0 Cool Office Space in the Seaport?

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Bostinno.streetwise.co

Yes, cool space can still be found in the Seaport. Lose It is on the lucky side with a great view Boston’s waterfront at 250 Northern Avenue.

From Bostinno.streetwise.co:

“Snuggled up in the Seaport, the startup has miraculously secured one of the best views of the harbor in the city. Seriously…Lose It!’s handful of employees are living large. An entire side of the company’s perfect, petite office is glass, overlooking the water. On nice days, people can venture outside onto the balcony and scoop up a spot on a bench to take their phone calls and lunches in the open air.”

0 Two Summer Street Office Buildings Sold

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Wil Catlin

321 Summer St. in Boston (click to view additional property details)

More trades in the Seaport’s red hot office Market. The Seaport Class B office lease rates are hovering just around $40 PSF in the first year.

Drawing national coverage, the Wall Street Journal reported on the recent Seaport transactions of 281 Summer Street and 321 Summer Street in Boston, MA. The Journal notes, “the two building portfolio is in Boston’s Seaport District and totals 243,000 square feet of office and retail space. Newly renovated, the properties are well-located in the heart of Boston’s Fort Port Channel neighborhood.”

The WSJ article on the Boston Seaport is available, here.

You can view additional details on both of the Summer Street buildings on our property listing pages:

321 Summer Street, Boston Seaport

281 Summer Street, Boston Seaport

0 Boston Harbor: today, as it was meant to be

Posted on April 28, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Bisnow.com

One of our city’s most valued resources wasn’t always treated as such. Yes, our waterfront. Not only has this become a destination location for visitors, but now we have new residential communities and office buildings that are the new gateway to the water.

Bisnow offers a perspective on how the harbor used to be, and what it’s evolved into.

“[today], many of the region’s major developers and corporations…now see how valuable a beautiful waterfront can be. Rents are rising for offices and multifamily residences and commercial property sale values are hitting all-time highs.”

The full article, including a comparison of ‘old’ Boston Harbor to a “men’s locker room”, is available here.

0 Boston Waterfront: $20M Upgrade Proposed

Posted on April 19, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Bisnow.com

This is terrific news and should be implemented immediately. Public access to our natural beauty is imperative to the City’s continued growth in the years to come. Not too far back, the suppression of the Central Artery bridged many areas of our city and created the Greenway.

From Bisnow:

“The City’s new proposal to spend $20M to upgrade 40 acres along the waterfront from the North End to Fort Point with open space, cultural attractions, and entertainment (fingers crossed for Ferris wheel) will elevate the rapidly changing district, BRA deputy director for waterfront planning Richard McGuiness tells Bisnow. The aim: upgrade the border of “our greatest natural resource: Boston Harbor.”

The complete Bisnow article is available on its website, here

0 Boston Office Market Maintains Strong Results for Landlords

Posted on April 10, 2014 by Wil Catlin

155 Federal Street

The Boston Office market continues to produce strong results for landlords. The low rise Class A and Class B market in the Financial District continue to offer a value option to prospective tenants.

According to news site, news.gnom.es, “First quarter 2014 marked Greater Boston’s fourth consecutive quarter of positive absorption. The market also posted its highest four-quarter positive absorption total since 2007, with 3.6 million square feet absorbed from second quarter 2013 through first quarter 2014.”

The article quotes 542,000 SF of positive adsorption in Boston in the First Quarter. You can read the full article, here.

0 Boston Seaport Attracts Tech and Biotech Start-ups

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Wil Catlin

World Trade Center East, 2 Seaport Lane

Boston continues to expand into the Seaport. The once-famed $7-per-day-dirt parking lots have been replaced with corporate office space for the biotech industry, law firms, financial services and newly funded technology companies. Did this happen overnight? Well, no. The Ted Williams Tunnel to the airport, and onramp to Mass Turnpike East and West fostered accessibility and spurred new opportunity. That level of infrastructure was the catalyst of for our current development cycle, combined with demand for residential and office development.

The Boston Globe states:

“The new face of Boston’s Seaport is the old face of the city’s downtown. The lawyers and accountants who are financing the waterfront construction boom are abandoning Boston’s historic commercial center for something newer and more exciting. This exodus is opening up cheaper commercial space for creative firms and tech companies…Boston’s downtown and its waterfront are slowly swapping identities.”

More information on the Seaport’s transition is provided in the Boston Globe’s full article.

Alternatively, you can view our listings for currently available office space in the Seaport.

0 Boston Office Rents Climb 3.5 percent

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Herald

This is only part of the story. True, rental rates have risen, but the overall occupancy cost has risen even more than just the rental rates. In a rising market, like we are currently in, landlord’s contribute less in tenant improvement costs and offer much less rent abatement. This then translates into a higher occupancy cost. During a down market, a landlord could offer 125 percent of the first years rent to go improvements of the space, that number now could be 75 percent of the first years rent.

The Boston Herald’s analysis notes “office rents in Greater Boston grew at an even higher rate — 3.9 percent — primarily due to strong growth in Cambridge, downtown Boston and the northwest submarket, the report found. And rents may begin to rise at an even faster rate because employment levels in office jobs are reaching pre-recession levels.”

The Herald article can be found here: Hub Office Rates Jump

0 Boston Harbor Garage version 2.0

Posted on October 3, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Boston Harbor Garage plans for redevelopment

Credit: Boston Globe

It seems that the new vision for the Boston Harbor garage is far more aligned with the community interests. Community interest at times can be hard to quantify, but when they are against you, you know it. The real question is the height of the parking structure.

The Boston Globe reports “after shelving a prior scheme for two skyscrapers on the garage site, Chiofaro is pitching an array of new ideas, with one key difference. This time, he is trying to focus the public’s attention on what could be constructed on the building’s ground floor, instead of along the skyline.”

The insightful piece on the new plans for the Harbor Garage redevelopment can be found on the Boston Globe’s website.

0 Fort Point Channel to get Boxing Yoga. Yes, Boxing Yoga

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Friends of Fort Point Channel

If you box and like yoga, Boston’s Innovation, Seaport, and Fort Point Channel has something for you: Boxing Yoga. I must admit, I do neither of those two activities. George Foreman, III, however, will be offering class at 15 Channel Center starting in December.

Boston.com writes, “the Boston Innovation District, or at least its edges, could soon be home to a luxury gym where George Foreman III plans to teach classes on the sweet science in new, innovative ways to a membership likely to include off-duty entrepreneurs, biotech types, and folks who’ve put on too much weight at the many new restaurants on the South Boston Waterfront.”

The full Boston.com article is available on its website: George Foreman III Brings Boxing Yoga to Fort Point Channel

0 Boston Waterfront Real Estate Booming

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Wil Catlin

building at 200 Seaport Boulevard in Boston's waterfront

World Trade Center Boston, 200 Seaport Blvd.

Well, call it what you’d like: Seaport/Innovation/Fort Point; the reality is the area has blossomed for a myriad companies. Since the sale of the Boston Wharf portfolio we have seen a steady influx of capital to renovate old, tired buildings that had roof leaks, failing windows, and inoperable elevators. The addition of the Turnpike exit and the convention center has added to the core infrastructure that’s helping to accommodate the demand for office space and housing. In the past 30 months, rents in Class B buildings have increased from the upper $20’s to the low $40’s PSF.

Banker & Tradesman recently explored the roots, and validity, of the waterfront’s building ‘boom’:

“with Menino riding into the sunset, it’s high time to find out whether the so-called waterfront building boom is real or instead government-driven at the behest of one of the nation’s most powerful big city mayors.”

B&T’s complete article is available here