0 Is the Seaport Gondola How You’re Getting to Work Tomorrow?

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Gondola in city, like Boston

Credit: Curbed Boston

Is getting to work taking too long since your office has moved to Boston Seaport? If so, the Seaport’s solution to your congestion could be a gondola system, according to Boston City Councilor Michael Flaherty.

From Biznow:

Millennium Partners has proposed a Summer Street, cable-propelled gondola network running from South Station to a property one of its subsidiaries owns in the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park, the Boston Herald reports. As many as 71 10-passenger cabins could move as many as 4,000 passengers per hour in and out of the Seaport, where traffic is notoriously congested.

“A lot of commercial entities are struggling with whether they’re going to renew their leases or they want to come here, because it’s hard to get in and out,” Flaherty said on the Herald’s radio station Wednesday. “The gondola [system] … solves that.”

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0 Modern Office Design Melds Flexibility And Privacy

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Cool, Modern office design

Credit: Biznow

Open plan versus private office the debate continues. It’s likely safe to say that we will end up with some composite of open and collaborative space while maintaining some private offices.

A recent Biznow article describes components of the latest emerging office design trend, dubbed, “activity-based office design”:

The latest model acknowledges that companies may have saved money establishing an open concept floor plan, but in most cases, they did not drive the innovation and collaboration desired. To combat this problem, current designs include areas such as team spaces with standing tables, comfortable couches and movable walls to encourage team meetings and collaboration. The activity-based office design also provides private spaces such as soundproof phone booths or isolation rooms in order to account for moments when intense concentration is needed, or when a confidential conversation needs to take place.

For more information, jump over to Biznow.com.

0 Boston Continues to Lure Large Corporate Tenants

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121 Seaport

Credit: Courant

Boston continues to win large corporate tenants from our neighboring states.

In an article on the Courant, Alexion said “its headquarters would move from New Haven to Boston to support plans for growth…[noting] Boston will provide access to a ‘larger biopharmaceutical talent pool and a variety of life-sciences partners to further support future growth initiatives.’”

The full article is available on the Courant.

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0 Boston Office Rents Correlate to MBTA Access and Proximity

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Your office rents in Boston are directly impacted by the distance to the nearest MBTA stop. Simply put, expect to pay more the closer you are.

MBTA map and corresponding office rent in Boston

Credit: Banker&Tradesman

Banker and Tradesman notes, “despite the departure of several large office tenants for the Financial District and Seaport, Back Bay still has Boston’s highest-priced office space. Buildings within a 5-minute walk of Hynes Convention Center station on the Green Line average $66.69 per square foot, partly reflecting the completion of Boston Properties’ 888 Boylston tower anchored by Natixis Global Asset Management.

You can read additional analysis on the impact of the MBTA on Boston office prices on B&T.

0 Boston Office Building Shadows Draws Consternation

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Boston residential building casts shadows

Credit: NYTimes

Should it be built or not? Will it cast a deep shadow? Is too much being made of this issue or are not enough people rallying behind the drive to maintain a view of the sky?

From the New York Times:

Boston is riding the crest of what city officials say is the biggest building boom in its history, with cranes lifting glassy towers into place and raising the city’s unassuming profile. The surge of construction is also plunging some of its most cherished sites into deepening shadow, testing state laws that have long balanced economic development with protection of sunlight and open space.

The concern is not merely about preserving a glimpse of sky in the increasingly vertical downtown or about the risks of darkness to plants, historic buildings and even humans. It is also about whether the city is going down a road of no return by trading away, one piece at a time, its intangible assets, like sunlight on its signature parks and public access to its gleaming waterfront.

0 Corporations are moving to cities, suburban office parks eyed as homes

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Boston office park

Credit: Business Insider

The suburban office parks as we know it might become a thing of the past like the VCR and home answering machine.

