0 Boston Ferry Service Eyes Fall Launch

Boston Lovejoy wharf ferry service

Credit: Curbed

It appears that Boston Harbor will become the connection between North Station and the Seaport via new ferry service.

According to Curbed Boston, “The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and a handful of private companies, including Vertex, are working toward launching weekday ferry service from Lovejoy Wharf near North Station to the Seaport District-slash-South Boston waterfront…The authority has issued a request for proposals to underwrite the service for a year, with an eye toward extending it for three additional years. If the authority can line up the private funding—and it looks like it can—then service could start in late August or September.”

You can read more on Curbed, here.

0 North Station Office Tower in Progress (first look)

Please have a look at Boston Properties new North Station development.

New North Station office tower on Causeway

Credit: BBJ

From the Boston Business Journal:

The Hub on Causeway’s office tower was originally approved to rise 420 feet and span 668,000 square feet. Boston Properties is seeking approval now to build a 24-story tower rising 495 feet at its highest occupiable point, spanning 651,500 square feet. The project’s architect is Gensler.

“The design team has made an effort to move away from a conventional glass clad tower,” the notice of project change filing states. “The overall massing of the building has been reshaped to respond not only to internal tenant needs but also to better integrate the structure with the scale and texture of its immediate surroundings.”

0 North Station Office Market’s Growing Appeal

The North Station market is growing up. Yes, it is still home to The Garden, but with 2.5 million square feet of new developments, it is poised to rival any Boston submarket.

North End office market activity plan

Credit: BostonPlans.org

Unlike the Seaport, it offers a commuter rail hub in North Station, light rail service from the Green and Orange lines, and Interstate 93 – making it a commuter’s dream.

Banker&Tradesman reports, “by 2020, the addition of more than two and a half million square feet of new development promises to reshape the neighborhood with the inclusion of retail, office and hospitality developments…It will also include market-rate and middle-class housing, which will contribute to Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s goal of creating 56,000 new units by 2030. Growth has been so explosive that the city is developing a North Station Area Mobility Action Plan to account for the thousands of commuters, residents, visitors and arena-goers that ebb and flow in and out of the area daily.”

You can read the full article on Banker and Tradesman: Boston’s New Gateway

Related Available Office Space
North End and Govt. Center Office Space for Lease

0 Dukakis: North-South Rail Link Would ‘Pay For Itself’

Former Gov. Dukakis speaking in Boston

Credit: Wgbh

Transportation is a key driver to a city’s economic success.  Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis met with Gov. Charlie Baker to discuss a underground rail connection between North and South Station.

From Wgbh:

“It’s important to understand that both South and North station are getting increasingly congested,” [Former Governor Michael Dukakis] said. “We’re getting perilously close to a point where we’re not going to be able to get any more trains into those stations. Both of them, by the way. The answer from the [MBTA] over the course of the past few years, under administrations of both parties has been that we ought to expand South Station and add another seven tracks. We are paying consultants, even as we speak, to plan that for $1 billion or $600 million for seven tracks—that’s insane. Nobody in the railroad business is expanding 19th-century stations, they’re connecting them. There must be 50 major cities, all over the world, that have the same problem we do, and they’re connecting them. That’s exactly what we should do, not spend any more time on this foolishness about expanding South Station, it won’t solve the problem.”

To get from North Station to South Station, Amtrak and commuter rail passengers must travel through the city via other means— there is no commuter rail directly between the two stations. The North-South Rail Link, proposed by former Governors Dukakis and Bill Weld, would connect both stations, uniting both stations and bringing passengers North, as far as Maine.

0 HYM Releases New Plans for Government Center Project

The plans for Government Center have been updated by HYM.  The proposed plan consists of the following:

Government Center Project rendering

Credit: Bizjournals.com

  • Two Apartment Tower:
    • 486 units at 480 feet in height
    • 291 Units at 299 feet in height
  • Two Office Towers
    • 1 million square feet at 528 feet in height
    • 163,800 square feet at 157 feet in height
  • Parking of 1,159 spaces
  • Condo/Hotel Tower at 152 feet in height
  • Retail build to suit that will anchor the Canal side of the site

From the BBJ:

The first phase, for which HYM submitted documentation on Monday, is a 45-story, 486-unit residential tower located along New Sudbury Street and a 43-story, 1 million-square-foot office tower located at the corner of New Chardon and Congress streets…HYM’s original plans had the office tower at 600 feet, and a hotel parcel at 275 feet, but those plans were revised in August 2013 to a 528-foot office tower and a 157-foot hotel. The Boston Redevelopment Authority approved the project in November 2013.

