Is smaller better or is the new mayor now open Chiofaro’s Harbor Garage Proposal? No matter what side of this you are on our waterfront continues to evolve and buildings created decades ago are being razed to make way for new developments that are in line with today’s uses and environmental standards.
Photos from The Boston Globe:
What does today’s innovative office space look like? Well MassChallenge has moved into their new offices in Jamestown’s building at 21 Drydock in the Seaport area of Boston. Have a look at cool creative space designed to allows today’s innovators creates tomorrow’s new technology.
The Boston Business Journal describes the accelerator’s move, “Boston-based startup accelerator MassChallenge has officially moved from One Marina Park Drive to 21 Drydock Avenue, in the Innovation and Design Building. Over 100 startups will work in the new place from June 23, kicking off the fifth MassChallenge accelerator program.”
Credit: The Boston Herald
What do you want to see on the Greenway? Are you a fan of keeping the green space or providing more housing, retail and office. This plan calls for market condos and 4,000 RSF of retail space to be added to Boston’s Greenway .
From the Boston Herald:
“A Boston developer is looking to build a 12-story luxury condominium building to fill in one of the missing “teeth” facing the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway…Boston Residential Development’s plans for the estimated $40 million India Street project call for 44 condos and some 4,000 square feet of restaurant/retail space on a 7,100-square-foot site that’s now a small parking lot.
The condos would be a mix of one- to three-bedrooms from 600 square feet to 1,750 square feet.“
Credit: NY Times
Live, work & play. Downtown crossing is in the final phase of its transformation. 23 years ago I moved back to Boston from California and took the T to Park Street and walked to Milk Street daily. At that time you could still buy a suit at Filene’s Basement. Over those years we have seen retailers come and go and some shuttered buildings evolve to residential buildings. Now, we are seeing the area become a destination location for office workers priced out of E. Cambridge, but wish to maintain Red Line access. 1,000 new housing units are coming online and the repurposing of the Daniel H. Burnham building into offices for Arnold Communications.
A national voice on Downtown Crossing, the NY Times, describes “some $4 billion in private investment over the last decade is finally stoking the long-neglected district with both a new attitude and fresh appeal. Developers are rapidly reinventing Downtown Crossing as an upscale residential neighborhood filled with stores, restaurants and cafes catering to students and young professionals.”
The NYT article is available online: New Energy Rouses Boston’s Downtown Crossing
Credit: Boston Globe
The Back Bay skyline could see yet another change on the horizon. Plans state that there would be one high rise and at least one mid-rise tower on the site. The present building was designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Wood and opened in 1987. That building replaced the older station that opened in 1928 for New Haven Railroad.
The Boston Globe reported on the considered remodeling of Back Bay Station, nothing “the owner of the John Hancock Tower in Boston is negotiating with Governor Deval Patrick’s administration to renovate and manage the MBTA’s Back Bay Station in exchange for the right to build a towering complex of residences, stores, and offices… [it would include] a skyscraper and at least one other building above the rehabilitated station, which would get a new retail arcade, ventilation upgrades, and a glass facade along Dartmouth Street.”
The full Globe article is available online, here.
Credit: Boston Business Journal
Where should you locate your company office? Most groups I speak with are trying to provide an option that accommodates multiple solutions; easy access from public transportation, amenity rich environment, vibrant workforce and economically feasible.
This doesn’t mean that groups are flocking to the vacant office buildings on 495, but rather looking inside of 128 and more specifically within areas serviced by the Red Line. New hotspots for the emerging tech firms are surrounding the Broadway T stop. This caters to the young workforce residing in South Boston, the commuter coming in from Metro West combined with those either driving or relying on public transit from the South Shore. This area is generally priced in the mid $20’s PSF unlike the Seaport which would price in the upper $30’s to low $40’s for a comparable Class B building.
From the BBJ:
“Some suburban companies are moving to Cambridge and there’s all the buzz about the Seaport District,” said Garry Holmes, president of R.W. Holmes Realty Co. in Wayland. “We’re also seeing the same people who worked at EMC and live in the suburbs launching startups. And they’re convinced the in-vogue thing to do for hiring is to have an office in Seaport. As a result, lots of those startups are bypassing the suburbs and it’s having an impact out here.”
The full article is available on the Boston Business Journal.
Starbucks has crossed the Fort Point Channel into the Seaport with its new location at Fan Pier.
Credit: fanpierboston.com
From the WSJ’s Market Watch:
“Lease agreements have been reached with each of the new tenants to occupy more than 21,450 square feet of existing space on the lobby level of Fifty Northern Avenue, one of two build-to-suit towers – along with Eleven Fan Pier Boulevard – housing Vertex Pharmaceutical’s global headquarters…Starbucks Coffee Company’s Fan Pier location will occupy 2,100 square feet of street floor space, which is expected to open in the summer of 2014.”
Credit: Banker & Tradesman
Another new lease for the Downtown Crossing, this time its retail. Headquartered in Dublin Ireland, www.primark.com was founded in 1969 and today operates 250 store in eight countries.
From Banker & Tradesman: “Fashion retailer Primark has signed a long-term lease for 112,000 square feet at the Burnham Building in the Millennium Tower complex at Boston’s Downtown Crossing…Dublin-based Primark’s first U.S. store will occupy four floors in the eight-story Burnham Building, including 70,000 square feet of retail floor space.
View Listings: Downtown Crossing Office Space
This is a very interesting idea. I would love to see the results and read the texters’ suggestions; I imagine they would likely differ from the residents of the community. Either way, a great reach out program.
Credit: Boston.com
According to Boston.com, city officials are looking to use crowdsourcing to “help reduce the number and duration of business vacancies, increase community involvement, and promote innovation, according to municipal workers spearheading the pilot program.”
360 Newbury Street
We’re using our Twitter feed (@bradviors) to garner opinions on what you’d like to see occupy 360 Newbury Street.
Tweet your suggestions using #360Newbury in your message.
You can see the responses here: 360 Newbury Street
Credit: Boston Business Journal
Mayor Walsh is looking to offer some reprieve to the Fenway Center Project. Will this stimulus be enough for the $550 million project to get off the ground? The residential and commercial market are both very strong and seem to be poised to continue upward; the real concern is the cost of construction.
The BBJ offered some underlying details on the tax agreement:
“The proposed 121A tax agreement, first reported by the Boston Globe Monday, is intended to provide property tax relief in a designated “blighted” areas. The Rosenthal tax plan is expected to be on the Boston Redevelopment Authority agenda at its board meeting on Thursday. The state would also have to approve the arrangement.”
The full article is available on the Boston Business Journal’s website.
