0 Office Tower Planned at 121 Seaport

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Wil Catlin

300 A Street office space in Boston Seaport

One of the next major projects to come out of the ground in the Seaport looks to be from developer Skanska. As office rents continue upward, what tenant will make the migration from E. Cambridge to the Seaport?

From Banker & Tradesman:

“As it finalizes cost estimates for 121 Seaport in Boston, developer Skanska USA is positioning the 425,000-square-foot tower as a rival to Cambridge’s Kendall Square among tech companies looking for build-to-suit sites….Shawn Hurley, executive vice president of Skanska USA Development, said 121 Seaport has a shot at attracting the neighborhood’s next big lab tenant. Vertex Pharmaceuticals was the first major life science company to commit to the South Boston waterfront, moving from Cambridge to a 1.1-million-square-foot headquarters on the Fan Pier in January 2014.”

Related Property Listings
Available office space in Boston Seaport

0 Fort Point Drinks and Dining Reference: Top Spots to Hit After Work

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Best eats in the Seaport/Innovation/Fort Point area of Boston for startups. What does where you dine say about where you work? Bostinno.Streetwise.co has put together a handy reference to reflect the “favorite spots to hit after a long at the office” in the Fort Point neighborhood.

Credit: Bostinno.Streetwise.co

The article includes the following venues, and is available on the Bostinno website:

Tavern Road, 343 Congress Street
Bastille Kitchen, 49 Melcher Street
Blue Dragon, 324 A Street
Barlow’s, 241 A Street
Lucky’s Lounge, 355 Congress Street
Row 34, 383 Congress St

0 Northern Avenue Bridge Closure Impacting Local Businesses

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Wil Catlin

View of the northern avenue bridge in Boston illuminated by purple lights at night

Credit: The Boston Globe

How do you get from the Financial District to the Seaport? This question sounds simple enough; drive, public transit or walk. All three have their challenges and with the closure of the Northern Avenue bridge, some pedestrians and business are feeling the pinch.

A recent Boston Globe article assessed the impact the bridge closing is having on local businesses:

“The short answer is yes, it has,” says Alex Blake, director of operations at The Barking Crab, when asked if the closure of the footbridge has affected business. “Our pedestrian business. The Northern Avenue Bridge was an easier bridge to cross than the Moakley Bridge is. We are more difficult to find, because the Northern Ave. Bridge would drop people right off at our front door.”

You can read the full article on the Boston Globe’s website.

0 New Boston Design Center Showrooms Open

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: B&T

After completing $13 million in renovations, Jamestown is proud to announce some new tenants in the Design Center.

From Banker & Tradesman:

Jamestown, a real estate investment and development company headquartered in Atlanta, leases the 550,000-square-foot complex in the 1.4-million-square-foot Innovation and Design Building complex from the city of Boston. The complex contains 550,000 square feet dedicated to luxury home furnishing showrooms along with office and innovation space...Jamestown recently completed more than $13 million in interior renovations at the center, the first major physical updates since it opened in 1985. The project included renovations of the lobby, common spaces and seminar room and new finishes and furniture from design center tenants.

0 Seaport Growth Necessitates Transit Overhaul

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Banker and Tradesman

The fast growing market is the Seaport of Boston. The growth has put a tremendous squeeze on all aspects that connect that part of the city to its surrounding areas and the city is looking at a variety of solutions to ease the commuter pain. This would range from the haul road, ferry service and Silver line. This by no means will happen overnight, but at least it is getting the attention it requires.

Banker and Tradesman outlines the immediate actions recommended within [the next] six months:

• Expand use of the Bypass Road to all vehicles from Richards Street to West Service Road full-time and from I-93 to Richards Street eastbound during the morning rush hour.
• Allow all vehicles to use the northbound HOV lane from I-93 to the Ted Williams Tunnel.
• Speed up the Silver Line by giving it signal priority at the D Street intersection and add real-time arrival information for passengers.
• Install new Hubway bike sharing stations at Thomson Place, the Gillette Co. and Channel Center.
• Consolidate corporate shuttle bus services along A Street.

