0 Law firm to move out of One Post Office Square, citing renovation work

The biggest isn’t always the best.  Fortunately, Boston is chock-full of great work space. What strategies are you solving for & how can we help?

Law firm to move out of One Post Office Square, citing renovation work

One Post Office Square in Boston.
W. MARC BERNSAU

By   – Law and Money Reporter, Boston Business Journal 

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP plans to move its Boston office to One Financial Center next year, in part to avoid the disruption caused by construction in its current home at One Post Office Square, according to its local managing partner.

The South Carolina-based law firm is taking approximately 43,000 square feet on the 35th and 36th floors of One Financial, the office tower across Atlantic Avenue from South Station, said Peter Haley, the firm’s leader in Boston.

It’s about the same amount of space that it currently occupies at One Post Office Square, where it’s been for most of the decade-plus it’s been in the Boston market. But the Post Office Square building is undergoing a major renovation, including a new-look glass exterior, a large-scale interior makeover, and a significant expansion of rentable space. The project is being co-developed by JLL and Anchorline Partners.

According to Haley, had Nelson Mullins stayed in Post Office Square, it would have needed to move at least once, and perhaps twice, within the building over the short term to accommodate the makeover. The firm’s leaders were wary of that level of disruption. JLL “was great” about trying to find a solution, but the firm “couldn’t quite find something that was right for us,” Haley said.

Nelson Mullins expects to move into One Financial in 2020, potentially in August. Haley anticipates the new space will have about 65 offices, with a more efficient, glass-filled floor plan compared to its current location.

The law firm’s local headcount has changed significantly in recent years. In early 2015, it had 60 attorneys in Boston, but by the next year that figure had dropped to 35 after teams of attorneys left for K&L Gates LLP and LeClairRyan PC.

Since then, however, Haley and the firm’s leadership have been aggressive about wooing partners from other Boston law offices. Its local headcount is back up to 53, according to Haley. The new recruits hail from a variety of firms and practice areas: This year alone, its additions include intellectual property attorneys from Pepper Hamilton LLP and Mintz and a litigator from State Street Corp.

“We’ve had a nice ability to attract lawyers from around the city,” Haley said.

That level of growth is reflected in the firm’s recent financials. In 2014, its $298 million in revenue put it outside the 100 highest-grossing law firms in the U.S., according to American Lawyer Media data. In 2018, it grossed more than $400 million across its more than 20 offices, earning it a ranking as No. 87 in the country.

The new address and new names aren’t the only changes coming to Nelson Mullins. Later this month, Haley is stepping down as office managing partner in favor of his colleague, Brian Moore. Haley has been the office’s leader since 2013 and felt a change in leadership would be good for the future of the firm. He plans to return to his practice full-time, although he will hold onto some managerial responsibilities at the firmwide level.

“The turnover’s very helpful in terms of developing and building leadership within the office,” he said. “Just having one person staying there for 10 or 15 years, I think you miss out on opportunities to build future leaders.”

0 Oxford kicks off plans for first Boston tower

Oxford kicks off plans for first Boston tower

Oxford Properties has kicked off development review, one of the first steps in the city’s approval process, for its first ground-up tower in Boston, a 24-story office on the edge of Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood that will span 625,000 square feet when complete.

Oxford is the real-estate arm of Canadian pension fund OMERS, and has more than two dozen new development projects in the work worldwide. The tower at 125 Lincoln would be Oxford’s first new construction in Boston, outside of its redevelopment work at 500 Boylston/222 Berkeley, 125 Summer St. and other offices.

Mark McGowan, Oxford’s vice president and head of development in Boston, said the company has not yet determined whether to wait for a tenant to lease space prior to construction, or to build on a speculative basis.

Oxford bought the existing five-story property at 125 Lincoln St. in 2017 for $40 million. The property has some office and above-ground parking, but its ground floor houses both C-Mart Supermarket and Hei La Moon — a grocery store and restaurant that are culturally significant to Boston’s Asian community. McGowan said Oxford recognizes that importance.

“Because those are cultural institutions, we’re really focused on making sure whether there’s a place for them back in the building or a great relocation option. We’re serious about that,” McGowan said in an interview. “For us as a long-term owner and operator, an important piece of the project is making sure that they are all treated well, and we can figure out what the best long-term place for them is. We’re super sensitive to that.”

0 Empty store space in Downtown Crossing may become offices

Does the Amazon effect play into retail vacancy in Boston?  We, in short yes.  How we shop and what we shop for online has changed and will continue to do so.  Retail is still vibrant and strong, but not all retail spaces are created equal.  Some historical retails spaces are better suited for office which in part has to do their size and proximity to public transit.

An example of this transformation is the Cambridge Side Galleria Mall in the East Cambridge.  The red hot Kendal office and lab market will continue to gobble up under performing assets.

