Category Archives: Newton Office Space

0 Two Office Buildings in Newton and Watertown Net $16.9M from KS Partners

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Office space in Boston suburbs

Credit: The Real Reporter

KS Partners continues to expand its portfolio inside 128 with the acquisitions of buildings in Newton and Watertown. Boston Realty Advisors’ suburban team of Adam Meixner, Jeremy Freid, Doug Adamian and Tyler Griffin is looking forward to working with KS Partners on filling the remaining vacancies. The team is expecting to see quite a few tenants being priced out of the Kendall Square submarket in Cambridge and looking for more affordable options just west in Watertown and Newton.

From The Real Reporter:

“What we see happening there is very dramatic,” says [Davis Cos. CEO] Jonathan Davis. “Watertown in general and the Arsenal Street area in particular have been an underappreciated sweet spot for a very long time that is going to only get better in the next five to 10 years . . . It really feels like this wave of activity is here to stay; this is not a temporary trend.”

Real Reporter first announced Davis Cos. had both 101 Walnut St. and two Waltham buildings under agreement in August, the latter purchase a separate pact negotiated by HFF involving 303,000 sf at 1025 and 1075 Main St. which were acquired from Gramercy Capital for $52.5 million. Davis calculates the former Baybanks headquarters now occupied by Bank of America was purchased for half its replacement cost and has badly needed space available in one of suburban Boston’s top business addresses while being close to the city center that has an expanding menu of LWP elements plus a commuter rail connecting to Boston. “We’ve got a quality property with good cash flow and 80,000 square feet to lease in a strong market, so we are very excited by this purchase,” says Davis.

0 N2 Corridor Courting New England Israeli Business Council

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office space outside of Boston at N2 Corridor

Credit: Boston Magazine

The town of Newton recently opened its doors to welcome the New England Israeli Business Council along with Governor Patrick, who had brought the council here to Newton.

Governor Patrick, along with the Israel Business Council and many members of the Newton business community attended an invite-only event to share what Boston’s Suburban innovation district, the N2 corridor, has to offer. With large companies such as CyberArck who have rooted their corporate offices in the heart of the N2 corridor in Newton, trust this move to be both critical and beneficial for their corporations.

The Newton/Needham area boasts convenience, lifestyle and most importantly, talent.

David Goodtree, a co-host of the event last week who represented the New England Israel Business Council, stated in Boston Magazine “businesses also want to be close to other talents, whether it’s engineers or sales people, or even other executives. They need more office space, and more affordable office space…that’s where the appeal of the N2 Corridor space comes in”, Goodtree argued. “It’s a prime destination for growth stage companies”.

Additional information on the N2 Corridor is available on the Boston Magazine.

0 Office Space Boom in Boston Area Suburbs

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new office building in Needham for TripAdvisor

Credit: Boston Globe

The greater Boston economy is strong with jobs, construction and capital.  Many office users are seeking value while trying to straddle the live-work-play model for their staff.  Not every company can be located within a five-minute walk of South Station, nor can they offer free parking to their employees. What we are seeing is locations that offer infrastructure, reap the benefits of today’s strong office market.

A recent Boston Globe article remarked, “the western suburbs around Route 128 are experiencing a building boom, with new headquarters for growing companies such as TripAdvisor and Vistaprint among five huge developments under construction in Needham, Waltham, and neighboring towns…The attractions of the suburbs include much lower rents and lots of choices. Moreover, the workspaces — either new or newly renovated — are far from the souless corporate boxes of the 1980s that dotted the suburban landscape. The interiors of some new offices look as if they could comfortably fit along Seaport Boulevard in Boston or Broadway in Cambridge.”

Jump over to the Globe’s website for its full article.

0 Re-invigorating the Watertown Arsenal Area

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Athenahealth in Watertown Arsenal

Credit: athenahealth

Athenahealth is planning to re-invigorate the historic Watertown arsenal and the area with the addition of restaurants, retail stores and an internal expansion. In the process, they also seek to create an 1,800-car garage on the west end of the campus. With the addition of amenities, downtown Tenants will be attracted to the area due to its cost effectiveness, accessibility to Boston and public transportation as well as the ability to provide parking for employees. This should have a positive overall impact on businesses moving to the area and office space in surrounding markets such as Needham and Newton.

From Watertown’s Wicked Local coverage:

“The new owners of the 29-acre former Army complex wants to add restaurants, retail stores and increase the size of their corporate headquarters. In the process, they also seek to create about seven acres of open space by removing surface parking and moving it into an 1,800-car garage on the west end of the campus.”

