0 Hancock Tower Remains Largely Unoccupied

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Globe

New England’s tallest building has space for you. The tower has approximately 450,000 square feet available for lease.

From the Boston Globe:

About one-fourth of the space in 200 Clarendon — or what most of us still call the John Hancock Tower — is sitting vacant after leases expired and tenants such as John Hancock moved to new digs. Landlord Boston Properties Inc. acknowledged Wednesday that efforts to fill it have been going “a little bit slow.”

Rents at the top of the tower run $70 to $80 per square foot — among the priciest in town. Boston Properties has given no sign it plans to offer discounts to fill 450,000 vacant square feet. Still, the slowdown reflects a bit of a softening at the very top of Boston’s market. Real estate brokers say law firms, financiers, and others who seek trophy office space are pushing back against building owners who want to hike rents.

You can read the full Globe article, here.

0 Boston Towers Still Short of Manhattan’s Scale

Posted on June 15, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: The Real Reporter

Boston won’t be scaling up to the development heights of projects underway in NYC. Boston’s newest tower comes in at nearly half the height of New York’s Nordstrom Tower.

From The Real Reporter:

When comparing to New York’s major projects under development, Boston comes up very short with Millennium Tower as its tallest, versus Nordstrom Tower, by more than double its size. Nordstrom Tower (when complete) is set to be crowned the World’s tallest, towering in at 1,775 Feet, while Millennium will top off at 685 feet.

0 Real Estate Developments Planned for Boston Train Stations

Posted on May 6, 2016 by Wil Catlin

proposed developments at Boston train stations

Credit: Boston Globe

Train and towers will be the combination for three large-scale projects at prime Boston locations, including South Station, Back Bay Station and North Station.

Brief excerpts on each impending Boston train station development from the Boston Globe:

North Station
Boston Properties and Delaware North have already begun construction at North Station. That project will eventually include a 38-story residential tower, two shorter buildings, and a massive retail complex at the long-empty site of the old Boston Garden on Causeway Street.

Back Bay Station
Across town, Boston Properties recently unveiled an ambitious vision to remake Back Bay Station and a neighboring parking garage as the base of a trio of buildings that would join the Back Bay and the South End.

South Station
And at South Station, the Houston developer Hines is attempting to kickstart long-stalled plans to build what would be among the tallest buildings in the city.

According to the Boston Globe article, “all three projects are complex, in terms of engineering and economics. But for the cash-strapped Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, they bring deep-pocketed partners who could help pay for needed transit improvements…In return, the developers would get access to some of the best locations in a crowded city with a growing population, where getting around can be a challenge.”

0 Boston Office Tower Construction Surging

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Banker&Tradesman

They all won’t happen in this cycle, but it will be interesting to watch the Boston skyline evolve as projects come out of the ground.

From Banker & Tradesman:

Three office towers totaling 113 stories and nearly 2.5 million square feet, already bearing the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s stamp of approval, are to be built near the MBTA’s Haymarket, North and South stations.

The transit tower trend ratchets up with Boston Properties’ latest vision of a 1.3-million-square-foot development at Back Bay station, including a 26-story office tower. And the BRA is getting into the high-rise act as it seeks an “iconic” redevelopment up to 700 feet for its defunct Financial District garage at 115 Federal St.

0 One Dalton Street Poised to Become NE’s Tallest Residential Building

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Magazine

If living in the tallest residential building in New England is you dream, 1 Dalton Street should be on your list.

One Dalton, by the numbers:

740 feet: Height of One Dalton, the tallest residential building in New England.
790 feet: Height of 200 Clarendon (the Hancock Tower), the tallest building in New England.
61: Number of stories, including a private restaurant and bar on the 50th floor.
360°: Panorama from Boston Harbor to the Cape at certain residences.
$5.5 million: Price of a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom residence on the 42nd floor.

From Boston Magazine:

Daltonians will enjoy five-star amenities that would make a Back Bay brownstone dweller swoon. Want a martini at 3 a.m.? A bartender from the 50th-floor private restaurant will oblige. Longing for the links? Visit the golf simulation room. There’s also a private theater, spa, salon, and health club—plus a 24-hour valet, laundry services, and housekeeping.

At home, residents can take in unobstructed views of the city from floor-to-ceiling glass walls. Many units have private balconies; all have fireplaces. One-bedrooms start at 900 square feet, and four- bedrooms start at 4,000 square feet, with an average expected cost of about $6 million.

Additional information is available on Boston Magazine.

