Category Archives: Kendall Square Office Space

0 Kendall Square Office and Lab Space in High Demand

Posted on by
office space on binney street in east cambridge

Credit: BBJ

East Cambridge is host to some of the best know pharma and tech companies.  Lab space has become a very limited commodity and Amgen is in the hunt for 150k RSF.  According to CoStar the lab vacancy rate among the 17 buildings is 7.1 percent on a direct basis or 17.3 percent including sublets.

The BBJ puts the competitive Kendall Square real estate market in perspective:

The East Cambridge office and research market includes only 6.4 million square feet — meaning…three deals alone could lock up about 10 percent of the neighborhood’s entire inventory when all is said and done. The activity, along with strong leasing among major information-technology players, is fueling a pricing surge in East Cambridge that has seen average annual rents surpass $58 per square foot, by far the highest in the region and among the highest for any neighborhood in the country, according to market data provided by Cassidy Turley in Boston.

The full article is available on the Boston Business Journal, here.

0 Cambridge Offices for Tech Giants Compared

Posted on by
Kendall Square Office space in cambridge for twitter

Credit: Boston Herald

Where would you rather work?  Google, Microsoft or Amazon.  Have a look at the benefits each has in the Kendall office in East Cambridge.

Xconomy.com has provided an office space comparison of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon’s Kendall Square office space. The articles notes, “just about every West Coast tech company worth its salt has established a branch office in the [Kendall Square] neighborhood. But some are larger than others: the Twitter, Facebook, and Apple outposts remain relatively small, while Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have all established large footprints.”

For more specifics on the tech companies Cambridge offices, jump over to coverage on Xconomy.com.

0 Google Opens New Cambridge Office

Posted on by
Google opens Kendall Sq office

Credit: BetaBoston

“Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful,” and with that, their new office in Cambridge inspire.  The following are the 10 items about Google philosophy, and some things to think about as you type in your next query:

1.       Focus on the user and all else will follow.

2.       It’s best to do one thing really, really well.

3.       Fast is better than slow.

4.       Democracy on the web works.

5.       You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.

6.       You can make money without doing evil.

7.       There’s always more information out there.

8.       The need for information crosses all borders.

9.       You can be serious without a suit.

10.      Great just isn’t good enough.

Interior of Google's cambridge office in Kendall Square

Credit: BetaBoston

Betaboston offers a report on the opening of Google’s new Cambridge offices:

“Google opened up its new offices in Cambridge today which connects three Cambridge Centers into one expansive campus sitting above Kendall Square. The key space in the complex is the (somewhat controversial) “Connector” built across the once fully public  rooftop garden between Four and Five Cambridge Center.”

0 Kendall Square and Cambridge Office Space: Cost Continues to Climb

Posted on by
cambridge ma over the river

Credit: BBJ/bizjournals

The price of office space in the Boston Market continue to ratchet up and squeeze out those who signed their lease in the recent downturn. Rents in Kendall Sq. have continued to climb due to limited supply  and large national tech firms wanting to be there. Small firms are finding opportunities a couple of stops away on the Red Line’s Downtown Crossing stop,  where the Class B market is pricing in the low to mid $30’s PSF.

A report in the Boston Business Journal offers some quantification for the pace of office space transactions  in Cambridge and Kendall Square, noting “data from Cassidy Turley reveals that 323,135 square feet of space was absorbed in Cambridge’s already tight office market between Jan. 1 and June 30, while average rents in the life sciences and technology hub increased by 14 percent on a year-over-year basis…according to the report, office availability in Cambridge fell to 10.5 percent in the second quarter while average rents rose to $50.33 per square foot, up from about $44 a year earlier. The city’s office market is comprised of approximately 10 million square feet of leasable space.”

You can read the full article on the BBJ’s website, Bizjournals.

0 Amazon Adds Office Space in Kendall Square

Posted on by
101 main street office space in east Cambridge

101 Main Street in Kendall Square

Since Amazon now charges sales tax, it looks like they’re taking on another expense and adding additional office space at 101 Main Street in East Cambridge.  East Cambridge no longer caters to the emerging small business; now landlords are focused on large corporate tenants like Google and Microsoft.

An article on Xconomy.com adds some context around Amazon’s expanding footprint in Cambridge:

“Amazon recently added about 11,000 square feet to its existing offices in Cambridge’s Kendall Square neighborhood, right next to the prime recruiting grounds at MIT…It’s a popular spot for West Coast technology giants to set up shop as they race to hire talented employees, especially outside the highly competitive San Francisco Bay Area. Google and Microsoft  have significant offices in the same area of Cambridge, and Facebook has added an engineering outpost of its own. Apple also previously established a smaller office, with a focus on speech technology.”