An empty storefront near 560 Washington St.

By Tim Logan GLOBE STAFF  APRIL 12, 2019

One of the biggest retail spaces in Downtown Crossing may soon become home to offices.

The Boston Planning & Development Agency on Thursday approved plans by the owner of Lafayette City Center to convert much of its long-empty ground floor into office space, perhaps to house the state agency that handles workers’ compensation claims.

The move by veteran Boston developers The Abbey Group highlights the soft market for large-format retailers as they face mounting online competition. The change also has something to do with the particular quirks of the building, which was built in the 1980s as the inward-facing Lafayette Place Mall before being repositioned as storefronts with office space above.

The proposed change also is raising concerns in some quarters about a block and a half of Washington Street in the busy shopping district being converted to office space.

Much of the building’s ground floor — about 75,000 square feet — has been empty for at least 15 years. The last sizable tenant, an Eddie Bauer outlet store, closed in early 2016. Abbey and its brokers have struggled to fill the space. Among other challenges, the first floor is as much as 7 feet higher than street level in places — a design quirk of the old indoor mall and its underground garage.

“We think of ourselves as creative developers who apply innovative thinking to problems like this,” Abbey chief operating officer David Epstein said. “It simply isn’t feasible” to use the space for retail, he said.

 

But Abbey has leased more than 500,000 square feet of office space on the floors above street level, mostly to tech companies. When the state began looking for 33,700 square feet to house its Division of Industrial Accidents — which needs to move out of the Government Center Garage ahead of a redevelopment there — Abbey offered up the ground floor.

A spokesman for the state’s real estate agency said it received five proposals for the office, including Lafayette Center. A final decision has not been made, he said.

Workers’ compensation courtrooms may not be the sort of retail and restaurant Downtown Crossing is known for, but it fits with other legal offices around the neighborhood, said Rosemarie Sansone, president of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District.

“This place has been empty for 20 years,” she said. “They found an unusual and interesting use for it. This is all good.”

Still, the shift comes as several key locations sit empty along Washington Street, from Lafayette Center to the long-shuttered Barnes & Noble (which is now being renovated by a new owner) to a cluster of empty storefronts at Washington and Bromfield streets that have been largely dark since plans to build a skyscraper there stalled in 2016.

Sansone acknowledged the empty buildings but also noted that several restaurants and stores have opened in and around Downtown Crossing in recent years. Building owners and the BID, she said, are aiming to bring in more retailers to cater to residents and workers who fill nearby office towers, including a day care center, pet stores, and more home goods stores. She also said Trader Joe’s is considering opening a grocery store in the neighborhood, though a Trader Joe’s spokeswoman would not confirm that.

 

Some landlords on Washington Street, Sansone said, are being patient, waiting for the right tenant.

“There have been some deliberate attempts to make sure that whatever comes is going to be successful, that it’s what people want,” she said.

One BPDA board member Thursday asked Epstein about the wisdom of leaving retail space like Lafayette Center vacant for years, especially given the effect on foot traffic for neighboring businesses.

“It’s a form of job destruction,” Carol Downs said. “I don’t really understand why this space was let to stay empty for so long.”

Epstein said the market has shifted away from the larger-format retailers it originally envisioned would lease at Lafayette City Center, and the technical challenges of opening in the building were too great for smaller stores. Filling two-thirds of the long empty storefront with office workers will bring foot traffic and, he hopes, will make it easier to rent the rest of the vacant space.

“We’re excited about the prospect,” Epstein said.

Tim Logan can be reached at tim.logan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @bytimlogan.

0 Does Boston’s Financial District Office Market have a Bright Future?

Boston's financial district office buildings fill the skyline

Image Credit: fineartamerica.com

Yes, the Financial District can rest assured it will live to lease more space. Remember, this is the largest concentration of office space north of New York City, combined with great access via water shuttle, commuter rail, T, bus or car. Change is inevitable, however, and the Financial District landlords will need to continue with capital upgrades and tenant amenities to meet what today’s TAMI tenants and traditional tenants are seeking.

Banker and Tradesman notes, “the booming tech market has provided a lifeline of sorts, with a range of companies from established firms to startups decamping from more expensive space in Cambridge and its environs to the more budget-friendly lower floors of the Financial District’s tall timber, almost all of it built in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.”

Related Office Space Listings
Office space for lease in Boston Financial District

0 Class B Office Space in Downtown Crossing Could Net $50M

Financial district boston office building

Credit: BBJ

Class B office space at 258-262 Washington St. and 85 Devonshire St. in Downtown Crossing could fetch in excess of $525 PSF. The Class B office market in the Financial District has seen strong rent growth over the last 36 months with prices ranging from the upper $30’s to the upper $40’s PSF.