HYM’s project aims to connect Boston’s Bulfinch Triangle, Government Center, the West End, the North End and Beacon Hill with a near five-acre development area. It’s slated to be among the largest construction projects in the city — which itself has seen a fair number of cranes in the past few years — and at full buildout will include six new buildings with 812 residential units, 1.1 million square feet of office space, 85,000 square feet of retail space and a 196-room hotel.

 

0 North Station Transportation Plan gets $400k

development near Boston north station

Credit: B&T

The integration of transportation, services and infrastructure is paramount to a city’s success. Boston’s North Station is now benefiting by receiving $400K towards a transportation plan that will look at short and long term solutions.

Banker&Tradesman reports, “the nine-month project will encompass the West End, Bulfinch Triangle and Government Center, where nearly 8 million square feet of commercial and residential projects are expected to be completed in the next few years…The Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) and the city’s transportation department are overseeing the project designed to analyze the existing network and future needs…The $400,000 is expected to cover the entire cost of the project, BRA spokesman Nicholas Martin said.”

More information is available on B&T, here.

0 Boston Garden Gets Design Approval

BP is on the march in North Station area of Boston with approvals Boston Civic Design Commission.

Boston Garden project rendering

Credit: Boston Business Journal

From Bizjournals’s Boston vertical:

When fully built out, Boston Garden will be a 1.87 million-square-foot mixed-use development with a residential tower and an office tower sitting atop a multi-level podium connecting North Station and TD Garden to Causeway Street…The project’s first phase is a $285 million steel-and-glass podium named “Champions Row.” Beyond creating a transportation hub for North Station commuters as well as crowds at TD Garden, the “Champions Row” podium is slated to include a Star Market grocery store; a 20,000-square-foot sports bar that can hold up to 500 patrons; a 50,000-square-foot entertainment venue that could seat up to 1,000 people; a movie theater; a bowling alley; and additional retail space.

0 Bulfinch Triangle Parcel Near North Station Acquired for $24.5M

office space near TD garden Boston

Credit: Banker and Tradesman

Dollars keep coming into Boston’s Class A and B markets.  The latest is into the North Station market by Bridgeton for $24.5M.  Office Rents in the Class B market are hovering around the $40 mark depending on timing, term and T/I.

A B&T article reports, “New York-based private equity fund Bridgeton Holdings has acquired a hotel and retail building across from the TD Garden for $24.5 million…The five-story, 54,000-square-foot building is located at the corner of Causeway and Friend streets. Ground-floor tenants include Qdoba, North Station Liquors and the Ace Tickets studio used for Celtics pre- and post-game shows on Comcast SportsNet.”

You can read additional information, on B&T, here.

0 Government Center Poised for Modernization

Boston city hall plaza at night

Credit: B&T

Government Center is an area in downtown Boston, bounded by Cambridge, Court, Congress, and New Sudbury Streets.  Center Plaza sits on the gateway and the new owners are poised to make a splash with their vision.

From Banker&Tradesman:

“The plans are going to be a very noticeable level of improvement on the retail arcade,” [said Kevin Kuzemchak, senior vice president for Shorenstein.] “We want to take what is now a fairly dark monotonous experience and add new lighting and storefronts where we can, signage, and hopefully install High Line-esque landscaping to the entire arcade and break it up into different zones.” Office lobbies will be expanded and moved closer to Cambridge Street.

Related Office Listings:
Government Center Office Space

0 226 Causeway Street Sold to Invesco for $92M

226_causeway_st_boston

The Causeway

Invesco is the new owner of 226 Causeway Street for $476.68 per square foot. Tenants include the following:

• TripAdvisors
• Oxfam America
• Grant Thornton
• Stantec
• Boston Celtics
• March Communications

According to the BBJ, “the property was sold by Spear Street Capital, a real estate investment fund with offices in New York and San Francisco. Spear Street acquired 226 Causeway St. in 2011 for $43 million…First-quarter office rents averaged $32.95 in the North Station neighborhood, with 4.5 percent office vacancy, according to JLL.”

You can read more about the Causeway Street sale on the Boston Business Journal.