0 Boston Residents can Monitor City’s Development Projects

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Wil Catlin

What is going on over there? That is one question that gets asked time and time again about commercial developments in Boston. Looking to track the Hub’s developments? Now there is an App for that.

According to the BBJ, “Boston residents will be able to track local projects, find meeting times, and submit online feedback through a new online forum hosted on Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development website and at CoUrbanize.com. The move, the city said, would increase transparency in the development process for city-owned land and city-funded housing developments…The city of Boston is using the CoUrbanize platform to catalogue information about city-owned land and buildings available for development, in addition to collecting information about affordable housing developments in which the city has an investment.”

The full article is available on the Boston vertical of the BizJournals website: BizJournals.com/Boston.

0 Boston Tops US in CMBS Loans

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Wil Catlin

745 Boylston Street office building in Boston

Office Building at 745 Boylston Street in Copley Sq.

Boston leads New York, D.C., Chicago and L.A. not only in the bid for the 2024 Olympics, but also for CMBS loans.

The Boston Business Journal is reporting the “percentage of Boston-area commercial mortgage backed security real estate loans with late payments is its lowest in months and is among the best in the country, according to new data from real estate information provider Trepp,,,According to Trepp, 2.84 percent of Boston-area CMBS loans were 30 days delinquent or more as of the end of November. A year ago, the rate was 4.02 percent. The decline has been more or less steady, with slight increases a few months…The Boston-area compares especially well with other major U.S markets.

You can find more information on the BBJ’s website.

0 Key Boston Office Developments in 2014

Posted on January 18, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Bisnow

Our city continues to grow and change as evident by the following six projects in 2014. Bisnow selected its six transformative developments from 2014, noting “projects underway in 2014 brought amazing change, reviving tired districts and bringing new ones into the heart of the metro area.” It’s standouts are the following:

• Vertex Pharmaceuticals
• VanNess
• Troy Boston
• New Balance in Brighton Landing
• One Dalton
• Partners Healthcare

0 Mayor Walsh Focuses on Four Neighborhoods for Boston’s ‘New Innovation District’

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Where will our next round of innovators set up camp? Some hot spots in Boston and Cambridge are simply too expensive so Marc Bernsau of the BBJ has provided a great comparison of various Boston locations with their respect pro’s and con’s combined with market price. Where can you find a low $20’s rent per square foot?

In a previous post on Boston’s new innovation district, we discuss Mayor Marty Walsh’s recently-formed task force, which is considering an innovation district in four specific Boston neighborhoods: Bowdoin-Geneva and Fields Corner in Dorchester, Dudley Square in Roxbury, and East Boston.

Credit: FieldsCorner.org

The accompanying article on the Boston Business Journal notes, “Gilad Rosenzweig, founder and executive director of Smarter in the City, thinks Roxbury has the potential to be a home for startups.”

0 Perspective on the Boston Real Estate Tax Increase

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Bostinno.Streetwise.co

What are your taxes going up to in Boston? 200 Clarendon Street, The John Hancock Tower, takes the prize with the largest bill at $20,204,640 or $11.51 per square foot. The building last traded 4 years ago for $930,000,000.

To provide some perspective (or piece of mind) on the impending tax hike, Bostinno.streetwise.co posted stats on six notable Boston buildings:

Highest Gross Tax 
• Address: John Hancock Tower, 200 Clarendon St.
• Gross tax: $20,204,640
• Land assessed value: $111,925,200
• Building assessed value: $536,074,800
• Total: $648,000,000
• Land sf.: 73,143
• Year built: 1976
• Year remodeled: 2012
• Gross area: 2,082,040
• Floors: 62
• Owner: BP Hancock LLC
• Zip code: 02116
Continue reading →

0 Cambridge Street Tower Nets Close to $50m for the Commonwealth

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Wil Catlin

office space in boston at 100 Cambridge Street

Click on the image to view property details on 100 Cambridge Street in Boston

100 Cambridge Street is under agreement to be sold by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Boston Globe published details on the sale, noting “MassDevelopment has found a buyer for its ground lease at 100 Cambridge St…Mark Sternman, a spokesman for MassDevelopment, declined to disclose the total sale price or the buyer, citing the fact that the deal has not yet been completed. He said the fully occupied tower includes 565,000 square feet of office space and 35,000 square feet of retail space…MassDevelopment redeveloped the tower and reopened it in 2004. The agency regularly received more than $20 million a year in lease revenue from the tower, reporting nearly $23 million for 2013.”

