0 Government Center Poised for Modernization

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Boston city hall plaza at night

Credit: B&T

Government Center is an area in downtown Boston, bounded by Cambridge, Court, Congress, and New Sudbury Streets.  Center Plaza sits on the gateway and the new owners are poised to make a splash with their vision.

From Banker&Tradesman:

“The plans are going to be a very noticeable level of improvement on the retail arcade,” [said Kevin Kuzemchak, senior vice president for Shorenstein.] “We want to take what is now a fairly dark monotonous experience and add new lighting and storefronts where we can, signage, and hopefully install High Line-esque landscaping to the entire arcade and break it up into different zones.” Office lobbies will be expanded and moved closer to Cambridge Street.

Related Office Listings:
Government Center Office Space

0 Luke’s Lobster Opening in Back Bay

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Luke's LobsterA new food option is coming to Back Bay on Exeter Street.  Look out Downtown, Back Bay has it: Luke’s Lobster!

From Bostinno:

Luke’s Lobster will be opening at 75 Exeter Street, at the base of the Avalon Communities. The new outpost will be a casual seafood shack – similar to its other locations in NYC, Philadelphia, DC, and Chicago. The menu will focus on fresh lobster, crab and shrimp rolls, along with a selection of chowders and bisques…The seafood shack is known for sourcing all of their lobster from Maine and, in addition to their affordable $16 lobster rolls, the restaurant also offers a tasty lobster grilled cheese sandwich for only $12.

0 Boston Office Designers Discuss their Craft

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Boston office design

Credit: BostInno

How does a designer think about crafting that cool, creative new office space that will foster innovative ideas?  Well, have a look into the thought process of three of Boston’s best at Bostinno:

• Nina Chase is a landscape architect at Sasaki Associates.

• Haril Pandya is a principal at CBT Architects.

• Michael LeBlanc is a principal at Utile Inc.

0 Marine Industrial Park, Copley Place Developments Gain Approval

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Our city’s developers continue to expand available options for office, retail and housing.  Locations range from:

·         Simon’s Copley Place in Back Bay
·         Skanska’s Parcel Q-1 in the Seaport
·         Residential project at 14 West Broadway in South Boston
·         Residential project on East 5th in South Boston
·         The Jewish Community Housing in Brighton

Boston marine industrial park

Credit: Boston Redevelopment Authority

The BBJ reports “the Boston Redevelopment Authority has granted approval to 177,845 square feet of development across the city, totaling $65.8 million in new development costs and including 129 residential units in South Boston and Brighton…In addition to the three new development projects it approved, the BRA authorized revisions to two projects, including the $500 million, 542-unit residential and retail expansion in Copley Place.”

We are in the midst of the largest transformation of our city since the ’70’s.

0 Is WeWork’s $5 Billion Valuation Justified?

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shared office space at wework

Credit: Bloomberg

Is WeWork onto something here or will this be a passing fad?  Time will tell, but if the 90,000 glasses served last month are a litmus test of the future, WeWork is onto something that could transform how “Justin in time” office space is used.

From Bloomberg:

At a basic level, WeWork is a company that sublets office space, taking care of many of the time-consuming hassles involved in self-employment. That’s not the factor, though, that has captured the fancy of venture capital investors, who have pushed the five-year-old company’s valuation to a giddy $5 billion…WeWork has cast itself as a new kind of workplace for the post-recession labor force and a generation that has never known a cubicle. It aspires to make your job a place you never want to quit.

 

0 Boston Office Rents Projected to Grow 30% by 2017

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Boston Harbor Corporate Center

Harbor Corporate Center in Boston Seaport District

It is true, office rents are going to continue to rise with no expected tenant relief until after 2017.  This is primarily due to the limited amount of speculative new construction coming online.  Developers have chosen the residential dollars to chase over the office dollar and very few office developers are willing to go in the ground on spec.

B&T notes, “Dropping a 30-percent rent-bomb on the Boston market is going to have a big impact, even if it is spread over three years…For starters, if they stick, higher rents will make winners out of all those new office towers on the drawing boards right now for downtown Boston. Building a new tower in Boston these days can easily be a billion-dollar proposition and someone has to foot the bill for it…So the rent spike is music to the ears of all those ambitious developers, who will need to push rents towards $80, if not $100, a square foot for their top suites to keep their lenders on board and meet their projections.”

You can read the full article on Banker&Tradesman, here. Alternatively, click to browse currently available office space in Boston, ahead of the expected 10% growth next year.

0 Virgin Hotels Exploring Boston Location

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Virgin Airlines, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Fuels, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Comics, and now Virgin Hotels; Richard Branson has his sights set on Boston with a new hotel concept focusing on the business traveler.

According to an article on the BBJ,  “the company is exploring a location in Boston — along with Miami, Austin, Los Angeles and other U.S. cities, “but nothing to announce yet.”

Rendering of Virgin Hotel

Credit: BBJ

The second Virgin Hotel is expected to open next summer in Nashville, with a third location to follow in New York City.

0 MassChallenge Accepts 128 New Startups

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boston startup accelerator logoWho are the newest inductees into MassChallenge?  Have a look.

The BBJ remarked on the program’s intrigue, “part of the four-month long no-equity program, startup teams will be granted free office space at MassChallenge’s headquarters in the Seaport and work with expert mentors in the area. Hardware startups will also have access to the MADE@ MassChallenge hardware lab, where they can prototype and manufacture products.”

Jump over to the BizJournals.com website to see the complete list of all 128 startups accepted to the accelerator program.

0 186 Lincoln Street Sells for $20.6M

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Lincoln Street office building in Boston

Credit: Banker&Tradesman

Building trades continue with Brickman of New York acquiring 186 Lincoln Street for just over $300 per square foot.
Banker&Tradesman offered context on the sale, indicating “the 68,526-square-foot multi-tenant office building near South Station is 70 percent leased, with tenants including Roche Diagnostics, Full Contact and Greystone Solutions…The South Station submarket contains 1.3 million square feet of office space in 22 buildings, 85 percent of which is class B product.”


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

0 Downtown Crossing gets a Taste of France

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Baked goods have a new meaning at 1 Boston Place.  The 126 year old firm knows a thing or two about macaroons and croissants.

French Restaurant in downtown crossing Boston

Credit: Boston Business Journal

The Boston Business Journal notes, “Paul, a 126-year-old French bakery, is officially opening its Downtown Crossing location at 201 Washington St…The Downtown Crossing location will have a full-service restaurant — a first for the 126-year-old bakery — inside and out on the 50-seat terrace at One Boston Place.”

You can read more about Paul, the newest French restaurant to grace the hub, on the BBJ.