0 Boston is on the Rise

Posted on February 17, 2019 by Wil Catlin

Rendering of new Boylston street office building

Credit: Curbed

The Boston real estate market is collectively on the rise, with six impending towers set to stand at least 300 feet. None of these projects are massive in scale on their own, but combined, they fortify Boston’s continued presence on the world’s real estate stage.

The combined projects include office, retail and residential space for lease.

Curbed Boston highlights the elements comprising the project’s relative stout within the traditionally ‘height-averse’ market:

One Congress – the tallest new office building in Boston since the 590-foot One Financial Center opened in April 1984
Bulfinch Crossing residential tower – residential spire is expected to stretch to 480 feet and 45 stories, and to include 368 apartments and 55 condos.
1000 Boylston – 484-foot, 32-story residential, retail, and parking tower over the Massachusetts Turnpike.
Hub on Causeway – 1.87 million mixed-use square feet on and around TD Garden and North Station—includes a 498-foot, 38-story tower.
Back Bay Station tower – 1.26 million square feet of residences, offices, retail, and other space around and atop Back Bay Station.
Fenway Center – Includes a residential-office-garage tower of 305 feet.

You can read the full article on Curbed Boston

0 Boston Class A and Class B rents 62% tighter than pre-recession peak

Posted on February 21, 2018 by Wil Catlin

Boston office stats Office rents in Boston
The Class A & B office space in Boston has never been closer than what we are experiencing now. The rents low rise Class A and Class B are near identical with the differentiators being loss factor, amenities and fit up from union versus nonunion general contractors.

Click to download the full Rising Market report.

0 Multi-Dimensional Seaport Office Building Billed as a ‘Game-Changer’

Posted on June 11, 2017 by Wil Catlin

Multi-dimensional commercial building in Seaport Boston

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Innovative architecture is proposed for the Seaport section of Boston curtesy of WS Development and their architect OMA based out of the Netherlands.

88 Seaport will feature 18 floors with nearly 425,000 square feet of office space, approximately 60,000 square feet of retail on the first two floors, and 5,000 square feet of civic/cultural use space. The building design features a unique series of cascading exterior terraces and a grand architectural gesture towards Fan Pier Green and the water’s edge.

From Bizjournals.com:

Yanni Tsipis, senior vice president with WS Development, told the Business Journal on Tuesday that the proposed design of the 88 Seaport Blvd. office is a game-changer for Seaport architecture. Shohei Shigematsu, a partner with Dutch architecture firm OMA, conceived the design for 88 Seaport, the firm said.

“It’s exciting to engage with the innovation migration to the Seaport District, and work with WS Development on a building positioned to be the nexus between historic Fort Point and the emerging waterfront developments,” Shigematsu said in a statement. “Our design for 88 Seaport slices the building into two volumes, creating distinct responses for each urban scale of old and new, while also accommodating diverse office typologies for diverse industries with demands for traditional and alternative floorplates. The slice also generates an opportunity to draw in the district’s public domains, linking the waterfront and Fan Pier Green with a continuous landscape.”

0 State Land for Sale near South Station in Boston

Posted on May 9, 2017 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Globe

Just because state-owned land near South Station is for sale, it doesn’t mean it will sell. The location is ideal, but the encumbrances make it far less attractive for any suitable bidder.

From the Boston Globe:

“It’s just a particularly complex site by virtue of its location and logistics. And it has a utility plant that needs to be incorporated into your development scheme,” [Curtis Kemeny, a veteran Boston developer who considered buying the site the last time the state tried to sell it, in the mid-2000s] said. “It’s especially complicated.”

The Baker administration used the site — which it dubbed SouthGate — last year to highlight its campaign to sell state-owned parcels to developers, unlocking new sites for housing in crowded Greater Boston and bolstering state coffers with the proceeds.

0 Winthrop Square Tower Pushes to Maintain Height

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Globe

No change in height from the developer for Winthrop Square tower.

