0 Innovation District gets Smart Parking Sensors, Time to Destination Signs

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Credit: innovationdistrict.org

How smart is your parking space? Well in the Innovation district and Boston Seaport are stepping it up a few notches with a real-time data app from www.streetline.com. Imagine knowing where to go for the nearest spot and no longer circling the block, it’s here in our city!

Banker & Tradesman posted a report on the traffic installations in the Innovation District:

The technology is designed to help manage traffic congestion in the downtown neighborhood. The smart parking sensors and time to destination signs will provide drivers with constantly updated information on available, on-street parking spaces as well as the quickest route to take out of the Innovation District to the highway system during the evening commute. Drivers may begin taking advantage of this new technology on Wednesday, Dec. 11.

The full B&T articles is available on their website.

Alternatively, follow this link to view available office space in the Innovation District

0 TD Garden Project Awaits Resolution

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The changing of the guard may have already begun in the corner office at city hall. It will be interesting to see the outcome of the vote on December 19th by the BRA on a 1.8-million square-foot project around the TD Garden.

According to the Boston Business Journal, “Menino has bristled at suggestions from mayor-elect Walsh and former mayoral candidate John Connolly that the BRA lacks transparency. But the administration’s unwillingness to talk about the negotiations or even allow members of the mayor-appointed Boston Garden Impact Advisory Group participate in the talks has raised questions about what is happening behind closed doors.”

Additional information on the ‘compromise’ is available on the BBJ’s website.

0 BRA Approves $2.3B in New Projects

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Wil Catlin

BRA approves new projects in downtown Boston

Credit: Boston Business Journal

So what does $2.3B look like in the City of Boston? We’ll soon find out. The BRA has just approved seven new projects collectively totaling $2.3 billion.

The Boston Business Journal published a gallery showcasing each of the seven projects. You can view the gallery via the following link: BBJ Slide Show.

0 South Station Redevelopment: Back to the Drawing Board

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The starts and stops at South Station redevelopment – will we see condos or more office space?

A recent article on the BBJ’s website, quotes a senior vice president in Hines’ Boston office:

Seven years after getting permits for a 1.9-million-square-foot mixed-use project anchored by a 47-story office tower, Houston-based developer Hines is headed back to the drawing board. It plans to reduce office space and eliminate a 200-room hotel while increasing the number of residential units, said David Perry, a senior vice president in Hines’ Boston office.

For the full article, head over to the Boston Business Journal.

0 Development underway on $320 million mixed-use building near Fenway

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Rendering of proposed mixed-use development in Fenway on Boylston Street

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Would you take a $320 million gamble? It appears the Boston office market will embrace it. We have seen office vacancy’s drop while rents have continued upward over the recent years. The Boston office market has tremendous barriers to entry for new product, thus creating a supply and demand problem. Tenants are anxious to capitalize on the benefits of new construction, which allows them to be more efficient with the square footage per employee.

Developer Samuels & Associates is attempting to capitalize on the trend, beginning construction on a new office building on Boylston Street in Fenway. An article on the Boston Business Journal’s website reports:

Samuels & Associates is underway with construction of VanNess, a $320 million mixed-use project fronting on Boylston Street near Fenway Park. Slated for completion in 2015, the project is designed to include two buildings: an 8-story building housing 232,000 square feet of office space and another 11-story building with 172 residential apartments. The development also will include 210,000 square feet of retail space anchored by a 170,000-square-foot City Target, a new small-footprint store format launched by Target Corp. last year. There will also be about a dozen other retailers.

The full article is available on the BBJ.

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Fenway Office Space

0 Boston Seaport District to House New $42M Boutique Hotel

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Boston is home to some of the highest rooms rates in the country for hotels combined with a very limited supply. If you are coming to town to visit one of your new portfolio technology companies in the Seaport you will have a new spot. Sleeper Street, will be home to 136 room boutique hotel.

A Boston Business Journal report reveals, “the 100,000-square-foot Envoy Hotel, to be built at 66 Sleeper St., is slated to include 136 luxury guest rooms as well as a restaurant and bar. The plan also calls for a public roof deck with a bar and lounge that will offer city views. It will be located across the street from the John Joseph Moakley federal court house and one block inland from the Barking Crab restaurant in South Boston.”

Full Details are available on the BBJ’s website: Seaport Hotel set for 66 Sleeper Street

0 Fenway Center Hits Roadblocks

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Architects rendering of Fenway Center in Boston

Credit: The Architectural Team via Boston Business Journal

Does building over the Turnpike have to make roadblocks? Projects of this nature — like Fenway Center — simply take time and patience.

Amid a number of delays, the BBJ has directed it’s readers to one of the project’s positives to date:

“one part of the development is nearing completion. The new $13.5 million Yawkey Commuter Rail Station reconstruction project, a major component of the development paid for by the state, is underway and ahead of schedule and could be open in a few months.”

The full article is posted on the Boston Business Journal

0 Indoor Cycling Chains Enter Boston Market

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Credit: ncsl.org

When we Bostonian’s think about New York and rivalries we think about Yankees and Jets. Now we have a fresh New York rivalry coming to our hometown, indoor cycling. Truth be told, I am not an expert on this, but I strongly believe in healthy competition. According to the NCSL, Massachusetts has an obesity rate of 22.7 percent compared to New York of 24.5 percent. So if you want to get healthy and reduce you body mass index visit Flywheels new center at the Prudential complex.

Additional health statistics, along with a state-by-state analysis are available on the National Conference of State Legislatures website.

0 Downtown Crossing’s Millennium Project Gets Grocery Store

Posted on September 25, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Rendering of Millennium Place in Boston

Our city continues to grow and expand. The addition of grocery stores helps establish a community, which we are seeing at Downtown Crossing’s Millennium project. Now those future residents can really live and work without relying on their car for milk, bread and batteries for the next Nor’easter.

“Massachusetts-based grocery store chain Roche Bros. will open its first downtown Boston location in late 2014…Roche Bros…[joining] advertising firm Arnold Worldwide as the first tenants of the new tower, and will move in by September 2014,” a BBJ article covering the Millennium Project’s future tenant, reports.

For more information on the announcement, continue on to the full article on the Boston Business Journal.

Additional details about the property are available on our residential website: Millennium Project in Downtown Crossing.

0 Suburban Banks Trending to Boston Locations

Posted on September 22, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Credit: The Boston Globe

The banks are coming the banks are coming! It’s true; smaller suburban banks have been expanding their retail presence along with offices to service their city customers. The current population is about 636,479 which is up by 1.8%.

The Boston Globe recently detailed the suburban bank migration to the city, noting “part of the attraction is the prestige and validation that a Boston address can confer on community banks. But more practically, their moves reflect the demographic shift that is swelling Boston’s population. Just as businesses followed people to the suburbs during the urban exodus of the late 20th century, so are they chasing them as the appeal of city life has returned.”

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