0 Tenants Returning to Boston Offices Will Find A Strange New World

By Dees Stribling | Bisnow | April 27, 2020

Most Boston commercial space is now empty, but the time is approaching when many or most workers return, perhaps in shifts or only a few days a week.

Property managers are already trying to sort out the transition, speakers on Bisnow’s health and safety in property management webinar Thursday said. The details of bringing people back into commercial space in an orderly and safe way aren’t clear. One thing is clear: It won’t be easy.

Most space in Downtown and in Cambridge is empty, with commercial occupancy below 5%, though occupancy is higher than that in a few pockets, such as life science space, Lincoln Property Co. Vice President of Property Management Scott Rickards said.

“We’re planning for re-occupancy at some point after May 4,” Rickards said. “Could be sooner, we hope. We’re fielding an increasing amount of questions every day from tenants about what they can expect.”

Personal responsibility is going to be critically important to making re-occupancy work, Rickards said.

“We all know people who go to work sick, and that’s what we really can’t have,” he said. “Every company has to be responsible for its employees, and every individual responsible for themselves.”

The focus now, EBI Consulting Director of Environmental Health & Safety Karla King said, is how company policies can evolve to address the future re-entry. Some companies have specific issues, such as those needing to deal with COVID-19 cases at their buildings, while others are simply trying to devise forward-looking planning.

“We’re working closely with some of our clients, evaluating current housekeeping and programs and getting an understanding of high-touch and common spaces,” King said.

In the case of a building with a suspected COVID-19 case, each instance is evaluated based on when it happened and how isolated the space is, King said. Then her company works with the client to identify or evaluate a cleaning company, looking closely at its cleaning products and protocols.

Even without a COVID-19 case, tenants who plan to return need to formulate detailed plans, King said.

“What PPE are people going to be bringing or wearing to the office, mandated by state or federal officials, or by their own choice?” she said. “Where are they going to dispose of their PPE?”

Boston Realty Advisors Managing Principal Wil Catlin, who moderated the webinar, asked whether some landlords will have stricter requirements regarding PPE than others.

“At some level, there needs to be baseline standards,” he said.

PPE use will vary according to the use of the space and how much common space there is, King said, adding that common areas and high-touch spaces are going to be the biggest areas of concern for property managers.

“That’s one thing to communicate to tenants: the importance of everyone controlling their space,” King said.

Property managers can’t be responsible for the cleanliness of every specific desk or other personal area, King said, since it is largely out of their control. Instead, they will be more concerned with common spaces, such as gyms, cafeterias, restrooms and reception areas.

Catlin also asked about security procedures in a post-pandemic environment, specifically how buildings will handle front desks and check-ins. Technology is a longer-term answer to security, Rickards said, and some Class-A buildings probably already have the tech in place to go touchless.

“There are some apps that work with security systems so that your phone has a unique identity, and you can walk into the building, and it knows your app,” Rickards said.

But most Boston real estate doesn’t have that kind of sophistication yet, he said. In many small lobbies, social distancing won’t even be possible.

“So there will be a lot of workarounds, and that’s going to extend the need for PPE,” Rickards said. “You’re going to need to have a mask on, and maybe gloves. Can we come up with a way to show an ID so that no one else touches it? It might be a rudimentary as the security guard doing all the writing. It’s going to be complicated.”

0 Boston’s TAMI Office Market Requires Quick Turn-around

Office space at WeWork in Boston Seaport on Atlantic Ave.

Credit: Bisnow

Two years to three months. This is that the lead time TAMI [technology, advertising, marketing and information] tenants are working with when they are in-market, looking for office space. Given this, Landlords needs to offer spec suites for immediate occupancy to accommodate the market opportunity.

Here’s a remark from Colliers International Executive Vice President Kristin Blount in Bismpw, on the velocity of current real-estate transactions:

“Tenants used to be in the market way far in advance of a lease expiration or their renewal notice time period,” [Colliers International Executive Vice President Kristin Blount] said. “Because their business is changing more rapidly than before and the newer kind of TAMI [technology, advertising, marketing and information] tenants make up a lot of growth, the speed to market and need to move quickly is something that is really important to them.”

Additional information is available on Bisnow’s website, here.

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0 Shorter (and less shadowy) Winthrop Square Tower Announced

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

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 Office Building Shadows Draws Consternation

Boston residential building casts shadows

Credit: NYTimes

Should it be built or not? Will it cast a deep shadow? Is too much being made of this issue or are not enough people rallying behind the drive to maintain a view of the sky?

From the New York Times:

Boston is riding the crest of what city officials say is the biggest building boom in its history, with cranes lifting glassy towers into place and raising the city’s unassuming profile. The surge of construction is also plunging some of its most cherished sites into deepening shadow, testing state laws that have long balanced economic development with protection of sunlight and open space.

The concern is not merely about preserving a glimpse of sky in the increasingly vertical downtown or about the risks of darkness to plants, historic buildings and even humans. It is also about whether the city is going down a road of no return by trading away, one piece at a time, its intangible assets, like sunlight on its signature parks and public access to its gleaming waterfront.

0 Boston Skyline Ready for Vertical Growth

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 Evolving Office Real Estate Trend Shaping Boston Workspaces

Shared London office space

Credit: Bisnow

Some tenants now use a model where they lease less space and rely instead on on-demand conference room and meeting space. This model changes the square foot requirements per office worker, and has become a great resource for small to mid-sized office tenants.

From Bisnow:

These shared office spaces provide “temporary meeting space, conference rooms and event space to companies that would traditionally have leased or rented that space through their landlord. The goal is to offer employers a temporary solution on a need-by-need basis, giving office occupiers more flexibility to pursue cost-saving initiatives such as shrinking their square footage.”

One of the reasons these third-party space providers are gaining popularity within the industry is because they offer more than mere space — they provide hospitality services and create an experience that users would not otherwise get.

0 Winthrop Square Deal Proposed by Mayor Walsh

Winthrop Square redevelopment

Credit: Bisnow

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is pushing for the Winthrop Square Tower and is offering tighter restrictions on future tower developments as a concession.

From Bisnow:

Mayor Marty Walsh’s proposal would bar future developments (except Millennium’s) from casting a shadow over the Common, Public Garden and Back Bay’s Copley Square. The plan would also call for new zoning in the Financial District and Downtown Crossing. The shadow change also needs state approval by Gov. Charlie Baker and the state legislature due to the changes it would bring to the Massachusetts’ 1990 shadow law.

0 1000 Boylston Looks to Heighten Back Bay Silhouette

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 Winthrop Square Tower Pushes to Maintain Height

Winthrop Square tower development

Credit: Boston Globe

No change in height from the developer for Winthrop Square tower.

From Curbed, Boston:

The main bone of contention re: the development is its height, which will likely stretch to 775 feet. That has raised concerns about potential shadows that the tower might cast on the Common and the Public Garden.

Is Millennium considering cutting the height? No. We feel this project was holistically designed at its optimum size in response to achieving the goals that the city required for this public asset.