been a parking lot. A few feet away, the old brownstones of St. Germain Street—the ghosts of Boston’s long-lost architectural ambitions—hunkered down in 19th-century resignation.”

We must, however, remind everyone that the office market today is vastly different from decades past. Today’s tenant wants floor to ceiling light with as many corners on each floor. 111 Huntington Avenue is one most sought after address’s in Back Bay with its efficient floor plates combined with abundant amenities.

The only space available is a sublease on the 5th floor, so from Boston Properties’ perspective, the building is fully leased.

0 Multiple Projects from Boston Properties Progressing

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Herald

Boston Properties is bullish on Boston with projects underway or proposed from Back Bay, Financial District and North Station.

· 888 Boylston has seen the crane arrive and has announced is major tenant Natixis Global Asset Management
· 100 Federal Street is looking to add more retail on the Congress Street side of the project

From the Boston Herald:

“In 2015, we estimate we could move approximately $1 billion in pre-development projects into our active development pipeline,” CEO Owen Thomas said. “Before launching any of these projects, we need to complete the entitlement and planning process and, in most cases, some level of pre-leasing.”

0 Epstein’s Instructive Strategy for Transforming Downtown Boston

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: bisnow

Bob Epstein can teach us a few things about remaking duds into destinations. Lafayette Center was that dud that wasn’t getting any airtime from prospective tenants, despite location, large floor plates and infrastructure.

“At Lafayette City Center, they also saw a property with ‘good bones and upside potential. It has high, 14-foot to 17-foot ceilings, expansive column spacing of 30 feet by 36 feet and big windows. As the downtown vacancy rate falls, rents are rising but Downtown Crossing is reasonably priced, Tom tells us. Its rents in the high $30s/SF to $40s/SF compare well to Back Bay rents in the $50s/SF and Cambridge hitting the $60s/SF. Downtown Crossing is still a value play. But back in 2002, Abbey Group saw that it—like Fenway in the ‘90s and Back Bay in the ‘70s—was undervalued,” according to a Bisnow editorial.

The full Bisnow article is available on its website.

0 Boston Commercial Real Estate Retrospective

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Boston office buildings line the skyline

Credit: The Boston Globe

The city of Boston that is home to a wide variety of college, universities, professional sports team, hospitals and companies is changing. We have created the Back Bay, built office tower and now adding more buildings to our skyline. No longer are the tower views home to companies, but residences.

The Boston Globe has put together a retrospective, “A new age for an old town”, tracing the Hub’s commercial transformation. The article notes the following:

Today, Boston Properties, one of the city’s most prolific builders, is developing a 17-story office building on the final parcel within the Prudential complex. Meanwhile, the area around the Pru is exploding with new projects and proposals for hotels and towering residential buildings.

“It’s absolutely extraordinary,” said Bob Richards, a partner at Transwestern RBJ. “What’s driving it is the top-tier labor talent in industries like technology and life sciences. The young people who work for those companies want to live in an urban environment.”

Not coincidentally, the city’s population is rising more rapidly than it has in decades. The total head count rose by nearly 30,000 people, to about 646,000, between 2010 and 2013, according to the US Census Bureau. That’s more population growth in three years than Boston experienced in the 1980s and ’90s combined.

0 Renovations on Boston Public Library Chronicled on BBJ

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Wil Catlin

The Boston Public Library on Boylston Street in Back Bay is changing. The McKim Building built in 1895 faces Copley Square and contains the library’s research collection. The Jonson Building which opened in 1972 is the area of renovation.

Renovated interior of Boston Public Library in Coply Sq Back Bay

Credit: BBJ

The $75.5 million project will be complete by summer 2016. A slideshow of the renovations is available on the Boston Business Journal’s website.

0 Hancock Tower Looks to Attract Boston Tech Companies

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Wil Catlin

JHT (John Hancock Tower) is no longer home to only large law firms and large financial services firms. Today JHT is chasing tech tenants that want Class A infrastructure and amenities with large floor plates. The low rise floors fit the bill and can be a great value play for both tenant and landlord. Boston Properties purchased the tower on 12/29/2010 for $930 million from Normandy Real Estate Partners.Some of the tenants include:

Bain Capital
CRA International
Oliver Wyman
Carat International
TA Associates
Berkshire Partners
Arclight Capital

From the Boston Globe:

“Frankly, the tech guys, where most of the demand in the market is, are not necessarily looking to go into a building that’s very corporate feeling,” Martel said. “These technology firms didn’t really care as much about the views. They liked the value, good clear [ceiling] heights, and efficiency.”

0 Boylston Street Filling with Consumer Tech Storefronts

Posted on April 1, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

Not only does the Boston Marathon run down Boylston Street, but now that is followed by every tech consumer. Boylston Street is home to the newly opened Verizon mega store at 745 Boylston Street. The next block over at 699 Boylston Street is home to the AT&T mega store. AT&T and Verizon followed the leader, Apple which opened at 815 Boylston Street and Microsoft which is in the Prudential complex at 800 Boylston Street. Need a gadget or some tech support? It can all be had on Boylston between 699 & 800 Boylston Street.

The BBJ summarizes the recent additions, noting “Verizon [is] opening up a superstore on Boylston Street in Boston’s Back Bay later this month. Now today, it’s AT&T that says it’s going to open a 9,000-square-foot store at 699 Boylston, not too far away from the Verizon superstore, which is at 745 Boylston…Both stores show how much Apple has changed the retail experience” in the Back Bay.

You can read more on the Boston Business Journal.

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