 

0 Watertown Office Market Undergoing Rapid Change

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watertown MA

Credit: ProgrammableWeb.com

Pleasant Street in Watertown is undergoing rapid change in regards to new construction and the purchase of existing buildings between there and Waltham. It is becoming a hotbed for CRE investors and start-up tech firms are beginning to trickle in from Cambridge because of how competitive the market is.

Maybe this trend will continue to push out into Greater Boston and will have a long term effect on Needham and Newton office space?

0 The Belclare in Wellesley Takes Shape

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Wellesley office building Belclare being built

Credit: Wicked Local

The Wellesley Inn Site, home to a future re-development of Class A residential condominiums, is finally making progress after it has sat vacant for nearly a decade. Maybe this will motivate Ownerships along the Washington Street corridor to capitalize on the “highest and best-use” for their property. With a future influx of residents coming to the area, perhaps local developers will see the need to build additional office buildings in Wellesley and the strong markets surrounding such as Needham and Newton.

Wicked Local offers the following quote from John Warshaw, developer of Belclare in Wellesley:

“It was a bit of a challenge at the beginning to get people interested,” [Belclare developer Jordan Warshaw] said, “Once it got going there’s been great momentum.” After only a few months on the market, Warshaw said that nearly half of the new units were spoken for. Eight months into construction the residential units are nearly sold out.”

 

0 Needham Crossing Progressing

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Needham Crossing development

Credit: prnewswire

The Town of Needham is experiencing a boom in development. With an abundance of newly-constructed office buildings in Needham, recent zoning changes as well as the state’s add-a-lane highway project –- which will include on- and off-ramps for Route 128 at Kendrick Street -– Jeremy Freid, a partner in the suburban arm of Boston Realty Advisors, believes said change will send positive signals to the business community.

A Needham Times editorial on WickedLocal, Let Needham Crossing thrive, includes a progress report on the commercial development:

“The biggest boon to Needham Crossing came in late 2012 when TripAdvisor agreed to move its headquarters there after Needham Town Meeting approved $1.8 million in tax breaks for the company in exchange for construction of a new headquarters and the hiring of 250 additional employees over five years. The new headquarters is slowly coming to fruition. Its steel frame is already up, and the project is moving toward a 2015 completion date.”

0 Boston Suburban Office Parks get Reinvented

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Owners and developers across Eastern Massachusetts are seeking to reinvent the suburban office park. In communities such as Waltham, Newton and Needham, developers are adding restaurants, hotels and other amenities to replicate the idea of “live, work, play,” which is an increasing popular attraction in the city. Needham’s soon-to-be largest office tenant, Trip Advisors, will benefit directly from this “live, work, play” attraction.

Wells Avenue office park in Newton, MA

Credit: The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe quantifies the divide between Boston’s urban and suburban landscapes:

“Along Interstate 495, the vacancy rate for Class A offices is hovering at nearly 18 percent, compared with 11.5 percent in Boston and less than 6 percent in Cambridge. Commercial rents are depressed. Offices lease for only $20 per square foot in the region, less than half of what similar space fetches in Boston and Cambridge, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, a commercial real estate firm.”

0 Bike Markers to Line Needham Streets

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bike markers stenciled on street

Credit: Urban Turf

The Town of Needham plans to add bike markers to the shoulder of Greendale Avenue and Kendrick Street, two of the major roads connecting Needham to Newton. In addition, the Town is updating their plans to add Bike paths to the Highland Avenue/Needham Street corridor, ultimately making biking safer for those employees commuting to work via bicycle. Needham and Newton office buildings along the corridor will soon be able to offer their Tenants amenities such as heated bike storage units and bike paths.

 

 

0 Needham Street Businesses Add Outdoor Seating

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3 Squares restaurant on needham st adds outdoor seating

Credit: Wicked Local

Businesses in Needham and Newton continue to grow as nearby restaurant owners look to add a new outdoor seating area along the Highland Avenue/Needham Street corridor. This is in response to the new office users/businesses throughout the area looking to take advantage of the amenity-rich corridor.

Wicked local’s coverage notes, “a  new outdoor seating area with 26 full-service tables is opening at 3 Squares restaurant. The Zoning Board of Appeals approved the project – which required special authorization because it’s zoned in the Industrial District – last month.”

You can find the full article, here.