Category Archives: Retail Space Boston

0 Back Bay to get Nantucket Restaurant Lola 41

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More food choices are headed to Back Bay, including Nantucket restaurant, Lola 41, owned by Marco Coelho. Lola 41 is moving towards an agreement on a location at 50 Gloucester St. in Boston’s Back Bay.

Lola 41 main food course

Credit: Lola 41

According to the Boston Business Journal, “a restaurant called Ambrosia on Gloucester was recently reported to be opening at 50 Gloucester St,” however, the sushi, seafood, and burger restaurant from Nantucket apparently got the location.

More details on the restaurant and its new location are available on the BBJ.

If you’re excited for the new restaurant and want to check out office space available in the area, continue on to view our Back Bay offices for lease.

0 Boston Class A Office Buildings with at least 1 million rentable square feet

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Clients frequently ask, what is that building worth.  The answer is never simple, due myriad of data.  With the recent trade by Blackstone of One Post Office Square to its partner Morgan Stanley for $718 per square foot, I figured I would apply that same number to Boston Class A buildings greater than 1 million rentable square feet according to CoStar.

Building Address

Building Name

Rentable Building Area

Estimated Value
200 Clarendon Street John Hancock Tower                          1,755,398  $     1,260,375,764
100 Federal Street Bank of America                          1,304,899  $        936,917,482
One Financial Center One Financial Center                          1,279,492  $        918,675,256
800 Boylston Street                          1,207,499  $        866,984,282
53 State Street Exchange Place                          1,194,000  $        857,292,000
1 Federal Street                          1,120,577  $        804,574,286
600 Atlantic Avenue Federal Reserve Plaza                          1,051,295  $        754,829,810
1 Lincoln Street State Street Financial Center                          1,045,106  $        750,386,108
100 Summer Street                          1,034,605  $        742,846,390
1 International Place One International Place                          1,025,000  $        735,950,000
1 Beacon Street One Beacon                          1,017,168  $        730,326,624

0 Seaport Office Tower Construction Planned around PwC

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Graphic of Seaport Square office tower in Boston

Image Credit: Banker & Tradesman

If you come we will build it for you! That is what Skanska USA Commercial Development agreed to do for PwC. This is usually how new projects get in the ground, most developers and landlords would prefer not to build on spec, but that model has shifted in the very recent past due to the lack of inventory and increased rents most notably in the Seaport District.

According to Banker & Tradesman, “PricewaterhouseCoopers has signed a 15-year lease to occupy the majority of a planned office tower in Boston’s Seaport District. Inking a deal with the accounting firm gave Skanska USA Commercial Development the anchor tenant it needed to begin construction on the 440,000-square-foot tower at the southeast corner of Seaport Boulevard and Boston Wharf Road.”

The complete article is available on Banker & Trademan’s website.

0 Short-Term Retail Leases: The New Commercial Real Estate Trend?

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short term office space leasing concept

Credit: Boston Business Journal

This is a creative way on thinking of trying to full some of our retail vacancy’s around the city. Perhaps this would be better to put into context, like a retailer that focus on a holiday event like Halloween. It would be tough to support that annually, but for the 90 days prior to the holiday, it might be a great solution. This would also allow the Landlord to continue to market the space to a more permanent retailer. Some of the concerns might be the transactions costs of producing a lease agreement along with the lender’s concern about being a transient building.

Banker & Tradesman spoke with Storefront co-founder Tristan Pollock, noting “the concept is the commercial real estate equivalent of AirBNB, the popular website that allows consumers to find vacation rentals or apartments for the short term…Pollock said that the service would tackle a problem that plagues the commercial real estate industry across the country: the retail space vacancy rate is higher than it’s ever been (10 percent on average). It would also make it easier for potential tenants to connect with property owners.”

The complete article, and additional commentary from Storefront co-founder Tristan Pollock, are available on B&T: short-term leases for retail outlets

0 Roche Bros. Negotiating Lease in Millennium Tower

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Supermarket in Downtown Crossing, Boston

Photo Credit: Boston Herald

The chatter around the grocer for downtown Boston Heats up; seems like Roche Brothers is pushing for Millennium Tower and Wegmans is passing. The current growth of the Mid Town market seems to play very well for Roche Brothers. The migration of office tenants priced out or East Cambridge and the Seaport along with new residential units will add to the demand of the live/work individual looking stock up on milk and bread during the next Nor’easter.

