0 Cape Air targets Boston’s Long Wharf as a seaplane docking spot

Posted on December 9, 2019 by Wil Catlin

Seaplanes are making waves in Boston. Boston Harbor last saw seaplanes in the 1940’s and as the congestion continues worsen it appears they will be making a comeback for trips to NYC.

Cape Air targets Boston’s Long Wharf as a seaplane docking spot

The Boston skyline is viewed from Long Wharf.
GARY HIGGINS

By Catherine Carlock – Real Estate Editor, Boston Business Journal | Dec 6, 2019

Cape Air has its eyes on a new location on Boston Harbor to launch its long-planned seaplane service between Boston and New York: Long Wharf.

Officials from the Hyannis-based airline will host a public meeting Wednesday, Dec. 18 at the Long Wharf Marriott to discuss “a proposal to serve Boston Waterboat Marina, 66 Long Wharf, with a 9-seat seaplane airline service available to the public.”

Andrew Bonney, senior vice president of planning for Cape Air, said in an interview that the airline has worked with officials including the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Boston Planning and Development Agency regarding launching a Cessna Caravan Amphibian between Boston and New York.

Cape Air flights would load at the tip of Long Wharf before taxiing one mile out to Boston Logan International Airport’s Runway 1432 and taking off, Bonney said. The flights would use the same spot for landing.

Before the service can launch, Cape Air would need to obtain a license amendment from the BPDA, which owns Long Wharf.

“The BPDA has asked Cape Air to conduct a community process, including stakeholder outreach, about their proposal for Long Wharf before anything can move forward,” spokesperson Bonnie McGilpin said in a statement. “If there is support for the proposal, BPDA would need to amend the license for Long Wharf to reflect these uses and that would require approval by the BPDA Board.”

If Cape Air receives the city license amendment and other federal regulatory requirements, Bonney hopes to launch by springtime.

A one-way flight would cost between $320 and $340 to travel the 191 miles between the two cities, according to Bonney. Traveling by plane or train from Boston to New York typically takes around three and a half hours, while a seaplane can go downtown to downtown in one hour, he said.

In the 1920s, seaplanes going between Boston and New York would dock behind South Station. But seaplane service hasn’t existed in Boston since the 1940s.

“We think it’s really exciting to be able to bring back this mode of transportation to the city of Boston,” Bonney said.

Catherine Carlock can be reached at ccarlock@bizjournals.com. Follow her on Twitter at @BosBizCatherine

0 Prospective Motor Mart Garage Redevelopment Would Boost Back Bay

Posted on October 4, 2018 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

Back Bay clearly is a destination for development in the City of Boston. If falls outside the FAA’s domain and doesn’t interfere with the “shadow effect”. One prime example is the Motor Mart Garage at 201 Stuart Street in Boston.

According to the BBJ, “the Motor Mart Garage redevelopment ‘would feature building a 310-foot residential tower atop the eight-story garage and converting 365 parking spaces into residential units…The 20-story tower would contain 222 apartments and condominiums, while the garage’s western portion would be converted into 84 residential units.'”

“The project’s height was considered as a continuation of the high spine of Boston,” the development team wrote in the Sept. 10 project notification form.

Additional details on the redevelopment are available on the Boston Business Journal, or you can view the detail page for further information Back Bay office space.

0 Boston Office Trends: Seaport, Kendall Sq. and Back Bay Near pre-2008 Crash

Posted on January 25, 2017 by Wil Catlin

Image Credit: Boston Globe

The value option in Boston office leasing, the Financial District, holds the single largest concentration of office space and workers. Submarkets like the Seaport, Kendall Square, and Back Bay are pushing numbers in excess of the pre-2008 crash.

From the Boston Globe:

Data from the Boston office of Colliers International show that vacancy rates for the upper reaches of buildings in the Financial District — floors 20 and above — are at their highest in nearly a decade. And as a whole, the Financial District lost more tenants per square foot in 2016 than any other area in the city, ending up with nearly 850,000 more square feet of vacant space than in 2015…The Seaport District remains the new “it” address, with companies leasing an additional 400,000 feet of office space in 2016.