From the Boston Business Journal:

The buildings together encompass about 92,000 square feet and span the stretch of Water Street between Washington and Devonshire streets near the State Street MBTA stop…Boston-based real estate investment and development firm KS Partners owns the property and has invested more than $5 million in the past three years to help rejuvenate it.

Marketing materials obtained by the Business Journal indicate that the the Washington and Devonshire property is “one of the last Downtown Class B repositioning opportunities” that is “an opportunity to capture momentum” for retail repositioning along Washington Street. The stretch of Washington Street fronts the Freedom Trail and is currently leased by a Subway and a Vitamin Shoppe.

0 125 Summer St. Poised for ‘Big Upgrade’

Summer Street commercial real estate in Boston

Credit: BBJ

The Boston office market is seeing strong rent growth in all classes and in all CBD submarkets. Landlords continue to try to differentiate their buildings by offering amenities and upgrades. Oxford is making a big splash in this space with lobby upgrade at 125 Summer Street in the Financial District.

According to the BBJ, Oxford is planning “a $10 million project to upgrade the building’s ground floor and lobby and reposition the entrance of the building to the confluence of Summer and High streets. The renovation was designed by ADD Inc., now with Stantec, while Turner Construction Co. is the general contractor…Oxford [recently] teased the renovation by erecting a two-story kelly green and navy blue banner at the site of what will become the entrance to 125 Summer St. with an all-caps proclamation: “Something big is coming.”

You can read the full article on the Boston Business Journal’s website.

Property Detail Page
125 Summer Street

0 Tech Companies Heading to Downtown Boston

downtown crossing offices

Credit: BBJ

Location, Location and Location.  The largest concentration of office space north of NYC is Boston’s Financial District and including in its size is easy access by commuter rail, T, Boat, bus and yes, car.

The tech audience seems most attracted to the proximity to the Red Line; with quick access to E. Cambridge and Kendall Square, and prices that are 10% – 20% less in comparable asset classes, the market’s appeal is strong.

According to the BBJ, “In the city’s post-recession economy, more than 2.1 million square feet of professional services, law firms and consultancies have vacated the traditional downtown neighborhood for a spiffier Innovation District address. But at the same time, some 1.8 million square feet of technology, advertising, media and information-based companies — also known as TAMI tenants — have flooded into downtown and the area around North Station.”

Additional information is available on the Boston Business Journal’s website, here.

Related Available Office Space
Boston financial District office space for lease

0 Eight Proposals Compete for Winthrop Square in Boston

proposed buildings in Winthrop Square in Boston's financial district

Credit: Curbed Boston

According to Curbed, plans to plunk one of Boston’s biggest real estate developments in living memory on the squat Winthrop Square Garage took a big step forward on Wednesday, with the city transferring garage ownership to the Boston Redevelopment Authority. The agency will now set about in earnest choosing a developer for the project” from the following eight proposals – click through to Curbed Boston to read more about each submission:

  • Millennium Partners
  • Thomas O’Brien
  • Accordia Partners
  • Hudson Group North America
  • Trinity Acquisitions
  • The Fallon Co.
  • Steven Belkin of Trans National Properties
  • Lincoln Property Co.

0 Boston Global Investors Moves Offices to Seaport

office building at 1 Post office square in Boston

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Putting their money where their mouth is, Boston Global Investors is moving to the Seaport.  They will be moving to Block H along Seaport Boulevard once construction is complete on their 6,00 square foot parcel.

From the BBJ:

Boston Global Investors will move its headquarters from its current office at 1 Post Office Square in Boston’s Financial District to the Seaport…The firm last week spent $2.21 million to buy a 6,000-square-foot parcel at Seaport Square’s Block H, located along Seaport Boulevard…a four-story office is under construction at the site, and Hynes said Boston Global Investors will relocate there when construction is finished.

With the final parcels trading hands last week, Seaport Square’s 23 acres have officially sold for $665.2 million since 2011. The parcels were originally acquired in 2006, in a deal spearheaded by Hynes with financing from Morgan Stanley, for $203.75 million.

0 Microsol Announces Expansion, Move to Boston Financial District

Microsol logoRyan Hurd of Boston Realty Advisors assisted Microsol with their Boston expansion.

From PR Newswire:

Microsol Resources Corporation, an Autodesk Platinum Partner and a recognized leader in CAD and BIM Solutions serving the architectural, engineering and construction industries, is pleased to announce the move of its Boston office to a new location in the heart of the Financial District. Located on the tenth floor of 2 Oliver Street, the new facility features a state-of-the-art training center, capable of handling classes of up to 10 students.

“With the expansion and move to our new office at 2 Oliver Street we will be able to increase our ability to support the growing number of clients we have, not just in Boston and the Boston Metro area, but also in New England in general,” said Emilio Krausz, President, Microsol Resources. “We are now just a short walk away from the offices of many of our current and future clients and from South Station.”