From BusinessInsider:

As more corporations flock to cities, they are vacating these office parks, many of which were built in the 1980s…But some of these parks are not staying empty. An increasing number of developers are converting them into housing, according to a recent Washington Post report.

A 2016 report by NGKF looked at office parks in five suburbs, and found that between 14% and 22% were “in some stage of obsolescence” (i.e. high vacancy rates, too much or not enough parking, the space needs substantial renovations). That suggests that up to 1 billion square feet of office space — or 7.5% of the country’s entire office inventory — is becoming obsolete for the people who work there.

0 Underwater Garages in Boston?

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We all agree, finding garage parking in Boston can be a challenge. What about parking under the Charles River or under the Fort Point Channel?

Amsterdam parking under water

Image Credit: Curbed

In a recent article the Boston Globe notes, “in a city like Boston, where the most parking-starved areas are surrounded by water, the payoff could be significant: helping to reduce the pollution and traffic caused by drivers circling the block hunting for spot, making parking more affordable, and freeing up more street-level space for other uses.”

The Globe article also includes the following comment of the feasibility of such an undertaking:

“It’s definitely very possible,” said Arthur G. Stadig, vice president of Walker Parking Consultants, who said a client of his Boston firm — whom he declined to identify — recently toyed with the idea of extending part of a planned parking garage into the harbor…It’s just a matter of is there that right combination of a development that’s close to the water, needs the parking, and is feasible from all different aspects,” including cost and securing regulatory approvals.”

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

 

0 Could Track 61 Offer Rail Service throughout the Seaport?

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Seaport train location

Credit: Boston Globe

Can track 61 save the Seaport from its own success? To be clear, it could help and we could use it.

From the Boston Globe:

Originally a freight line that was part of the industrial rail yards along the South Boston Waterfront, Track 61 has been unused for many years while around it a new neighborhood of glass-walled offices, luxury condos, and hip restaurants has sprung up.

The roughly 1.5-mile spur [that] cuts across the Seaport District from the southwestern edge of South Boston…is coming back to life [to test] new Red Line subway cars that are being built for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority in Springfield.

The work will include an electrified third rail along Track 61 to power the Red Line cars, a new shed, and other improvements.

0 Water Transportation Would Suit Seaport District

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Ferry in Boston Harbor

Credit: Banker and Tradesman

Water shuttle service simply makes sense to accommodate Boston’s daytime and nighttime population growth and resulting transportation demands. The benefits of water travel from North Station to the Seaport would be a welcome alternative for many within our workforce; complaints of snarled traffic access during business hours are common refrains among Seaport commuters. Additionally, the reactivation of Track 61 from Back Bay to the Seaport will contribute to further traffic relief.

From B&T:

The 2015 South Boston Waterfront Sustainable Transportation Plan specifically recommended ferry service between Fan Pier and North Station, due to the need for improved regional access to the jobs and activity in the Seaport district. The report called water transportation “an untapped resource to open up new channels of transit ridership to/from North Station, the downtown, and coastal communities to the north and south.”

0 North Station Office Market’s Growing Appeal

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The North Station market is growing up. Yes, it is still home to The Garden, but with 2.5 million square feet of new developments, it is poised to rival any Boston submarket.

North End office market activity plan

Credit: BostonPlans.org

Unlike the Seaport, it offers a commuter rail hub in North Station, light rail service from the Green and Orange lines, and Interstate 93 – making it a commuter’s dream.

Banker&Tradesman reports, “by 2020, the addition of more than two and a half million square feet of new development promises to reshape the neighborhood with the inclusion of retail, office and hospitality developments…It will also include market-rate and middle-class housing, which will contribute to Boston Mayor Martin Walsh’s goal of creating 56,000 new units by 2030. Growth has been so explosive that the city is developing a North Station Area Mobility Action Plan to account for the thousands of commuters, residents, visitors and arena-goers that ebb and flow in and out of the area daily.”

You can read the full article on Banker and Tradesman: Boston’s New Gateway

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