100 Cambridge Street Building Specs
• RBA: 565,157 SF
• Office: 530,618
• Retail: 34,539
• Stories: 22
• Typical Floor: 25,255
• Year Built: 1965
• Year Renovated: 2004

Partial Tenant List
• Ac Ppa Holdings, Llc
• Advance Auto Detailing
• American Student Assistance-Financial
• Barron & Stadfeld, P.C.
• Bright Horizons Family Solutions
• Brooks Pharmacy
• Cannon Designmove
• Citibank Llc
• Department of Revenue
• Dewey Square Group
• Dunkin Donuts
• ECG Management Consultants, Inc
• Energy and Environmental Affairs
• Mass General Hospital Corp
• Life Solutions Group
• Masiphumelele Corporation
• Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
• Miller Wachman LLP
• Penn Mutual Life Insurance
• Prince Lobel Tye LLP
• Rite Aid

0 Soccer Stadium Considered in Boston

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Soccer might be coming to Boston to be closer to the fan base. The stadium could be just off of 93 within walking distance of the W. Broadway T stop.

potential cite of new stadium in downtown Boston

Credit: The Boston Globe

According to The Boston Globe, one site “under consideration is a strip of city-owned land off Interstate 93 on Frontage Road, where Boston has a large yard for towed cars and public works. The South Boston property offers easy access from major highways and is near the MBTA’s Red Line as well as rail lines at nearby South Station. Numerous sources said the Kraft family has been meeting with state and city officials to discuss the stadium and possible locations over the past several months, with the team focusing on Frontage Road.”

The Globe also quotes the Krafts through a spokesman in the article: “We are currently developing concepts for how a soccer stadium for the Revolution can benefit the greater Boston area. Once we have more developed plans, we will comment further.”

0 1,700-car Garage Plotted for South Boston Waterfront

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Wil Catlin

The growth of the Seaport District has created a number of challenges and one of the prominent ones is parking. Massport is looking to offer some relief to this by building a 1,700 car garage atop the Pike.

Credit: WaterSideBoston.com

The Boston Globe offers details on the proposed parking additions, noting it “would be built over a strengthened section of the turnpike tunnel near the World Trade Center complex. Although the site is about a third of a mile from the Seaport Square area, where visitors to Fan Pier and attractions like the Institute of Contemporary Art vie for parking with workers from the adjacent financial district, Massport said the parking garage would be vital for apartments and a planned hotel near the convention center.

For more information on the proposed South Boston Waterfront Garage, jump over to the Boston Globe’s website

0 Proposals Submitted for Parcel 13 Over Mass Pike in Back Bay

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: The Boston Globe

One thing that we truly aren’t making more of is real estate. The recent focus is Back Bay at the intersection of Mass Ave and Boylston Street above the Pike; will this become the next hot development site? Parcel 13 is getting a lot of attention and the stars might be aligning for building above the Pike.

The Boston Globe reports, “three companies on Friday submitted proposals to build large complexes on the 50,000-square-foot lot, across from the Hynes Convention Center. The pitches include a curvy, 11-story building with residences, a hotel, and stores, as well as a 21-story complex with shops and 350 apartments…The Massachusetts Department of Transportation will select a winner in the coming months. The redevelopment would create a new entrance to the Back Bay and help enliven a disjointed section of the otherwise bustling neighborhood.”

You can read more on the contest and proposals for Parcel 13 on The Boston Globe.

0 Christian Science Parcel Bought for $22M and Heavy Restrictions

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: ChristianScience.com

Development opportunities continue in Back Bay with some interesting restrictions from sellers.

According to a report on the BBJ, “the Church Realty Trust, which administers property for the First Church of Christ Scientist, dictated in a deed conveying a parcel at 30 Dalton St. to developers that the land was subject to long-term use restrictions that reflect Christian Science teaching around alcohol sales, pornography and, to a limited extent, medical practices.”

Additional details are available on the Boston Business Journal, here.