Category Archives: Downtown Crossing Office Space

0 Epstein’s Instructive Strategy for Transforming Downtown Boston

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Bob Epstein

Credit: bisnow

Bob Epstein can teach us a few things about remaking duds into destinations.  Lafayette Center was that dud that wasn’t getting any airtime from prospective tenants, despite location, large floor plates and infrastructure.

“At Lafayette City Center, they also saw a property with ‘good bones and upside potential. It has high, 14-foot to 17-foot ceilings, expansive column spacing of 30 feet by 36 feet and big windows. As the downtown vacancy rate falls, rents are rising but Downtown Crossing is reasonably priced, Tom tells us. Its rents in the high $30s/SF to $40s/SF compare well to Back Bay rents in the $50s/SF and Cambridge hitting the $60s/SF. Downtown Crossing is still a value play. But back in 2002, Abbey Group saw that it—like Fenway in the ‘90s and Back Bay in the ‘70s—was undervalued,” according to a Bisnow editorial.

The full Bisnow article is available on its website.

0 Downtown Crossing Grocery Store to Open on April 29th

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Downtown Crossing Boston

Credit: BBJ

On April 29th you will now be able to buy everything from shiitake mushrooms to fresh salmon at Downtown Crossing in Boston.  Roch Bros. Supermarket will be opening their 25,000 square foot store at 8 Summer Street with hours from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. through 9 p.m. on Sundays.

Some background from the Boston Business Journal:

“The store will be the first supermarket in Boston’s Downtown Crossing neighborhood…[and] will employ 70 full-time and more than 200 part-time workers. Larry Baxter, an associate since 1983, will be store manager, while 16-year Roche Bros. veterans Marvin Alvarez and Krystle Bredeson will be assistant managers.“

 

0 Kendall Square Office Rents Reach Record Level

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4 Cambridge Center

Four Cambridge Center

With the boost of office rents in East Cambridge, Downtown Crossing has become the new hotbed for Redline creative and tech companies with Class B rents still in the $30’s PSF.

The Boston Globe is reporting “Office rents in Kendall Square have hit an all-time high of almost $67 per square foot, breaking a record last set in 2001, according to the real estate brokerage Transwestern RBJ…Transwestern said the average asking rent on a top-tier office space in East Cambridge set a new record of $66.63 in the final quarter of 2014, edging out the previous record of $65.85 set in 2001. East Cambridge’s vacancy rate of 6.7 percent was lower than many parts of Boston’s central business district, but higher than those of the smaller office markets of South Station, North Station, and Longwood, whose vacancy rates ranged from 2 to 4.4 percent.”

Additional insight on the East Cambridge boom is available on the Boston Globe.

Office availability and neighborhood information for Downtown Crossing and Kendall Square are available on the following submarket pages:
Downtown Crossing offices
Kendall Square office space

0 Rents Continue to Climb for Downtown Boston Office Tenants

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100 high street in Boston

Credit: B&T

The recent trades on the Class A and B will provide the fuel for increased rent growth for 2015 as new owners justify their investment.  Rent concessions and tenant improvement dollars will move the opposite direction.

“Rents in Boston’s Downtown Crossing have risen from $25 to $35 per square foot in the last two years, with growing demand from tech tenants…for tenants looking for pockets of value, good deals remain in the low-rise floors of Financial District buildings, where vacancies remain in the mid-teens and rents average in the low $40 range,” according to a quote from Joseph Sciolla, managing principal at CresaPartners Boston on Banker&Tradesman.

You can read the full article on the B&T website.

0 Wanderu Explains Selecting Downtown Crossing HQ (Video)

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Wanderu Boston Start-up logoWhy is Downtown Crossing (DTX) such a hot market?  Price, access, infrastructure and vibe.  Wanderu chose DTX over all other options in the city because it checked all 4 boxes.

Click over to watch the video on the Boston Business Journal.

0 Co-Working Office Space Coalition Opens in Downtown Crossing

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co-working coalition in downtown crossing Boston

Credit: Bostinno.Streetwise.co

Coalition is the latest to enter the shared workspace environment, opening in Downtown Crossing at 101 Arch Street.