From Curbed, Boston:

The main bone of contention re: the development is its height, which will likely stretch to 775 feet. That has raised concerns about potential shadows that the tower might cast on the Common and the Public Garden.

Is Millennium considering cutting the height? No. We feel this project was holistically designed at its optimum size in response to achieving the goals that the city required for this public asset.

0 Groundbreaking Commences on ‘The Hub on Causeway’

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: TD Garden

The North Station area of Boston shines bright with the groundbreaking by Delaware North and Boston Properties project.

According to TDGarden.com, “Delaware North and Boston Properties have formed a partnership to develop over 1.5 million square feet of mixed-use retail, office, hotel, residential and an expansion of TD Garden on the 2.5 acre site. This transit-oriented development is a significant investment that will bring substantial improvements to North Station, will create major economic impact for the area and strengthen the viability of this important district in the City of Boston.”

You can read the full article on TD.

0 Boston Office Market Shows Strength in 2015

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Real Estate Times

The region’s office market continued its upward push with rents climbing while vacancy continues to decline.

A Boston Real Estate Times article includes the following highlights to express the market direction:

Market-wide vacancy averaged 12.2 percent for 2015, the lowest annual average since 2002. Vacancy for the quarter remained steady from third quarter at 12.1 percent.
Class A asking lease rates topped $42 per square foot for the first time since 2002, reaching $42.06 in fourth quarter, 3.9 percent higher than first-quarter 2015.
Boston’s Central Business District had 502,000 square feet of absorption in fourth quarter and totaled 1.58 million square feet for the year, the highest annual total since 2006.
Vacancy in Boston’s Seaport District dropped to 8.3 percent, its lowest level since 2000, when inventory was 6 million square feet smaller than today.
Cambridge closed the quarter at a remarkable 2.7 percent vacancy, its lowest mark on record.
There was 314,000 square feet of positive absorption in the Route 128 submarkets and 328,000 square feet in the Interstate 495 submarkets.

0 Modifications and Atrium Planned for 100 Federal Street

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Herald

More glass is proposed to head to Boston’s Financial District, with a new atrium planned for 100 Federal Street along with retail and restaurant space.

Boston Properties purchased 100 Federal Street on March 13th 2012 for $610M
The building consists of 1,323,000 RSF in 40 Stories with the average floor plate of 28,000 RSF
26 Elevators with 2 being freight
The building was built in 1971

From the Boston Herald:

The designs also indicate plans to convert 69,845 square feet of basement space into parking at the 41-story Financial District tower known as the “pregnant building.”  “We are pleased to be working with the city to transform the plaza outside 100 Federal St. into an enclosed and vital gathering space for the downtown community,” said Bryan Koop, Boston Properties’ senior vice president and regional manager. “The weather-protected atrium … is planned to complement the outdoor space at Post Office Square Park and will be programmed with restaurants and events to bring a more active and lively streetscape to the base of the tower.”  Current designs include 8,500 square feet of retail, 500 square feet for kiosks and an 8,990-square-foot winter garden in an angled atrium with a glass facade.

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 Developers Eye Financial Tech Sector

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Rendering of modernized Boston Financial District

Credit: Bisnow

The newest Tech-friendly office tower could be a crucial differentiator in Class A Financial District office space, with delivery in 2020.

According to Bisnow, Trans National CEO Steve Belkin and EVP (development) Justin Krebs want to help Boston become a global financial/tech innovation cluster…proposing “a $900M tower downtown that would include an elaborate two-story 22,500 SF Entrepreneurial Innovation Center that’s free to the public. They hope that the space where financial services pros, tech talent and university folk join forces will help elevate Boston’s brand as a global hotbed of financial innovation. Steve, an entrepreneur who’s launched 30 companies of his own, is also answering Mayor Walsh’s call to help make Boston the world’s innovation leader by 2030.

You can read the full article on the Bisnow website.