Category Archives: Boston Commercial Real Estate

0 Boston Office Vacancy Rates Drop to Lows of ’09

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Building at the intersection of 262 Washington Street and 85 Devonshire Street in BostonWe have seen the largest decline in vacancy rates in Boston since 2009, to just below 10 percent.

Banker & Tradesman breaks down a recent report from Colliers International, noting, “the first quarter represents the eighth consecutive quarter of positive absorption in the Boston market. The downtown submarket was the tightest space in the city, with a 12.7 percent vacancy rate at year-end. The Financial District was primarily responsible for the solid results with 278,000 square feet of positive absorption, followed by the Seaport at 125,000 square feet.”

The full article is posted on the Banker & Tradesman website.

0 Boston Office Market Reflects Recovery

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office building at 121 high street in BostonBoston is on the move and the migration of tenants downtown continues. Rents continue to rise while vacancy continues to drop; that signals a recovery. The next piece that is on the forefront is speculative construction, which usually appears when vacancy drops below 10 percent.

The World Property Channel, quoting figures from Jones Lang LaSalle, notes that “high employment in the high-tech sector and life sciences are the industry’s major drivers in the region’s recovery, growing at 9.8 percent and 5.0 percent year-over-year, respectively.”

Additional figures are available on the World Property Channel website.

Related Commercial Real Estate Listings
Boston Office Space for Lease

0 Office Rents in Boston On the Rise

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Commercial real estate construction in boston

Photo Credit: Boston Globe

As the recovery takes hold, office rents are rising accordingly across all submarkets in Boston’s Central Business District.

According to a Boston Globe editorial, “the Boston-area office market has almost fully recovered from the economic downturn, with companies filling up large chunks of space and driving a steady uptick in rents…the influx has pushed the vacancy rate below 10 percent for the first time since the end of 2009 — a threshold that often triggers larger rent hikes and even speculative construction activity.”

Additional details are available on the BostonGlobe.com..

 

0 Boston’s Small Businesses Leading the Recovery

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155 Seaport Boulevard office building in Boston's SeaportAfter just attending the Bisnow 2nd Annual State of the Seaport District it is very clear that small business are in fact leading the recovery. Dave Greaney, president of Synergy Investment, who’s company caters to these firms, has seen an impressive upswing in new tenants gravitating downtown and specifically to the Seaport/Innovation District. Rents have risen more than 50% in the last 24 months and are expected to continue to climb.

The Boston Globe reports, “From a bread maker in Andover to an auto parts maker in New Bedford, small businesses are reporting growing demand, increasing sales, and an improving outlook.”

More information on the Boston recovery is available on the Boston Globe website.

0 Palm Restaurant to Open in Boston’s Financial District

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rendering of the palm restaurant on the Boston greenway

Photo Credit: Zagat

International Place is going to offer a steakhouse destination along the greenway in the Financial District. Who would of thought when International Place was built in 1987 that there would be a Palm restaurant where the central artery once stood?

Zagat reports, “the restaurant will take up a portion of the lobby at One International Place, an office tower whose lobby is replete in granite and marble. The 320-seat restaurant will take over the area where corner windows at Oliver Street and J.F. Fitzgerald Surface Road overlook the Rose Kennedy Greenway.”

Additional details about the Palm in Boston’s Financial District can be found on Zagat’s blog.

Related Property Listings
Office Space for Rent in Boston’s Financial District

0 Boston Office Vacancies Dwindling

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Office building in government center, Boston, at 3 Center plazaIf you are out hunting for office space today you will get the benefit of paying more than your peers did a year earlier, combined with the privilege of having fewer options to choose from. What’s happened? The CBD of Boston is in the midst of a strong upswing across all submarkets with no sign of slowing down.

Statistics posted on the Boston Business Journal website note, “office vacancies dropped to 9.7 percent from January through March across the city’s eight submarkets, down from 12.4 percent for the same period in 2012. Citywide rents increased to $42.55 per square foot, compared to $41.68 a year ago, a two percent hike.”

The BBJ’s editorial on Boston’s first quarter market data includes additional market details.

0 Boston Construction Picking Up

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Construction in Boston on new office buildings

Photo Credit: W. Marc Bernsau, Boston Business Journal

The dirt is flying in Boston. Not in the political sense, I mean actual dirt. Construction workers, largely sidelined during our economic recovery, are now seeing a resurgence. The numbers being reported don’t surpass previous heights, but it’s a great sign of things to come.

“The construction sector added nearly 8,000 jobs in the state during the past two years, with significant job gains in 2011 and 2012. Those numbers, released this month, represent a big improvement over the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development’s previous estimate,” a Boston Business Journal article quotes.

Continue on to the BBJ online to read the full post.

0 New Construction Yields Jobs in Boston

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Two Cambridge Place office building from outsideJobs, Jobs and more Jobs. The construction industry is in the midst of a very strong rebound from recent years. As you drive around Boston, you’ll notice the skyline littered with construction cranes from the Seaport to Back Bay; that means the once soft construction industry is on a frantic pace to keep up with the supply of new office buildings and residential communities.

A Banker & Tradesman editorial examining the economic impact of the construction boom, indicates that it has “pushed general contractors and builders across the Greater Boston region to increase their ranks with project and assistant project managers, superintendents and business development professionals.”

B&T subscribers can read the complete article on the building surge.

Alternatively, you can jump over to BostonOfficeSpaces to view all available commercial real estate in Boston, or office listings in Cambridge.

0 Boston Office Market ‘Booming’

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Boston office spaceWill landlords in the city of Boston start construction projects without a tenant in hand? The market is significantly different than it was a few short years ago and the Seaport has evolved into a destination location.

A Bloomberg editorial paints a glowing portrait of the flourishing Boston office market: “Boston’s real estate market, often overshadowed by the skyscrapers of New York and government-fueled growth in Washington, is seeing a boom in construction as developers financed with cheap debt seek to profit from a growing workforce of educated young adults and strength in the technology and life-sciences industries. The office-vacancy rate is among the lowest of major U.S. markets and tenants are occupying new space at almost triple the national average.”

Follow the link to read the full Bloomberg report, or continue on to view available office space listings in Boston and Cambridge.

0 Boston Office Spaces: Rent and Construction Climbs in 2013

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Office building at 110 Chauncy St in BostonThe price per square foot for office space in Boston is headed up in all sub markets and in all building classes.  Last year many areas rebounded while others continued to lag behind. 2013 marks the change; with demand strong, rents will continue to rise.

A Boston Business Journal report on the 2013 market growth, referencing a Jones Lang LaSalle’s Spring Skyline Review, notes, “Boston is seeing favorable trends in demographics and exposure to growth sectors…The Hub’s downtown submarkets appear to be entering a new chapter in each of their respective history books with the Financial District seeing results in filling up the low-rise portions of towers, as well as a transformation into a true work-play-live submarket.”

For more information perspective on the national office market, read the BBJ’s Supply and demand to tip scales in 2013.

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Current office space available in Boston