Xconomy’s article on Amazon’s additional space in Cambridge is available, here.

Click through if you want to view additional property details on the listing page for 101 Main Street in Kendall Square.

0 Cambridge Co-working Office Space Sends Five Entrepreneurs to Shark Tank

Posted on by
Workbar, coworking space in Cambridge MA

Credit: BBJ

Co-working office spaces continue to create a platform where innovative ideas can turn into companies.  Yes, I’m a fan of Shark Tank and I love how the show boils a product pitch down to five minutes from pitch to investment.

Reporting on the local angle on the show, the BBJ notes that “entrepreneurs drove from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to pitch their business ideas at Cambridge co-working space Workbar on Thursday in hopes of getting national exposure on ABC’s Shark Tank…About 100 people were standing in line an hour before pitches started.

The growing interest and relevance of co-working office space in Cambridge is beneficial to both the entrepreneurs, who will spur future growth, as well as the environment and infrastructure that surrounds it.

For details on the five selected entrepreneurs, read the full article on the Boston Business Journal.

0 Boston Emerges as State’s Tech Startup Hub

Posted on by

Has Boston really become the state’s capital for startups?  Well yes.  This came to be for two primary reasons; public access and cost of real estate.  Downtown Crossing, DTX, is serviced by the T’s Red, Green Orange and Blue lines.  Combined with the Silver Line and a short walk from South Station it offers employers a great recruiting tool as they vie for new talent.

Economics. Plain and simple.  DTX is the last real value play within the Class B market and is what most startups are seeking.  Opportunities can still be achieved with in the upper $20’s PSF while most buildings are pricing in the low to mid $30’S PSF.

Map of boston office space

Click to view or download as a high resolution pdf

The Boston Globe’s niche online business publication, betaboston.com, notes the following:

Last year…Boston accomplished a previously unheard of feat in the tech world by having more venture capital deals than Cambridge — for years the center of gravity of the startup scene in Massachusetts. And a large number of those deals went to companies located outside the Innovation District, in neighboring business zones such as the Financial and Leather districts and Downtown Crossing.

0 Why are they leaving Waltham for Boston and Cambridge?

Posted on by
Kendall Square commuters rely on the T to get to work in Cambridge, Ma

Credit: MIT

Why are the V.C. firms leaving Waltham for Boston?  Is it traffic and higher priced rents?  No, the customer is there.  Downtown Crossing (DTX) has evolved to being a hot bed of new technology companies that wanted a few simple items.  Rents; looking for an affordable option, DTX has Class B rents ranging from the mid to upper $20’s to the mid to upper $30’s PSF.  The swing in price is due the specific location, the build out of the space and the condition of the overall building.  In addition some buildings have a staffed lobby, while other operate on a key FOB system.

Location; emerging companies are competing for a hot commodity, talented staff.  Location becomes a huge factor what that young employee doesn’t own a car and relies on the T to get them around.  DTX is uniquely positioned at the Red, Green, Blue and Orange lines.

So, that is why the V.C. firms are moving back to the city to pay Class A rents that can start in the upper $40’s PSF and beyond?

The latest Venture firm to vacate Waltham for Boston or Cambridge? North Bridge Venture Partners.

From betaboston.com:

North Bridge Venture Partners, based in Waltham, is planning to move to Boston or Cambridge some time later this year, said general partner Michael Skok. “Our leanings are toward the Innovation District or Downtown, mostly based on entrepreneurs saying it,” Skok said.

The Betaboston.com article on North Bridge Venture Partners is available in full, here.

 

0 Kendall Square Lures Startups from Boston Suburbs

Posted on by
1 Kendall Sq. office space

Credit: OneKendallSquare

More companies are moving into the city and vacating their suburban campus model.  Why is the occurring?  Talent, employers want to make it easy for the existing workforce and also for future new hires.  Most younger workers don’t wish to have cars and would prefer to walk, bike or T to work. Cambridge, among other downtown hubs, are reaping the benefits.

The Boston Globe notes the recent lure of Kendall Square and the Seaport in Boston:

The suburban exodus means demand for commercial space around Kendall Square and the Seaport is greater than it’s ever been. The danger is that all this demand prices out the small companies that are driving the innovation economy’s urban movement in the first place.

The full article is available on the Boston Globe’s website.

0 How Startups Pick their Hometowns

Posted on by
View of skyline

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.