0 Can the Supply of Office Space in Boston Keep up with Demand?

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Wil Catlin

office buildings in boston on the waterfront

Credit: Banker&Tradesman

The Boston market will continue to grow through 2018. How will this affect office pricing in the years to come?

“The challenge you have in the city of Boston is: do we create too much supply and get to a point where we’re not seeing rent growth?” said Mitchell Roschelle, PwC’s national practice head of real estate advisory. “We heard this quarter in the survey a little bit of concern on the part of some investors about the new supply to the market. How that supply performs is going to dictate whether we see investors flooding the market with capital.”

The tenant retention rate was 68 percent in the first quarter with landlords offering an average of five months of free rent, according to the survey. Cap rates averaged 5.7 percent in the Boston central business district and 7.2 percent in the suburbs. Boston is one of 32 U.S. office markets expected to remain in expansion phase in 2015, the PwC report said, with employment generating demand for office space outpacing new supply…San Francisco, which shares many of Boston’s market characteristics, is expected to contract in 2015 and enter a recession mode with negative rental growth in 2017.

0 News Office and Retail Space Added to Fort Point Project

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Wil Catlin

22 Boston Wharf Rd.
(Click to view property details)

More new office space and retail is on the drawing board from Berkeley Investments at 22 Boston Wharf Road.

According to the Boston Business Journal, “Berkeley Investments has plans to add two office floors atop the Stillings Street parking garage….[along with proposing] street-level retail to Boston Wharf Road, which is a relatively short connecting road between Congress Street and Seaport Boulevard, as well as additional windows along the side of the building that abuts the Q Street park.”

The BBJ’s overview of the Fort Point project also notes, “the 241,124-square-foot property has an assessed value of $26.435 million this fiscal year, according to the city assessor. Berkeley acquired it in 2004 as part of a $97.05 million acquisition of a swath of Fort Point properties from Boston Wharf Co., a Suffolk County deed shows.”

The full BBJ article is available on its website, here.

0 Designers Wanted for City Hall Project

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Herald

Mayor Walsh wants your creative ideas for City Hall. Let’s see what some of our creative thinkers will come up with.

From the Boston Herald:

Walsh announced plans to “re-envision” the plaza to make it a more inviting and attractive civic space for residents and visitors during this year’s State of the City address in January…The master plan will identify areas for improvements at City Hall and the plaza, including possible public-private ventures, historic considerations and approaches for reuse, according to the solicitation issued by the city’s Public Facilities Department. It will look at existing conditions, including land use and zoning, and develop detailed cost estimates for the recommended work and programming.

“(The) vendor will coordinate with city representatives, other stake holders and (a) community advisory council on all aspects of project,” the advertisement states. “(The) scope of work will include a visioning exercise, identifying goals and objectives, best practices for municipal services and civic spaces as they relate to Boston City Hall and the plaza.”

0 Tech Startup Progresses Architectural Renderings

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Wil Catlin

iphone app for architects and real estate developers

Credit: BBJ

What will it look like? That’s the question so many property owners and developers face when first envisioning a renovation, and thanks to Terrence Masson of Building Conversation, we will soon be able to get a much clearer idea. The company will allow architects and others to visualized a proposed building within the context of its surroundings.

“It does that through the camera of an iPad or iPhone which acts as a “window,” on top of which architectural design proposals are overlaid. This technology is known as augmented reality, which offers users a live view of a real-world environment combined with elements that are computer-generated,” according to a Bizjournals.com posting.

“In effect, you get to see and walk around a full-scale hologram of the proposed architecture through the iPad,” said Building Conversation’s CEO Terrence Masson, who founded the company with George Thrush, the director of the School of Architecture at Northeastern University…Masson started working on the technology as part of a Capstone project at Northeastern about three years ago.

You can read the full article on BizJournals.

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 Boston Office Forecast: Meaningful Moves Ahead in Financial Sector

Posted on June 2, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Boston financial district office buildings

Credit: B&T

The Boston office market has big movers that need to make some real estate decisions. The market continues to tighten and blocks of 100,000 square feet and above are harder to find.

From Banker and Tradesman:

Banks continue to move employees into smaller workspaces, with the industry average now 150 square feet per employee, down from 225 square feet in 2009…many banks are [also] choosing to relocate offices. Only 25 percent of the financial services office deals tracked by JLL in 2014 were lease renewals, while 46 percent were relocations.

That trend is likely to continue in Boston, with three major financial institutions responsible for 33 percent of the total active requirements in the market. But the result likely will be a net decrease in occupied space.

Putnam Investments and Wells Fargo are in the market for 280,000 and 220,000 square feet, respectively, while BNY Mellon is seeking to downsize to 350,000 square feet. And available build-to-suit parcels in the Seaport District provide competition to existing office towers in the Financial District.

0 Boston Landing Station Has Official Groundbreaking

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Boston newest commuter rail station groundbreaking occurred today. Metro West commuters can add another stop to the local train service starting in the fall of 2016.

Credit: ArchPaper.com

Residing on the MBTA’s Framingham/Worcester Line, B&T notes “the Boston Landing station is projected to cost between $14 million and $16 million and is funded by New Balance, which also funded the $500-million mixed-use complex in Brighton anchored by the 250,000-square-foot New Balance headquarters, near the station…The Warrior Ice Arena, the new practice facility for the Boston Bruins at Station Landing, will be completed in September 2016. The development will also include 80,000 square feet of retail space, a 175-room boutique hotel, housing and an athletic facility. It has approvals for an additional 450,000 square feet in office space.”

You can read the full article on Banker & Tradesman, here.

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 Boston Planning Effort Eyes 2030

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Globe

Boston will be 400 years old in 2030 and Mayor Walsh in starting to plan now for the event. Well, not cake, but working on a city wide master plan. The last time this was addressed was on this scale was 1965 that launched development like Faneuil Hall, Government Center and highway infrastructure.

From the Globe’s website:

“With cranes dotting the skyline and the city in the midst of an unparalleled building boom, Mayor Martin J. Walsh has launched Boston’s first citywide planning effort in a half-century. The two-year initiative, Walsh said, will go beyond a technical assessment of zoning and land use and will encapsulate residents’ aspirations for what the city should become by 2030…Over the next two years, city officials hope to work with residents to tackle contentious topics such as urban density and parking, public transportation, and affordable housing. They anticipate discussion about art and schools and entertainment.”

0 Belkin Pushes for Winthrop Square Tower

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Globe

Belkin is one of eight developers chasing the development opportunity at the Winthrop Square parking garage site. His plan is after a 24/7 model that incorporates a live, work play them that embraces the “Café Culture” of today.

From the Boston Globe:

At the centerpiece of Belkin’s 740-foot office and residential tower is an innovation center, one designed for entrepreneurs and those who aspire to be one. The description itself may be eye-glazing or eye-rolling at a time when everyone claims to be innovative, but to hear Belkin explain it, you feel like he’s onto something big. It’s an idea that could go a long way to break down the walls that divide our business community, ones that keep Kendall Square and Innovation District types from mingling with those in the Financial District.