0 L.L. Bean Opens Seaport Retail Location

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Seaport retail store for LL Bean

Credit: Boston Herald

The Seaport continues to evolve and welcome new businesses. L.L. Bean opened April 5th at One Seaport.

From the Boston Herald:

The 8,600-square-foot store at One Seaport (60 Seaport Blvd.) — the company’s fifth in Massachusetts and 35th outside Maine — is a fraction of the size of its almost 300,000-square-foot flagship store in Freeport, a destination many Bostonians have made pilgrimages to for years…To accommodate the new store’s size constraints, the company had to carefully select its merchandise. Selections at the Seaport location will include town-to-trail apparel for adults and children, and equipment ranging from full-sized kayaks to light, packable gear like inflatable paddleboards suitable for small apartments, said spokesman Eric C. Smith.

“The idea here was to curate it for someone who either lives here or visits here,” Smith said. “But we will continue to learn a lot from this store as our first urban one.”

 

0 Boston Ferry Service Eyes Fall Launch

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Boston Lovejoy wharf ferry service

Credit: Curbed

It appears that Boston Harbor will become the connection between North Station and the Seaport via new ferry service.

According to Curbed Boston, “The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and a handful of private companies, including Vertex, are working toward launching weekday ferry service from Lovejoy Wharf near North Station to the Seaport District-slash-South Boston waterfront…The authority has issued a request for proposals to underwrite the service for a year, with an eye toward extending it for three additional years. If the authority can line up the private funding—and it looks like it can—then service could start in late August or September.”

You can read more on Curbed, here.

0 John Hancock to Return to Back Bay

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Hancock tower boston

Credit: Bisnow

Back Bay becomes home to John Hancock – 2.0.

From Bisnow:

The insurance company is returning its headquarters to Back Bay, where it already has a 1.2M SF campus and employs over 2,000. Its 465K SF Seaport headquarters at 601 Congress St. employs 1,100 people, all of whom will be transferred by the end of 2018 to two Back Bay buildings at 200 Berkeley St. and 197 Clarendon St., the Boston Business Journal reports.

[John Hancock CEO Marianne] Harrison sent a memo to Hancock employees Tuesday, saying the company had enough space in Back Bay, given the number of local employees and how many work remotely. Along with the weather beacon-capped 200 Berkeley and 197 Clarendon, Hancock has approval to build a third office tower in Back Bay. The 26-story, 388-foot tower at 380 Stuart St. could be developed for Hancock or another tenant.

0 North Station Office Tower in Progress (first look)

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Please have a look at Boston Properties new North Station development.

New North Station office tower on Causeway

Credit: BBJ

From the Boston Business Journal:

The Hub on Causeway’s office tower was originally approved to rise 420 feet and span 668,000 square feet. Boston Properties is seeking approval now to build a 24-story tower rising 495 feet at its highest occupiable point, spanning 651,500 square feet. The project’s architect is Gensler.

“The design team has made an effort to move away from a conventional glass clad tower,” the notice of project change filing states. “The overall massing of the building has been reshaped to respond not only to internal tenant needs but also to better integrate the structure with the scale and texture of its immediate surroundings.”

0 Boston Seaport Ferry Trial Set to Begin

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Boston financial district office space

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Are you looking for an easier way to Boston’s Seaport? The ferry is coming! OK, it’s a trial, but at least it’s a start.

According to Banker and Tradesman, “the trial service – with ferries making the trip to Fan Pier in approximately 13 minutes – was originally projected to launch in fall 2017. Related Beal committed to pay $794,000 and a $500,000 grant from Massachusetts Department of Transportation will cover the rest of the dock project, [Rich McGuinness, deputy director for waterfront planning at the Boston Planning and Development Agency] said. The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority will oversee the trial service operation, which will be partially funded by corporate subsidies.”

Additional information is available on the BBJ.

0 What TAMI Tenants Want

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Boston financial district office spaceThe tech, advertisement, media, and information (TAMI) tenants in today’s office market are looking for the following deal points:

  • CONSIDERING MULTIPLE MARKETS
  • CLUSTER MENTALITY
  • HEDGING GROWTH
  • OPEN CONCEPT
  • MORE CONCERN ABOUT HVAC CAPACITY AND BATHROOMS
  • FLEXIBILITY IS PARAMOUNT
  • CASH IS KING
  • ACCESS AND UNIQUE AMENITIES

 

0 Residential Tower Proposed on Back Bay Parking Garage

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Back Bay Garage, motor mart

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The old parking garage — once, apparently, the largest parking garage in the United States — is getting more than just a makeover. CIM Group, of Los Angeles, is proposing a 17-Story residential tower on top of the existing structure.

According to the BBJ, “CIM Group intends to build a 233,500-square-foot residential tower, with 280 apartment and condominium units, that would rise up to 278 feet to the “top of the highest occupiable floor,” the March 1 letter of intent states…The development would also involve redeveloping 205,000 square feet of the existing Motor Mart Garage “to integrate the structural core of the new tower” and create 106,000 square feet of residential and retail space.”

Additional information is available on the Bizjournals website.

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

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Boston office statsOffice 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 MassMutual Plots 300,000 SF Office Building on Parcel E

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Springfield office building

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The Seaport in Boston is not only home to tech, life science, law firms and luxury condos, but now with be home to MassMutual with room for 1,000 workers. The new office building will be a 300,000 SF building on Parcel E.

Roger Crandall, MassMutual’s chairman, president and CEO “said the decision to expand in Boston and upgrade its Springfield office followed ‘a thorough strategic assessment of our operations and footprint.’ Following that, MassMutual ‘concluded that our home state of Massachusetts is the best place for us to grow and thrive over the long term’…The Boston office will be developed on property MassMutual jointly owns with The Fallon Co., a Boston-based real-estate development firm. Fallon Co. and MassMutual together acquired the Fan Pier development zone in 2005 for $115 million, and Parcel E has remained undeveloped since.”

You can read the full Boston Business Journal article on its website, here.

0 Former Boston Globe Building in Dorchester Marked for ‘Innovation campus’

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The Boston’s Globe’s former office site is poised to be an “Innovation Campus” to foster growth and creativity for our economy. Expected delivery is in the Fall of ’19.

Former Globe Building transformed

Credit: Dotnews

From Dotnews:

“The BEAT” (The Boston Exchange for Accelerated Technology) will be a life science, technology, and advanced manufacturing facility, a Nordblom spokesman said, its name an homage to the beat reporters who worked in the newsroom headquarters for more than 60 years before the paper moved downtown in 2017, a nod to the nearby Red Line as a neighborhood artery, and a gesture at the lively and open space they hope to cultivate at the fortress-like site.

“Our job is to create something to which people want to go, a great place where they want to work,” [Todd Fremont-Smith, senior vice president and director of mixed-use projects for Nordblom] said. “The city is out of space. The Seaport is done; Back Bay’s done.” And given the need for office, tech, and light industrial workplaces, he said, “we’re trying to do it in a creative and funky way that captures people’s imaginations.”