Coalition opened in Boston’s Downtown Crossing neighborhood in February. “The setting is no doubt part of Coalition’s charm. At 101 Arch St., the 7,060-square-foot office boasts a fantastic view over The Hub and no shortage of restaurants and bars nearby for post-work winding down. (The area has also attracted collaborative working spaces in the area including WeWork, Techstars and even CIC Boston/Space with a Soul.),” according to an article on Bostinno.Streetwise.co. “Coalition aims to differentiate by partnering with MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge and other similar organizations to give young entrepreneurs the chance to work with seasoned local professionals. It’s a pretty impressive community, too, with venture capital and private equity investors and veteran entrepreneurs (with two to four founded firms under their belts) alike.”

Follow the link to read the complete Bostinno.Streetwise.co article.

 

0 November 9th: 142nd Anniversary of the Great Boston Fire

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archive image of the great Boston fire in 1872

Credit: Wikipedia

The great Boston Fire started on November 9th in 1872 that started on the corner of Kingston and Summer Streets which is now the heart of Downtown Crossing (DTX).

The historic significance of the fire’s aftermath of the city’s commercial development is noted in The Daily Times:

On this day in 1872, a fire in Boston destroyed hundreds of buildings and kills 14 people. In the aftermath, the city established an entirely new system of firefighting and prevention. The fire also led to the creation of Boston’s financial district…The business community saw the burned area as an opportunity to expand its presence downtown. The city’s financial district was established where the fire had hit hardest and Boston soon became a key business center of the late 19th-century United States.

0 Downtown Crossing Building on Summer Street Bought by Synergy

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Summer Street office building in downtown crossing

Credit: Boston Business Journal

As landlords assemble abutting parcels is there a master development plan or is it simply better economies of scale?  Downtown Crossing (DTX) is clearly getting a lot of attention from tenants and landlords.

A recent purchase in Downtown Crossing by Synergy is described by the BBJ:

“Synergy Investments and DivcoWest spent $48 million Friday on a building that gives Synergy control of a full block in a rapidly improving part of Downtown Crossing. DWF IV LLC bought 55-63 Summer St. and 65-69 Summer St. from Brickman 55 Summer LLC of New York City.”

0 Sonos Joins other Boston Tech Companies in Move to Downtown Crossing

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Lafayette center in Downtown Crossing

Credit: LafayetteCCboston.com

Where are hip technology companies signing new leases?  DTX, Downtown Crossing!  Why?  It is a great value option with T access from Green, Orange, Red and Blue lines.

From the Boston Globe:

Instead of expanding in Kendall Square with the Googles and Amazons of the world, Sonos recently signed a lease to move into 170,000 square feet in Lafayette City Center, a downtown Boston office complex that long served as back-office space for State Street Corp.

“Once we saw Lafayette, it was clear to me that it was the best place for us,” said Andrew Schulert, vice president of quality at Sonos, which employs 375 people.

What Schulert saw was a resurgent real estate market in Downtown Crossing, where hip technology companies are joining new retail shops, restaurants, and upscale residential buildings. The interest among tech firms has benefited downtown landlords who are trying to replace dated department stores and other tenants that have left the area.

0 Downtown Crossing Farmers’ Market: Roche Bros. Can’t Wait

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Roche Bros. farmers market in downtown crossing

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The newest tenant to downtown crossing has opened, kinda, even though their space isn’t ready yet.  Looking for fresh fruit an vegetables, stop by daily from 10 AM to 6 PM!

Roche Bros. to set up a farmers’ market outside of its coming Downtown Crossing location to introduce itself to the neighborhood until the store officially opens in early Spring, 2015.

According to a news release today, printed in the BBJ, “the grocer is setting up five fresh produce stands outside the historic Millennium Tower/Burnham Building where construction is currently underway on the company’s 25,000 square-foot flagship supermarket. The open-air offerings are scheduled to operate seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The produce stands will primarily feature fresh fruits, as well as some vegetables, flowers, and seasonal baked goods. The Roche Bros. team will keep the stands open through October.”

You can read the complete statement and related article on the Boston Business Journal’s website.