Category Archives: Boston Real Estate

0 Former Boston Globe Building in Dorchester Marked for ‘Innovation campus’

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The Boston’s Globe’s former office site is poised to be an “Innovation Campus” to foster growth and creativity for our economy. Expected delivery is in the Fall of ’19.

Former Globe Building transformed

Credit: Dotnews

From Dotnews:

“The BEAT” (The Boston Exchange for Accelerated Technology) will be a life science, technology, and advanced manufacturing facility, a Nordblom spokesman said, its name an homage to the beat reporters who worked in the newsroom headquarters for more than 60 years before the paper moved downtown in 2017, a nod to the nearby Red Line as a neighborhood artery, and a gesture at the lively and open space they hope to cultivate at the fortress-like site.

“Our job is to create something to which people want to go, a great place where they want to work,” [Todd Fremont-Smith, senior vice president and director of mixed-use projects for Nordblom] said. “The city is out of space. The Seaport is done; Back Bay’s done.” And given the need for office, tech, and light industrial workplaces, he said, “we’re trying to do it in a creative and funky way that captures people’s imaginations.”

0 Shorter (and less shadowy) Winthrop Square Tower Announced

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Office tower in Winthrop Square

Credit: Boston Business Journal

What does the shorter Winthrop Square tower now look like?

According to the Boston Business Journal, the refined Winthrop Square tower will include the following:

  • 500 residential units;
  • 750,000 square feet of office space;
  • 21,000 square feet of publicly accessible meeting space;
  • 21,000 square feet of restaurant/retail space;
  • 115,000 square feet of affordable housing that could be built in Chinatown in collaboration with the
  • Asian Community Development Corp.;
  • Two exterior green roof spaces; and
  • Capacity for 550 vehicles in five levels of underground parking.

The update follows an ongoing discussion around the impact of the shadows cast onto the Boston Common given the tower’s height, orientation, and location.

0 One Post Office Square Renovation Ahead

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Class A landlords are continuing to update and upgrade their assets to address the evolving needs of today’s tenant. The 402-foot, 41-story Class A tower at One Post Office Square was built in 1981 and is 832,000 rentable square feet with a typical floor plate of 18,221 square feet.

Renovation for One Post Office Square

Credit: Banker and Tradesman

A recent Banker and Tradesman article speaks to the proposed transformation, noting the office “tower in Boston’s Financial District will get a new glass facade, a roof deck and terraces and an illuminated rooftop glass “lantern”…On the lower levels, a three-story glass pavilion will add 52,100 square feet of retail space and an 8,800-square-foot restaurant…An 18-story addition replacing the existing garage on Oliver Street would [also] contain automated parking and additional office space.”

Click on the link for additional information on the One Post Office Square renovation on B&T’s website.

0 Boston Skyline Ready for Vertical Growth

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Will the Boston skyline elect to push heights in the upcoming years?

Boston real estate comparison

Credit: Bisnow

From Bisnow:

“Going higher is a fix to a lot of different things, from the housing shortage to taking the heavy load off the freeways into our city,” Perry Brokerage Director of Intelligence Brendan Carroll said.

Despite claims it has reached peak prices, Boston is still the third-most expensive city in the U.S. to rent. It has a cost of living nearly 40% higher than the national average, and low supply is keeping prices high. Cities around the world are in similar situations and have taken to building up as a way out of housing crunches.

0 Horticultural Hall at 300 Massachusetts Ave. Sold

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Huntington and Mass. Ave office building

Credit: Boston Globe

At the intersection of Huntington and Mass. Ave stands Horticultural Hall which will have a new owner, Marcus Partners. The building is 45,000-square feet and is scheduled for upgrades to the lobby and entrances.

According to the Boston Globe, “Horticultural Hall’s tenants include the Museum of Fine Arts’s William Morris Hunt Memorial Library, the New England Conservatory of Music, and the offices of Boston magazine.”