0 Back Bay Station Eyed for 1.4M Sq Ft. Mixed-use Development

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Wil Catlin

165 Dartmouth Street retail space in Boston

Credit: Zillow

Back Bay Station is poised to become a destination location according to proposed plans by Boston Properties.

A recent BBJ article indicates the 1.4-million-square-foot mixed-use development is planned just above Back Bay Station and an adjacent parking garage at 165 Dartmouth St.

From the Boston Business Journal report:

“Boston Properties will invest significant capital into the 1970s-era garage and the station, resulting in a transit-oriented development which will integrate the project, the garage and the station into the Back Bay and surrounding neighborhoods.”

You can read more on the Boston Business Journal.

0 Dartmouth Street Office Building in Back Bay Nets $849 per Sq. Ft.

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

$849 per square foot was the trade price of 131 Dartmouth Street in Boston’s Back Bay.

According to the BBJ, “Boston-based real estate investment firm TA Associates Realty is set to acquire 131 Dartmouth St. in Boston’s Back Bay for $315 million…[offering] a long building with large floor plates spanning 371,000 square feet, with a below-grade parking deck at an enviable 2-per-1,000 square feet parking spot ratio. The 12-story building is adjacent to Back Bay Station and located across Dartmouth Street from retail center Copley Place.”

There are 11 Class A office buildings in Boston with floorplates greater than 50,000 square feet, 131 Dartmouth is the 8th largest with 55,363 square foot floorplates:

Building Address	Submarket Name	City	Year Built	Number Of Stories	Rentable Building Area	Typical Floor Size
200 Seaport Blvd	Seaport	Boston	1920	3	804,000.00	268,000.00
401 Park Dr	Brighton/Allston/Fenway	Boston	1928	14	950,000.00	98,573.00
480 William F McClellan Hwy	Charlestown/East Boston	Boston	2006	4	140,000.00	85,091.00
24 New Chardon St	North Station/Beacon Hill	Boston	2000	4	295,318.00	73,829.00
245 Summer St	Financial District	Boston	1974	14	891,814.00	63,701.00
501 Boylston St	Back Bay	Boston	1940	10	607,685.00	60,768.00
197 Clarendon St	Back Bay	Boston	1922	8	448,796.00	56,000.00
131 Dartmouth St	Back Bay	Boston	2002	11	371,016.00	55,363.00
1 Boston Medical Center Pl	South End	Boston	1980		228,257.00	55,000.00
1622-1636 Tremont St	Roxbury/Dorchester	Boston	2003	4	193,000.00	53,404.00
222 Berkeley St	Back Bay	Boston	1991	22	524,195.00	51,655.00

0 Former Hancock Tower Mortgage gets Paid Off

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Banker and Tradesman

Refinance is a hot topic for homeowners and office tower owners. Boston Properties is addressing all their debt that matures in the next two years.

From Banker&Tradesman:

Boston Properties has spent $667.4 million to retire the mortgage on 200 Clarendon in Boston, the 62-story Back Bay landmark previously known as the Hancock Tower…The loan had an outstanding principal balance of $640.5 million at a 5.68 percent fixed rate and was scheduled to mature in January 2017, according to a press release. Boston Properties paid $667.4 million to buy U.S. government securities that will generate cash flow to pay off the loan in October 2016, the company said. The mortgage and liens on the property have been extinguished, Boston Properties said…Boston Properties’ strategy is to pay off or refinance debt that matures in the next two years at above-market rates.

Related Office Space for Lease
Back Bay office space for lease

0 Boston to Limit Office Tower Signs

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Wil Catlin

office building of PwC in downtown Boston

Credit: Boston Globe

To get you companies name in lights on a building in Boston will now be a formalized policy according to the BRA. Personally I am a fan of fewer signs rather than seeing our rooftops littered with every brand that occupies our city.

According to a Boston Globe article, “The Boston Redevelopment Authority is working on a new sign policy, one that would formalize by early next year the agency’s often-informal approach, just as Boston’s building boom could bring another round of requests for prominent corporate signage.”

0 Back Bay Office Tower Approved by BRA

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Globe

The BRA has given the green light for 625,000 square foot towner at 380 Stuart Street.

Banker&Tradesman reports, “the Boston Development Authority (BRA) board of directors approved four development projects totaling approximately $374.7 million at a recent meeting…John Hancock received approval to construct a new $350 million, 26-story office tower in Back Bay that will include a public lobby with restaurant and retail space, a roof deck and four levels of underground parking. The 625,000-square-foot tower on 380 Stuart St. will be home to a new signature office building for the company. The $350 million dollar project is expected to create 454 construction jobs.”

You can read more about the Back Bay development projects on B&T’s website, here.