0 Eight Proposals Compete for Winthrop Square in Boston

Posted on December 22, 2015 by Wil Catlin

proposed buildings in Winthrop Square in Boston's financial district

Credit: Curbed Boston

According to Curbed, plans to plunk one of Boston’s biggest real estate developments in living memory on the squat Winthrop Square Garage took a big step forward on Wednesday, with the city transferring garage ownership to the Boston Redevelopment Authority. The agency will now set about in earnest choosing a developer for the project” from the following eight proposals – click through to Curbed Boston to read more about each submission:

Millennium Partners
Thomas O’Brien
Accordia Partners
Hudson Group North America
Trinity Acquisitions
The Fallon Co.
Steven Belkin of Trans National Properties
Lincoln Property Co.

0 Check out Analytics Co InsightSquared’s new Boston HQ

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Have a peak at what groups are doing with their new office space.

The BBJ posted a photo gallery of InsightSquared’s new Boston HQ, and notes the following:

The new headquarters, which InsightSquared cemented with an office-warming party last week, is a far cry from where they started in 2010. Back then, they were working out of a tiny space at Bessemer Venture Partners.

“It feels great to be here,” said CEO Fred Shilmover at the company’s office-warming party last week. “It feels like our first grownup office.”

InsightSquared is backed by $27 million in venture funding and employs 170, up from less than half that amount in 2014.

0 Boston Rolls Out Virtual Suggestion Box for Input

Posted on November 11, 2015 by Wil Catlin

The city of Boston wants to hear from you about your vision; the city has contracted with Textizen to enable the virtual suggestion box to get your input.

According to Banker&Tradesman, the initiative encourages “residents to respond to survey questions on improving quality of life and what issues they think the city should focus on in the new master plan.”

0 Boston Landing is the City’s new Western Border

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Bizjournals.com

Having grown up West of Boston I had always felt that Fenway Park was the edge of the city. Today I still live West of the city and it is clear that our city boarders have not changed, but how we use the space within our borders has. Once active railyards have moved West along with companies like U.S. Steel. What was once rail lines for freight are now for passengers.

From the BBJ:

When the 15-acre Boston Landing development is fully built out, it will be referred to as its own district, much like the Seaport…”It’s really transformational,” Halliday said on a recent media tour of the New Balance Athletics headquarters, a key piece of the overall project. “We really are the western entrance to the city of Boston.”

The master plan for the 15-acre Boston Landing development spans almost 2 million square feet across a dozen buildings, including the recently completed 250,000-square-foot world headquarters for New Balance Athletics.

0 What Does the Commute Cost Boston Drivers?

Posted on September 6, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Do you pick you job based on where you live or do you pick where you live based on your job?

According to estimates from the Boston Globe, “Boston-area drivers spent an extra 64 hours in the car due to traffic in 2014, a new study found. During that time, they burned an extra 30 gallons of gas and also lost time they could have been productive. It added up to an estimated $1,388 lost per driver…Boston ranked as the sixth worst major metropolitan area for traffic congestion.”

Credit: Boston Globe

You can read the full article on the Boston Globe.

0 Boston Office Rents up 7.6%

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Wil Catlin

One Broadway in Kendall Square (click for property details)

Fewer options exist on the Boston office market, and what is available is more expensive then previous quarters. Combined with fewer concessions offered by landlords, local tenants are feeling the pinch.

From the Boston Globe:

Boston’s office market is hopping, according to reports issued by real estate brokerages Transwestern and Jones Lang LaSalle. Driven by strong employment gains and growing companies in need of additional space, rents are rising all across Greater Boston, up 7.6 percent in the last 12 months. Throughout Cambridge, there are just three vacant office spaces of 20,000 square feet or more on the market, and rents in Kendall Square are averaging above $70 per square foot. Along Route 128, vacancy rates are at record lows, while office rents along Interstate 495 are at seven-year highs.

0 BXBS of Massachusetts Moves to 101 Huntington Ave

Posted on June 16, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Gone are the tall private cubes, now, contemporary office space is much more open and collaborative with bright colors. Healthcare in particular has gone through a tremendous transformation over the year. One of the most visible changes is how they use their office space. BXBS is showing off their new headquarters at 101 Huntington Avenue owner by Boston Properties.

According to a post on the BBJ, accompanying a slideshow of the new Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts HQ, the new space “takes up the 11th through the 20th floors of the building, with the exception of the utility floor on the 14th floor. The new space is 60,000 square feet smaller than its previous space — clocking in at 308,000 square feet and will save the insurer $2 million annually…The space has also been renovated to have the signature white and blue color scheme throughout. The color scheme mixed with bright LED lights give the headquarters a futuristic feel.”

Follow the link to view the BBJ’s full office slideshow.

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