0 Back Bay and North Station May Get New Office Towers

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: B&T

Boston Properties is moving forward with 2 major projects located at 2 transportation hubs. Back Bay Station is the proposed spot of a new tower development, while North Station will benefit from the same.

From Banker and Tradesman:

The real estate investment trust said this morning it has entered a joint venture to acquire the air rights for the 377,000-square-foot initial phase of the North Station redevelopment. It also has signed a 44-year extension on its lease for the Clarendon Street parking garage with the state Department of Transportation, part of a larger proposal to build two towers containing offices, residences and retail above Back Bay Station. As part of the agreement, Boston Properties will take over management of the renovated station, which serves the Orange Line subway and several commuter rail lines.

0 Back Bay Retail Development Boost Ahead

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Retail is getting a makeover in Back Bay. Boston Properties will making some major announcements as it pertains to their new building 888 Boylston Street and the neighboring retail spaces.

From Women’s Wear Daily:

The Shops at the Prudential Center are about to get a major overhaul complements of Boston Properties…Executives there declined to name any of the incoming tenants just yet, but vowed to identify the retailer that has been secured for a nearly 9,000-square-foot space in the mall in the next few months.

The Pru’s food atrium is [also] said to be getting a serious makeover and Boston Properties reportedly will build a grand-scale new building for office space, luxury condos and retail nearby at 888 Boylston Street near Gucci’s current location. As reported, the first Primark store will bow in Boston later this year at Downtown Crossing as part of the multi-million dollar Millenium Tower and Burnham Building development project. Millenium Partners plans to build a 60-story glass tower near where the original Filene’s once stood.

0 Rents Continue to Climb for Downtown Boston Office Tenants

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: B&T

The recent trades on the Class A and B will provide the fuel for increased rent growth for 2015 as new owners justify their investment. Rent concessions and tenant improvement dollars will move the opposite direction.

“Rents in Boston’s Downtown Crossing have risen from $25 to $35 per square foot in the last two years, with growing demand from tech tenants…for tenants looking for pockets of value, good deals remain in the low-rise floors of Financial District buildings, where vacancies remain in the mid-teens and rents average in the low $40 range,” according to a quote from Joseph Sciolla, managing principal at CresaPartners Boston on Banker&Tradesman.

You can read the full article on the B&T website.

0 Boston Office Vacancies Reach 14-year low

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: wbjournal

The Boston Office market continues to price upward while pushing vacancies to levels not seen since 2001.

WBjournal reported on a study conducted by Transwestern, a commercial real estate management firm, citing “in the fourth quarter, the region’s office market closed the year at a 12.8-percent vacancy rate. For the year, 3.6 million square feet of office space was absorbed, marking the area’s seventh consecutive quarter of positive absorption.”

The WBjournal offers an additional details on Boston’s vacancy rate.

0 Downtown Boston Office Market Expanding Steadily

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: B&T

Downtown Boston is the largest concentration North of New York City and is in the midst of strong rent growth across the Class A and B segments. Today’s technology and creative services companies are looking for easy access to public transportation combined with an open floor plan.

From Banker & Tradesman:

For the third straight year in 2014, the Greater Boston office market recorded more than 2 million square feet of positive absorption, in a steady expansion that boosted occupancy rates at properties ranging from suburban office parks to converted warehouses and downtown high-rises.

“There’s more office product than ever and it’s getting filled in a much more dense way than ever before,” said Brendan Carroll, vice president of research for Avison Young. “If you’re wondering why the T seems more packed, or why you can’t get a cab to take you across the (Fort Point) Channel, that seems to be the reason.”

0 Perspective on the Boston Real Estate Tax Increase

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Bostinno.Streetwise.co

What are your taxes going up to in Boston? 200 Clarendon Street, The John Hancock Tower, takes the prize with the largest bill at $20,204,640 or $11.51 per square foot. The building last traded 4 years ago for $930,000,000.

To provide some perspective (or piece of mind) on the impending tax hike, Bostinno.streetwise.co posted stats on six notable Boston buildings:

Highest Gross Tax 
• Address: John Hancock Tower, 200 Clarendon St.
• Gross tax: $20,204,640
• Land assessed value: $111,925,200
• Building assessed value: $536,074,800
• Total: $648,000,000
• Land sf.: 73,143
• Year built: 1976
• Year remodeled: 2012
• Gross area: 2,082,040
• Floors: 62
• Owner: BP Hancock LLC
• Zip code: 02116
Continue reading →

0 Alexandra Hotel in Boston’s South End Goes Up for Sale

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

The Church of Scientology of Boston has decided to sell — rather than renovate — the Alexander Hotel on the corner of Mass. Ave. and Washington Street in the South End. The asset was acquired in 2008 for $4.5 million and is no longer large enough to accommodate the church’s needs to in excess of 50K square feet.

A BBJ article notes “the property has not yet been listed for sale, but several developers have already been in touch with the church…A listing broker was not disclosed.”

You can read the Boston Business Journal article on its website.

0 Fenway Center Attracts new Partner

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Wil Catlin

The construction of Fenway Center in Boston over the Pike could be getting closer. Developer John Rosenthal is looking to partner up with Gerding Edlen to get the project in the ground.

rendering of Fenway office development in Boston MA

Credit: The Boston Globe

The development of “Fenway Center calls for the construction of five buildings on 4.5 acres of land and air rights over the Turnpike. The 1.3 million-square-foot complex would contain about 550 homes, 80,000 square feet of stores and restaurants, and 167,000 square feet of office space. Multiple garages, including one straddling the Turnpike, will contain space for 1,290 cars. A revamped Yawkey commuter rail station has already opened at the edge of the property, according to the Boston Globe.

More information on the Fenway Center project is available on the Boston Globe website, here. You can also read more general information on office space in Fenway on our submarket page.

0 Looking for Coworking Office Space in Back Bay?

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Wil Catlin

shared office space in Boston's back bay

Credit: The Metro

Not ready for prime time space, but ready to get out of the garage? The Back Bay submarket appeals to a wide variety of firms for a number of reasons. Access to transportation, an educated vast work force, and a large concentration of employers in a small area all contribute to this submarket’s popularity among Boston office space users.

In an interview with the Metro, Oficio co-founder and managing partner Nima Yadollahpour notes, “because an entrepreneur needs less to run a business (a laptop and cell phone), it only makes sense to keep their overhead low, and using a shared co-working or office space is the perfect answer to that…It’s economical, efficient and communal.”

Prominent Coworking Office Space in Back Bay Boston:

Oficio
30 Newbury St. 3rd Floor
or
129 Newbury St. 4th Floor

Idea Space
867 Boylston St., 5th Floor

LearnLaunch
31 St James Ave. #920

Unfamiliar with the area? Read our submarket page to learn more about Back Bay Office Space.

0 Boston Office Market is Positioned for Continued Growth

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Wil Catlin

The Boston office and retail market is expected to continue its upward march.

Credit: multihousingnews.com

According to an editorial on MultiHousingNews.com, “developers completed approximately 4.2 million square feet of office space over the last 12 months as compared to merely 1.4 million square feet in the previous year. Around 5.2 million square feet currently under construction in the metro area is expected to come online throughout 2016. According to Marcus & Millichap, approximately 3.2 million square feet of office space is set for completion by the end of 2014—a 1 percent increase from 2013—with new inventory being heavily concentrated in the Boston/Suffolk County and Route 128 North submarkets.”

For a detailed indicator of the Boston office market direction, jump over to the MultiHousingNews website.