Category Archives: Financial District Boston Office Space

0 Boston Office Towers: Occupancy Drop; Rents still Climbing

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State street offices in Boston

28 State Street – Office Building

Where is the value in office space within Boston? Low and mid-rise Class A.

Tenants in recent years have worked on space efficiency like State Street with their new facility in the Seaport, which will have less than 100 square feet per employee. Additionally, tenants have sought out a flight to quality by moving up in floors during the recent economic downturn and locking in rates for a longer term.

The Boston Business Journal cites a survey by Jones Lang LaSalle, “which examined 46 towers in the Back Bay, Financial District and the Seaport, found 22 buildings where occupancies dropped, while 21 saw increases and three were flat, year-over-year. Within the 31.8 million-square-foot office market, 5.7 million is available to lease – the equivalent of three John towers.”

More information from the survey is available on the BBJ’s website.

0 Boston Tech Companies Throw Dance Party at Lunch

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Dance party at lunch in Boston seaport district

Credit: The Boston Globe

It seems that ice cream Friday for the office doesn’t stand a chance, when pitted against a lunchtime dance party. Will this be a new mainstay within the Innovation district or a passing fad?

The Boston Globe reports, “Lunch Beat Boston style is an amped-up dance hour, where the Seaport’s District Hall is turned into a darkened disco, and techies groove to thumping electronica so loud that networking becomes, by necessity, a wordless bounce to the beat with your neighbor…Lunch Beat — a global franchise that started three years ago in the electronic dance music hub of Stockholm — is a noontime rave intended to break up the work routine with a midday jolt of techno tunes. Organizers in Greater Boston held their fourth such rave Wednesday at District Hall, the newly erected center of the city’s budding Innovation District.”

The full Globe editorial is available to Boston Globe subscribers on its website.

0 One Winthrop Square in Boston goes up for Sale

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Office space at one winthrop square in boston

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Another downtown office asset hits the sale block. This week it’s One Winthrop Square in Boston.

From the BBJ:

One Winthrop Square, a 114,000-square-foot office building in Boston’s Financial District, has been listed for sale by its Germany-based owner…Commercial real estate sources expect a relatively high value for One Winthrop Square in light of last month’s sale of One Liberty Square, the 13-story office building also in the Financial District.

Additional information on the listing of One Winthrop Sq. is available on the Boston Business Journal’s website

0 PayPal’s Boston Office in International Place

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PayPal office in Boston

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Shark Tank, 160, PayPal Here, PayPal’s Boston incubator are the four standout items that are occurring at PayPal’s office at International Place.  IP is no longer home to law firms, mutual fund companies, and accounting firms. Landlords have adapted to our new economy and rolled out the welcome mat.

A BBJ editorial observes, “while PayPal’s home base is in San Jose, California, the payments technology company’s Boston office continues to fill an important role…the group moved to a new 65,000-square-foot space, at International Place in the Financial District, more than doubling the size of PayPal’s previous office in Boston.”

For additional information on PayPal’s Boston Office or International Place in Boston, continue on to read the full Boston Business Journal article.

0 Wellesley Bank Opens Location at 1 Federal Street

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Wellesley Bank logo

Credit: Wellesley Bank

A new bank branch combined with a new logo at 1 Federal Street.  Wellesley Bank is one of many banks targeting downtown customers with their new branch.

An article on the Wall Street Journal’s website notes, “the new logo coincides with the opening of the new Boston office location at One Federal Street in the heart of Boston’s Financial District.”

For additional details on the logo and new location at 1 Federal Street, real the full article on the WSJ’s website.

0 Financial District Tower Proposed Again

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Proposed office tower location in Financial District Boston

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Round two for the proposed tallest building in Boston; the BRA might be offering the 47,738 square-foot parcel up for sale. The market rents in Class A Financial District buildings continue to move up as vacancy rates continue to drop.

According to the BBJ, “Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who had previously sought proposals to build a 1,000-foot tower with 1.3 million square feet of office space at the Winthrop Street Garage site on Devonshire Street between Winthrop Square and Federal Street, confirmed the BRA’s plan to seek a developer for the 47,738-square-foot parcel.”

Additional details can be found on the Boston Business Journal’s article, Menino Tower to get Second Chance

0 Tech Companies Continue to Migrate to Boston Financial District

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100 summer street in Boston

Office tower at 100 Summer St. in Boston’s Financial District

Why are tech tenants looking at the Financial District?  Value, access and availability.  Currently the Financial District is the only submarket that has it all.  Rents within the Class B segment can still be achieved in the mid to upper $30’s PSF while comparable spaces in Back Bay would trade in the mid to upper $40’s PSF.

A Banker & Tradesman article explains the attraction of the Financial District, quoting Ben Heller, a managing director at Jones Lang LaSalle:

“Tenants increasingly view the Innovation District, Fort Point Channel and Financial District interchangeably when scouting office locations…the infill of residential and destination retail is really making an impact on office space there.”

Follow the link to view Boston Financial District office space for lease

0 Tech Companies Set up Shop in Boston’s Financial District

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high street office building in the financial district

100 High Street in the Financial District

The Financial District is no longer home to bankers, mutual fund managers and lawyers. The Financial District of today is home to a great cross section of newly funded and well established tech companies. Within our client base we are seeing customers looking for Red Line access for their employees along with space that is competitively priced. Office spaces within the Class B market can range from upper $20’s to low to mid $30’s.

The Boston Business Journal reports, “Cassidy Turley, which represents landlords in lease deals, found that the Financial District’s volume of available Class A space fell to 4.4 million square feet, or 18 percent of total square footage, at the end of June. That’s down 20 percent from a year ago or 4.9 million square feet. It also represents the lowest availability rate for any second quarter since 2008 just prior to Wall Street’s crash.”

To read the full BBJ article, continue on to the Boston Business Journal’s website.

Available Office Space
Commercial Space for lease in Boston Financial District

0 Staples to Open Flagship Store in Boston Financial District

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Staples location at One Washington Mall in Boston

Photo Credit: Boston Business Journal

Staples will have a new “Easy Button” location in the Financial District!  One Washington Mall will be the location for a new 17,500 square foot store.

The Boston Business Journal reports, “the Framingham-based office supply company has signed a lease for 17,500 square feet at One Washington Mall in the former Newbury Comics space, as well as a portion of the second floor.”

The full BBJ article can be found here: Stapes to Open New Flagship Location

Related Commercial Property Listings
Financial District Office Space

0 45 Milk Street Goes Under Agreement

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Office Building at 45 Milk st. in Boston financial district

Photo Credit: Banker & Tradesman

The Class B Office market continues to see trades within the Financial District.  At $302 per square foot this continue to push the market values up.

“Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, formerly RREEF Real Estate, has agreed to buy the nine-story, 70,000-square-foot office building at 45 Milk St. for about $21.2 million, or more than $300 per square-foot, industry executives told Banker & Tradesman. Anglo Irish paid nearly $34 million for the asset in 2007, just before the financial markets came crashing down,” stated a report on Banker & Tradesman’s website.

The full article is available at B&T online