The Boston Herald reported that “Roche Bros. chain of suburban supermarkets is hammering out plans for its first urban market at Millennium Partners’ $630 million Millennium Tower project, which includes redevelopment of the adjacent Filene’s building.”

For more information on the planned supermarket location at Millennium towers, jump over to the full article on the Boston Herald’s website.

 

0 Back Bay Towers Proposed at Christian Science Plaza

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Christian Science Church in Boston's Back Bay

Photo Credit: Boston Business Journal

The Back Bay skyline is poised to change yet again with the plans filed for a 1 million square foot development at the Christian Science Church.

Details of the plans filed were posted on the BBJ:

“the church has proposed a pair of towers at Belvidere and Dalton streets that will include a 712,500-square-foot hotel and condominium skyscraper at 691 feet. At 14 feet per floor, that would be about 49 stories, slightly shorter than the Prudential tower’s 52 floors. A second mid-rise would be a 237,500-square-foot apartment building at 285 feet. At 12 feet per floor, it would be about 24 stories. The project will also include a 4,300-square-foot park and an unspecified amount of ground floor retail.”

The complete article is available on the BBJ’s website, here.

Related Office Space
Commercial Real Estate in Back Bay

 

0 Legal Sea Foods Opening in Millennium Place

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Rendering of Legal Sea Foods restaurant in downtown crossing

Photo Credit: Legal Sea Foods (via Boston Business Journal)

If they build it, we will come. Well, yes, with the influx of new office tenants and residential buildings some of those naysayers of the past have changed their tune. Legal Sea Foods being one of them. Another recent edition to Downtown Crossing is Michael Inwald’s Cheeseboy at 280 Washington Street.

According to the BBJ, “Legal Sea Foods has signed a deal with Millennium Partners for Legal Crossing, a 5,600-square-foot restaurant at the $220 million Millennium Place condominium tower nearing completion at the edge of Chinatown. The 150-seat eatery is expected to open this fall.”

The full Boston Business Journal article is available on the BBJ’s website.

0 Boston Office Vacancies Decreasing in Majority of Markets

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Office building in Government Center in BostonTenants that are in the market flock to value; over the last four quarters that value play has been the Financial District.  As those vacancies have been eroded, rents have pushed upward.  What will this mean tomorrow and beyond?  Those tenants that signed leases three plus years ago in the now tight and expensive Seaport Market will seek value options elsewhere if they feel that low $40’s rents for Class B is too much to burden in the Seaport.  

Markets that have benefited and that will continue to do so are Mid Town and North Station.

A post on the Boston Business Journal notes that Back Bay is lagging behind its neighboring submarkets:

“‘the only market where there has been an increase in vacancies is in the Back Bay…there continues to be uncertainly in the city’s most expensive office market with State Street Corp. downsizing considerably, [Debra Gould, a broker at Cushman & Wakefield] said. “They also have 400,000 square feet in Copley and it’s still not clear what will happen to that space … and obviously they are vacating the low-rise portion of the John Hancock Tower and there are price concerns … activity in the Back Bay will be slow.'”

You can read the full BBJ article, here.

Related Listings
Available Office Space in Boston Submarkets

0 Staples to Open Flagship Store in Boston Financial District

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Staples location at One Washington Mall in Boston

Photo Credit: Boston Business Journal

Staples will have a new “Easy Button” location in the Financial District!  One Washington Mall will be the location for a new 17,500 square foot store.

The Boston Business Journal reports, “the Framingham-based office supply company has signed a lease for 17,500 square feet at One Washington Mall in the former Newbury Comics space, as well as a portion of the second floor.”

The full BBJ article can be found here: Stapes to Open New Flagship Location

Related Commercial Property Listings
Financial District Office Space

0 Brighton Commuter Rail Station Receives Approval

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Office building at 1330 Boylston St. in Boston

Office Building at 1330 Boylston St.

How do you get to work? Would you take public transportation if it stopped close to your home or office?  Do you select office space based on its proximity to North or South Station?

A Boston Business Journal article reports that the station development is heavily influenced by New Balance’s proposed corporate world headquarters, “the station would be built next to New Balance’s proposed $235 million corporate world headquarters. As mitigation for the 1.4 million-square-foot mixed-use development, the sneaker giant has agreed to cover the cost to design, build and maintain the station. The plan received initial approval from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Finance Committee on Tuesday. A vote of the full board will take place next week.”

For additional information on the station and New Balance’s new development, jump over to the BBJ’s article here: Commuter Rail Approved in Brighton

Related Office Listings
Office Space for Lease in Allston and Brighton