You can read more about the prospective updates to Horticultural Hall on the Boston Globe.

0 1000 Boylston Looks to Heighten Back Bay Silhouette

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Back Bay office building on Boylston st.

Credit: Bisnow

Back Bay could be getting some more height at 1000 Boylston Street from Weiner Ventures.

From Bisnow:

The parcel is a block away from the 254-foot Hilton Back Bay and 360-foot Sheraton North Tower as well as the 756-foot Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences under construction. The 52-story Prudential Center tower is two blocks down Boylston. The complex would be on four different parcels, three of which are Mass Pike air rights plots.

If completed, 1000 Boylston will feature 182 apartments and 160 condominiums above a six-story podium composed of retail and parking. Its prominent location near the intersection of Boylston and Massachusetts Avenue is particularly complex due to the limited amount of ground the tower has for foundation.

0 Boston: The Footwear Capital

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Converse office space in Boston

Credit: The Daily Astorian

The roster of footwear brands with a headquarters or significant presence in Boston is vast and celebrated:

  • Converse
  • Reebok
  • New Balance
  • Converse
  • Wolverine
  • Saucony
  • Keds
  • Sperry
  • Rockport
  • Clarks
  • Puma

From The Daily Astorian:

“These companies cluster because they’re primarily looking for talent. You want to be where the people are,” said Matthew Powell, a sports industry analyst for the NPD Group, a New York-based market research firm. “They’re also trying to stay close to their consumer. Millennials are clustering in large cities, so it’s a great way to be plugged into where your consumer is.”

The moves also affirm New England – historically the nation’s footwear-making region – remains a viable center of the industry, said Nate Herman, a senior vice president at the American Apparel & Footwear Association trade group.

0 Seven Significant Boston Real Estate Projects slated for 2017

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Boston real estate projects planned for 2017

Credit: Curbed

Seven new projects are scheduled to break ground in ’17 in Boston. Fears of a slowdown are not adopted by developers of Boston real estate.

Curbed, Boston outlines the 7 new projects slated for this year. Six of the properties are located in the Greater Boston area and one in Watertown, MA:

Boston

  • 171 Tremont Street
  • 700 Atlantic Ave
  • A St & Necco Ct
  • 660 Summer St
  • Dorchester Ave & Hancock St
  • Commonwealth Avenue & Brookline Ave

Watertown

  • 485 Arsenal St

0 Synergy Sells Two Class B Office Buildings in Boston for $75m

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Class B office building in Boston

Credit: BBJ

Trades continue in Boston’s Class B sector with the sale of 99 Chauncy Street and 101 Summer Street to TIAA from Synergy Investments for $75 million.

A recent article on the BBJ’s website notes, “Synergy sold the historic assets for a combined $75 million to a unit of TIAA, a New York-based teachers’ union pension fund with $889 billion in assets under management, according to Suffolk County deeds. Synergy’s ownership partner in the properties was Indepencia PE, a Chile-based investment advisor. The $75 million sale price is four times the combined $18.7 million Synergy invested in 2010 and 2011 to acquire the properties.”

Additional details about the class B office building sales are available on the Boston Business Journal, here.

0 Boston Heliport will be Discussed at Mid-November Hearing

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Boston has not had a heliport since 1999 and City councilors plan to hold a public hearing November 16th to discuss the topic.

Downtown Boston site for Helipad

Credit: Boston Herald

From the Boston Herald:

Boston city councilors will hold a public hearing Wednesday on plans to create a commercial heliport in the Hub after a call for more information by the councilor who helped ground plans for a similar site eight years ago.

City and state officials promised to create a commercial helipad as part of their $120 million incentive package to lure General Electric to Boston from Connecticut. But the project has stalled among concerns about corporate incentives and MassDOT budget concerns.

“Establishing a helipad would likely lead to an influx of helicopters to the area, which would impact noise, air pollution and safety concerns in our neighborhoods,” the order reads.