0 Landlords Pitch Amenities to Startups

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Bloomberg

We too can play at that game! That sentiment is being echoed by landlord’s and is resulting in upping the ante game within Class A towers and Class B midrises. Landlords across the spectrum are looking at where they can add amenities in what has traditionally been poor-performing or unleaseable space.

From Bloomberg:

Companies in every industry, from autos to retail, have been scrambling to adjust to millennials’ tastes and expectations, and commercial real estate is no exception…big landlords are spending millions to inject Silicon Valley playfulness into aging towers in big cities. They’re in an arms race against new construction and co-working businesses such as WeWork Cos. “The way towers were built in the 1980s, they were a monument to the corporation,” says Lisa Picard, chief executive officer and president of Equity Office, a Blackstone unit that owns office buildings. “Now, if it feels corporate, that’s the kiss of death.”

0 50 Boston Startups Set to Make Waves in 2017

Posted on February 13, 2017 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Built in Boston

Reflecting back before looking forward, Built in Boston notes, “in 2016, Boston’s tech sector flourished, with startups maturing alongside the city’s legacy industries while a steady trickle of venture capital poured into industries like edtech, food-tech, fintech, digital media and healthtech…”

Click through to Built in Boston article to view its list of 50 start-ups in Boston to watch in 2017.

0 Breather in Boston

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Wil Catlin

Breather, a client of Boston Realty Advisors is looking to grow their Boston presence. Breather is the leading provider of beautiful, on-demand workspaces, with an expanding network of 200+ conference and meeting rooms, across 10 global markets.
Breather’s flexible-term leases ensure the quality, security, and maintenance of each space while providing landlords with an attractive amenity offering for tenants.

Breather in Boston

Through the use of its mobile app and proprietary booking technology, Breather enables approved members to reserve and access its spaces on a short-term basis for meetings and flexible office space.

Check out the Breather Boston pfd for additional information.

0 MA unemployment rate dips under 3%

Posted on December 27, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

Massachusetts unemployment hits a new record low for the century. Our economy is growing and adding jobs in all sectors.

According to a BBJ editorial, “the Bay State’s unemployment rate dropped to 2.9 percent in November, marking the first time it has dipped below 3 percent since the beginning of the century…Massachusetts added a net of 5,800 jobs last month, with the government leading the way by creating 3,800 new positions, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said Thursday. Three other sectors — construction, financial activities, and professional, scientific and business services — each added 1,000 jobs or more.”

Additional information is available on the Boston Business Journal’s website, here.

0 Boston Tech Firms Trumpet Amenities to Attract Top Talent

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: BBJ

In the recruiting arena for tech jobs amenities is key. Nap rooms seem to be the latest amenity being added to the roster.

From the BBJ:

Cayan, a Boston-based payment technology company, has invested $8 million to renovate its offices at One Federal St. in Boston’s Financial District as well as the company’s office in the Northern Ireland capital of Belfast. CEO Henry Helgeson said the renovation was part of an effort to attract and retain top talent — particularly software engineers, which are in increasingly high demand in Boston’s uber-competitive tech world.

0 Stiff Competition for Tech Talent in Boston

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Globe

The growth of our tech economy has created some hurdles for employers seeking some tech talent. Benefits to employees have moved to Foosball, basketball courts and roof decks to help promote an inviting culture.

What does your company offer?

From the Boston Globe:

An index published by the Massachusetts High Technology Council, a trade group in Waltham, ranks Massachusetts as the most difficult state in the country to hire tech workers, along with Maryland and Virginia. The index, compiled with Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the employment site Monster.com, and the New York research firm Wanted Analytics, is based on a variety of data, including job postings and local unemployment rates.

“The level of demand and hiring difficulty are an indicator of the tech sector’s strength,” said Mark Gallagher, the high tech council’s vice president for public policy and communications, “but if unaddressed could be a constraint on the region’s ability to expand and remain a leader.”

0 Harvard Business Grads Moving to Tech, Startups

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Harvard grads are more likely to choose startups to begin their career rather than the traditional path of large corporations.

According to the BBJ, “one in five MBA students in Harvard Business School’s 2015 graduating class have entered the technology sector, the highest level since 2000 — that is, the year the dot-com bubble was about to implode.”

The Boston Business Journal article continues, noting “the newest crop of graduates also possessed a more entrepreneurial streak than their predecessors. Nine percent of graduates accepted offers from startup companies, nearly double the percentage from the previous year, according to statistics recently published by HBS. Another 9 percent started their own businesses, up from 8 percent in 2014. There were 915 students in HBS’s 2015 graduating class.”

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

0 Boston VC Funding Reaches Record Level

Posted on January 5, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Massachusetts VC’s had a very busy 2015 with 531 deals at a record amount of $7.42 billion.

From the BBJ:

According to calculations by Seattle-based venture capital research firm PitchBook, it was the highest-ever annual venture capital investment in at least 15 years.

Massachusetts VC funding is in-line with that of New York, which saw $7.65 billion invested across 775 deals.

However, the San Francisco Bay Area still remains at the top — with a whopping $34 billion invested across 1,900 California companies, according to PitchBook.

0 Map of Boston Coworking Office Space

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Coworking office space in Boston by geographic location, courtesy of Xconomy:

map of boston and cambridge shared office space

Credit: Xconomy

Andy Palmer, a Boston serial entrepreneur and angel investor, ‘thinks Boston would be best served by a series of spaces spread among different neighborhoods along the subway system’s Red Line, which touches the city’s busiest startup hubs, including Kendall Square in Cambridge and the Seaport District and Downtown Crossing in Boston. And if you look at the map, that strategy seems to be playing out…Boston’s neighborhoods “all need good, solid coworking spaces because they all have startups and founders that want to do startups in these areas,” Palmer says. “It’s healthy to have these short-term lease options in every one of these areas.”’

0 Leasing Office Space in Boston: Do you start with Google?

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Your business is growing and you’ve just secured your second round of funding; how do you search for your new office? Do you rely on a market expert or do you prefer to go at it alone?

A recent survey from RE:Tech › Insight notes “more than one-forth (25 percent) of early stage tech startups search commercial real estate broker. When beginning their online search, 90 percent of tech startups directly search for office space online without a broker in mind…the survey found that three quarters (75 percent) of tech startups don’t search for commercial real estate brokers.”