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 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.

0 Boston Real Estate Valued at More than $100B

Boston is a $100 billion dollar city and the hub’s office tenants will be paying for it. Expect your office lease rates to rise with the new year’s tax bill.

Overhead view of Boston seaport

Credit: The Boston Globe

From the Boston Globe:

“With the [Boston] real estate market surging, the total estimated value of its residential and commercial property jumped over that threshold for the first time and has climbed to a total of $110 billion, according to a new city assessment…The increase will mean significantly higher tax bills for many property owners next year, although the extent of those increases will not be known until tax rates are set in the coming days…To stave off sticker shock, the city’s assessing department has already begun reaching out to owners in some neighborhoods where values have increased the most.”

0 Seaport Square: Construction Underway

Seaport Sq in Boston

Credit: BostonsNewWaterfront.com

We have waited a long time for Seaport Square and now we can have a peak at what is underway.  Construction should take about 3.5 years and will provide retail and residential to the flourishing recent office developments.3

From the BBJ, along with a Seaport Square slideshow:

“Developer John Hynes of Boston Global Investors said, ‘It’s all systems go on Monday’ and the project should be complete in 3 1/2 years. Hynes said the scale of One Seaport Square will be rivaled in recent Boston development history only by the 1958 construction of the Prudential Center and the 1984 construction of Copley Place…Stephen Wood of Berkshire Group said the residential component, which his company is handling, will be aimed at people who want ‘a seamless transition between their personal and professional lives.'”

You can read about the groundbreaking of One Seaport Sq. on the Boston Business Journal.

0 Boston Harbor Garage Towers Discussion Continues

Rendering of the proposed towers at Boston Harbor Garage

Credit: Bostinno/Streetwise

How many towers can the 1.3 acre site on the waterfront support?

Graphic renderings of the proposed Boston Harbor Garage towers were recently unveiled; the towers would replace the Harbor Garage on India Street.

From Banker & Tradesman:

“‘They told us that being allowed to build that much would be considered a valuable business opportunity by any experienced developer,’ Lee Kozol, chair of the Harbor Towers Garage committee, said in a statement. The economic analysis has been submitted to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which is reviewing conceptual plans for the project…for the project to go forward in its current form, the BRA would have to waive maximum height and minimum open space limits for waterfront developments.”

0 Boston Markets Blend History and Modernity

seaport office space in Boston at night

Seaport office space at 281 Summer St.

For a 400 year old city, we are experiencing record growth with billions being invested into new office, residential, and retail projects in areas of the city that were previously left for dirt lots or industrial space.

Bisnow.com, offers some historical perspective on the alternation and modernization of the hub over just the past decade:

“A decade ago, the waterfront—just across Fort Point Channel from the downtown Financial District—was still seen as the home of a languishing commercial port. Now the Seaport, aka the Innovation District, has new infrastructure, new buildings like Hanover’s (above), and a flock of cranes bringing more product online. Skanska is building a new HQ for PwC; State Street recently completed its relo into Channel Center; The Drew Co is quickly leasing apartments at Waterside Place; and The Fallon Co is selling super luxury condos on Fan Pier. The Seaport has come alive, Douglass says, with spectacular views and a condo market that’s heating up.”

0 Boston Harbor Towers: Rendering and Prospective View

The new proposed look of Chiofaro’s Waterfront project was unveiled last night.  What does a $1B 1.3milling square foot project look like?  Well, like the envisioned Harbor Towers.

The Boston Globe offers a “rendering showing a view of the new Harbor Towers buildings from the harbor. The new buildings are at the center of the rendering, to the right of the existing Harbor Towers buildings”:

rendering of Boston harbor towers

Credit: The Boston Globe

Continue on to the Globe’s website for additional photos of the view from the water, towards the Financial District.

0 Boston Harbor Skyscraper Proposal Gets Revived

Is smaller better or is the new mayor now open Chiofaro’s Harbor Garage Proposal?  No matter what side of this you are on our waterfront continues to evolve and buildings created decades ago are being razed to make way for new developments that are in line with today’s uses and environmental standards.

Photos from The Boston Globe:

Boston Harbor Skyscraper project Continue reading

0 UberBoat to Provide Limited Water Service in Boston

Boston boat transportation

Credit: Uber

Need a ride to the airport or a harbor island from the Financial District?  Walk toward the waterfront at get within .25 mile of the water and open Uber.  This is pilot program only from June 4th to June 15th.

Boston Magazine notes that “in order to access the UberBOAT option, users have to be within a quarter-mile of the harbor. When they are close enough, the app will then display an UberBOAT icon on the screen. From there, people can simply “place a pin” on a map , indicating where they want to be picked up near the docks, and hit the “Request” button. Soon after, a boat will appear. “Once your request has been accepted, the captain will give you a call to confirm your location and provide additional details on reaching the dock,” the company said.”

Jump over to Boston Magazine to read the complete article and to view an interactive map of the water taxi operation area.

0 Starbucks Opens Waterfront Retail Location at Boston’s Fan Pier

Starbucks has crossed the Fort Point Channel into the Seaport with its new location at Fan Pier.

Office Buildings at Boston's fan pier

Credit: fanpierboston.com

From the WSJ’s Market Watch:

“Lease agreements have been reached with each of the new tenants to occupy more than 21,450 square feet of existing space on the lobby level of Fifty Northern Avenue, one of two build-to-suit towers – along with Eleven Fan Pier Boulevard – housing Vertex Pharmaceutical’s global headquarters…Starbucks Coffee Company’s Fan Pier location will occupy 2,100 square feet of street floor space, which is expected to open in the summer of 2014.”