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 What TAMI Tenants Want

Boston financial district office spaceThe tech, advertisement, media, and information (TAMI) tenants in today’s office market are looking for the following deal points:

  • CONSIDERING MULTIPLE MARKETS
  • CLUSTER MENTALITY
  • HEDGING GROWTH
  • OPEN CONCEPT
  • MORE CONCERN ABOUT HVAC CAPACITY AND BATHROOMS
  • FLEXIBILITY IS PARAMOUNT
  • CASH IS KING
  • ACCESS AND UNIQUE AMENITIES

 

0 MassMutual Plots 300,000 SF Office Building on Parcel E

Springfield office building

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The Seaport in Boston is not only home to tech, life science, law firms and luxury condos, but now with be home to MassMutual with room for 1,000 workers. The new office building will be a 300,000 SF building on Parcel E.

Roger Crandall, MassMutual’s chairman, president and CEO “said the decision to expand in Boston and upgrade its Springfield office followed ‘a thorough strategic assessment of our operations and footprint.’ Following that, MassMutual ‘concluded that our home state of Massachusetts is the best place for us to grow and thrive over the long term’…The Boston office will be developed on property MassMutual jointly owns with The Fallon Co., a Boston-based real-estate development firm. Fallon Co. and MassMutual together acquired the Fan Pier development zone in 2005 for $115 million, and Parcel E has remained undeveloped since.”

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

0 Multi-Dimensional Seaport Office Building Billed as a ‘Game-Changer’

Multi-dimensional commercial building in Seaport Boston

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Innovative architecture is proposed for the Seaport section of Boston curtesy of WS Development and their architect OMA based out of the Netherlands.

88 Seaport will feature 18 floors with nearly 425,000 square feet of office space, approximately 60,000 square feet of retail on the first two floors, and 5,000 square feet of civic/cultural use space. The building design features a unique series of cascading exterior terraces and a grand architectural gesture towards Fan Pier Green and the water’s edge.

From Bizjournals.com:

Yanni Tsipis, senior vice president with WS Development, told the Business Journal on Tuesday that the proposed design of the 88 Seaport Blvd. office is a game-changer for Seaport architecture. Shohei Shigematsu, a partner with Dutch architecture firm OMA, conceived the design for 88 Seaport, the firm said.

“It’s exciting to engage with the innovation migration to the Seaport District, and work with WS Development on a building positioned to be the nexus between historic Fort Point and the emerging waterfront developments,” Shigematsu said in a statement. “Our design for 88 Seaport slices the building into two volumes, creating distinct responses for each urban scale of old and new, while also accommodating diverse office typologies for diverse industries with demands for traditional and alternative floorplates. The slice also generates an opportunity to draw in the district’s public domains, linking the waterfront and Fan Pier Green with a continuous landscape.”

0 600 ft. Boston Harbor Garage Tower Gets Green Light

The city of Boston gives the “Green Light” for Chiofaro’s 600 foot Harbor Tower project.

rendering of Boston harbor garage project

Credit: BBJ

Boston Harbor real estate

Credit: BBJ

From the Boston Business Journal:

The city-approved plan allows for a 600-foot tower at the site of the Boston Harbor Garage, a 1,380-space, 70-foot parking garage owned by Chiofaro, with 50 percent of the project site required to be open space. It also allows for a 305-foot, 22-story tower at the site of James Hook & Co. seafood restaurant on Northern Avenue, which would call for 30 percent of the lot as open space.

The plan covers 42 acres of downtown waterfront — of which about 22 acres is filled tidelands, while the remainder is the harbor — and 26 separate land parcels. The public process to develop a planning vision for the waterfront began in 2013.

0 Globe Photographer Captures Evolution of Boston Waterfront, Seaport

121 Seaport development

Credit: Boston Globe

The evolution of a Seaport submarket through the lens of Boston Globe photographer David L. Ryan from 1982 to present.

According to the Boston Globe, “more than $1.5 billion worth of apartments, condos, storefronts, and office space is under construction in the Seaport right now, all within the span of a few blocks. Another $850 million in projects is set to break ground soon.”

Click over to view a the evolution of the Boston Seaport as captured by the Boston Globe.

0 Big Dig II?

South station to north station rail servince Boston

Credit: Boston Globe

To dig or not to dig? Seth Moulton says ‘dig’ between North Station and South Station.

According to a Boston Globe article, “Moulton is increasingly convinced that connecting the two stations is the way to go. The link would finally bring uninterrupted service to the Northeast Corridor, which means a person who gets on in Washington could ride all the way to Portland, Maine, without switching trains. It also means people on the commuter rail could more easily travel to either North or South stations without needing to hop onto the T.”

You can read the full Globe article, here.

Related Office Space Listings
Office Space near North Station
Office Space by South Station for lease

0 Boston Harbor Garage Towers Get The Red Light

As it stands now the city and state are at a no vote for the Harbor Garage development of 2 skyscrapers.

Boston Harbor garage plan

Credit: Bostino

From Banker and Tradesman:

A state official dealt a blow to Chiofaro Cos.’ plans to build two skyscrapers on Boston Harbor, siding with city officials in setting a maximum size of 900,000 square feet and height of 600 feet…Matthew Beaton, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs, backed the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s guidance for the maximum buildout on the 1.3-acre parcel currently occupied by an eight-story parking garage. Developer Donald Chiofaro has stated that his original proposal for two towers totaling 1.3 million square feet is the minimum for a financially viable project.

0 Three New Seaport Office Towers Gain Approval

new office towers in Boston seaport

Credit: Boston Globe

The skyline in the Seaport continue to change with the approval of 3 more towers Boston Civic Design Commission.

According to a recent Boston Globe article, “the Boston Civic Design Commission gave its approval to the plans for three 22-story condo and apartment towers and retail along Seaport Boulevard. It’s the final city approval needed for the $700 million project, said Nick Martin, a spokesman for the Boston Redevelopment Authority…Unlike many developments in the Seaport, which have been criticized for being overly boxy, these buildings are designed with staggered heights and different shapes arrayed around an elevated podium with retail on the 3.5 acre site. It would include about 1,100 condos and apartments,- with the exact mix to be determined by market conditions – and 125,000 square feet of retail space. The buildings will be built on two blocks between Seaport Boulevard and Congress Street, between B Street and East Service Road.”

You can read the full article on the Globe’s website.

0 Newest Fan Pier Tower Renderings Released

Fan Pier Tower in Boston

Credit: Banker and Tradesman

What will the next piece of Fallon Co’s project look like?  Designs have been released according to the plans submitted by Elkus Manfredi Architects.

From Banker&Tradesman:

City officials are reviewing designs for 50 Liberty Drive, a 14-story complex on the South Boston waterfront. The L-shaped condo tower would be built on parcel D, which sits directly east of the 109-unit Twenty Two Liberty condo tower now under construction. The new building would include 15,000 square feet of civic and retail space, including areas used by the New England Aquarium, Boston Children’s Museum and the Boston Harbor Island Alliance.

The 21-acre Fan Pier project will contain up to 3 million square feet of mixed-use development. The Boston Fan Pier development, a 252,000-square-foot condo tower, is expected to break ground in late summer.