0 How Startups Pick their Hometowns

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

Frequently when I meet with young companies their initial request is, what will it cost? My reply is usually is, “ If it was free and the perfect configuration, but in Western Massachusetts, would you take it?” The reply, “No.”

Companies that are in growth mode care about access to qualified potential employees. In the Boston market we see many companies prefer to be within the city core as opposed to be outside the city for that simple reason. The younger workforce doesn’t own or doesn’t want their commute to involve an automobile.

According to a research report on the Boston Business Journal, here’s are the three aspects that entrepreneurs say actually did sell them on their hometowns:

1. Population & talent

2. Livability

3. Strong area supply chains

The full BBJ article is available, here.

0 MA Job Growth Strongest Since 2000

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: The Boston Globe

Our local economy continues to grow and outperform the national average. This is mirrored by the increased price of office space per square foot that has surpassed pre-recession levels.

The Boston Globe reported on the strong year in 2013:

“Despite the impact of automatic federal budget cuts known as sequestration, the state gained more that 55,000 jobs in 2013, compared to about 49,000 in 2012 and 43,000 in 2011, the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development reported Thursday. It was the best year of job growth since 2000, when the tech boom — shortly before it went bust — drove the creation of about 95,000 jobs.”

The full article is available on the Globe’s online outlet here: The Boston Globe

0 Boutique Buildings Growing in Boston

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Not all new construction project are towers. Some are boutique buildings designed to blend into their surroundings and fit on a much smaller footprint.

A boutique building recently highlighted on the Boston Herald’s website is Zero Farnsworth. The Herald notes, “in a smaller-scale building you can pay much more attention to the quality of the design and the details,” said Damian Szary, a principal at Boston-based Redgate Real Estate Advisors, whose Gate Residential unit is developing a nine-story condo complex along Congress and Farnsworth streets in the booming Seaport District. With its floor-to-ceiling glass windows all around, Zero Farnsworth will be strikingly contemporary in an area of brick warehouses.”

The full Herald article is available on BostonHerald.com.

0 Tech Sector Hoping Walsh can Keep Downtown Office Space Affordable

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Office space at 200 High Street in the Financial District

Mayor Menino departs in January for Mayor Elect Walsh. Will our economy grow and prosper with the next administration? Well, it is a delicate balance that will spur development while maintaining affordability.

Boston.com posted a dense, thought-proviking piece examining the impact of the mayorial change on small business locations and city-based office space. Here are a few notable quotes from the article:

I spoke with a half dozen tech entrepreneurs about their hopes for and expectations of the incoming Walsh administration, and picked up on two major themes…They want the new mayor to help keep office space affordable and to improve public transit in the Innovation District.”

IdeaPaint president John Stephans told me his business, which is moving from Ashland to Boston in January, would have liked to relocate sooner but found the cost prohibitive until it enjoyed several successful years.

“We always wanted to be in the city, as do a lot of companies,” he said. “But I think companies feel priced out, especially young, venture-backed start-ups.”

The full article is available on Boston.com, here.

0 Boston Office Rents Climbing

Posted on May 1, 2013 by Wil Catlin

101 Arch street office building in Boston's financial district

Office Building at 101 Arch St, Boston

The Boston office market continues to see a reduction in vacancy alongside increased pricing.

A Boston Business Journal article specifies, “every Boston submarket with the exception of the Back Bay saw the vacancy rate fall as tenants leased 1.2 million square feet of office space from January through March with 354,457 square feet getting absorbed. Citywide, the overall vacancy rate dropped to 10.3 percent in the first quarter, down from 12.6 percent a year ago.”

For additional details and submarket specifics, head over to the BBJ online.

Related Commercial Real Estate Listings
Boston Office Space Available for Rent

0 Boston Office Vacancies Dwindling

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Wil Catlin

If you are out hunting for office space today you will get the benefit of paying more than your peers did a year earlier, combined with the privilege of having fewer options to choose from. What’s happened? The CBD of Boston is in the midst of a strong upswing across all submarkets with no sign of slowing down.

Statistics posted on the Boston Business Journal website note, “office vacancies dropped to 9.7 percent from January through March across the city’s eight submarkets, down from 12.4 percent for the same period in 2012. Citywide rents increased to $42.55 per square foot, compared to $41.68 a year ago, a two percent hike.”

The BBJ’s editorial on Boston’s first quarter market data includes additional market details.

0 Boston Office Spaces: Rent and Construction Climbs in 2013

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Wil Catlin

The price per square foot for office space in Boston is headed up in all sub markets and in all building classes. Last year many areas rebounded while others continued to lag behind. 2013 marks the change; with demand strong, rents will continue to rise.

A Boston Business Journal report on the 2013 market growth, referencing a Jones Lang LaSalle’s Spring Skyline Review, notes, “Boston is seeing favorable trends in demographics and exposure to growth sectors…The Hub’s downtown submarkets appear to be entering a new chapter in each of their respective history books with the Financial District seeing results in filling up the low-rise portions of towers, as well as a transformation into a true work-play-live submarket.”

For more information perspective on the national office market, read the BBJ’s Supply and demand to tip scales in 2013.

Related Commercial Real Estate Listings
Current office space available in Boston

0 Facebook Interested in Cambridge Office Space

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Is Facebook returning to its roots? The Kendall Square office market is vacancy rates at a record low with Class A rents in the $50’s per square foot.

An exclusive report on the Boston Business Journal quotes a source with knowledge of Facebook’s growing interest in Cambridge office space, “they want to have a larger footprint here…they want to be near MIT to recruit staff and they want to be next to similar firms.”

The article also notes that Facebook currently has four employees in a temporary office space at 711 Atlantic Ave. in Boston’s Financial District.

For additional details on Facebook’s search for Cambridge office space, click through to the BBJ exclusive.

0 Amazon Leases Office Space in Kendall Square

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Wil Catlin

Amazon is on the move in Massachusetts; first, they agreed to collect Massachusetts sales tax from local customers which they have resisted for years, then they expanded their footprint in East Cambridge/Kendall Square.

An article in the Boston Globe notes, “the online retailing giant is leasing 105,000 square feet on several floors at 101 Main St., at the foot of the Longfellow Bridge, according to a person briefed on the deal. The company has already posted more than 30 local openings for software engineers and other tech professionals, another clear signal Amazon is speeding up efforts to establish a large presence in Massachusetts’ technology community.”

Continue reading the Boston Globe’s article on Amazon’s recent lease, or view available office space in Kendall Square.

0 Office Space in Kendall Square Pricing Out Start-ups

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Wil Catlin

Question, where do you put your office for your newly venture backed technology company? Well, it might not be Kendall Square. The Financial District of Boston has vacancy rates below 15 percent with prices in the Class B buildings around $30 per square foot.

The Boston Globe offers some perspective on this transformation, noting that “gentrification has made Kendall too expensive or too popular for the many, smaller, younger tech businesses that gave the area such cachet.”

Related Commercial Real Estate Availability
Kendall Square Office Space
Office Space for lease in Boston’s Financial District