You can read the full B&T article on its website, here.

0 Seaport District, Fort Point Channel Thriving

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Bostonsf

The Seaport continues to show the market that it’s going to remain a dominate force in the Boston office market. Rents are up, vacancy is down and demand is strong. The challenge is the only new construction is Class A, so if you are seeking updated brick-and-bean, wait in line or be prepared to pay for it.

Alternatives that trade about $8 – $12 per square below would be Boston’s Financial District or the Leather District.

Indicative of the Seaport neighborhood’s appeal, BostonSF.com reports HFF recently closed a “$105.625 million sale of 3-building office portfolio Boston’s Seaport District…HFF announced that it has closed sale of three best-in-class, creative office assets totaling 221,064 square feet and 35 parking spaces.”

You can read more about the significant, three-building office space sale in the Seaport on Bostonsf.com.

0 LogMeIn Adds Seaport Office Space

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

LogMeIn expands in the Seaport.

The BBJ is reporting that LogMeIn “plans to add 450 jobs during the next five years with the help of about $2.5 million in tax breaks from the city. It could begin housing the first crop of new employees at a 100,000-square-foot space at 333 Summer St. in early 2016…It recently struck a tentative agreement with the landlord to take over the vacant space across from its headquarters at 320 Summer St., where the company currently employs 400.”

You can find additional information on the move on the Boston Business Journal.

0 Will Boston Restore Northern Avenue Bridge?

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Wil Catlin

We need to continue to invest in our cities infrastructure to ensure we can service both the day time and bedtime communities. Simply put, without access people will go elsewhere.

Credit: Boston Globe

The Boston Globe offered this image:

the sound you just heard was the unmistakable sloshing of preservationists paddling up Fort Point Channel coming to the rescue of a bridge that has long served as a historical gateway between the Financial District and the South Boston Waterfront. We may never get the tens of millions of dollars needed to restore the bridge, but at least we had fun dreaming about it.

0 Boston Office Market Leads the Nation

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Charts courtesy of Marcus & Millichap via MHN Online

Boston continues to lead the nation with one of the most stable office markets which is due to a strong local economy.

Research data from Marcus & Millichap, published on MultiHousingNews.com, reaffirms this claim:

“Over 38,500 jobs were created in 2013 in the city, increasing payrolls 1.5 percent. By the end of 2014 employers will add 40,200 new jobs, of which 14,000 will be office-using positions—a 2 percent increase from last year…Developers completed approximately 4.2 million square feet of office space over the last twelve months as compared to merely 1.4 million square feet in the previous year. Around 5.2 million square feet currently under construction in the metro area is expected to come online throughout 2016.”

“According to Marcus & Millichap, approximately 3.2 million square feet of office space is set for completion by the end of 2014—a 1 percent increase from 2013—with new inventory being heavily concentrated in the Boston/Suffolk County and Route 128 North submarkets.”

You can read the full report on MHN Online.

0 Seaport Square: Construction Underway

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BostonsNewWaterfront.com

We have waited a long time for Seaport Square and now we can have a peak at what is underway. Construction should take about 3.5 years and will provide retail and residential to the flourishing recent office developments.3

From the BBJ, along with a Seaport Square slideshow:

“Developer John Hynes of Boston Global Investors said, ‘It’s all systems go on Monday’ and the project should be complete in 3 1/2 years. Hynes said the scale of One Seaport Square will be rivaled in recent Boston development history only by the 1958 construction of the Prudential Center and the 1984 construction of Copley Place…Stephen Wood of Berkshire Group said the residential component, which his company is handling, will be aimed at people who want ‘a seamless transition between their personal and professional lives.'”

You can read about the groundbreaking of One Seaport Sq. on the Boston Business Journal.