0 A Look Inside the MassChallenge Workspace (video)

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What does today’s innovative office space look like?  Well MassChallenge has moved into their new offices in Jamestown’s building at 21 Drydock in the Seaport area of Boston.  Have a look at cool creative space designed to allows today’s innovators creates tomorrow’s new technology.

 

 

The Boston Business Journal describes the accelerator’s move, “Boston-based startup accelerator MassChallenge has officially moved from One Marina Park Drive to 21 Drydock Avenue, in the Innovation and Design Building. Over 100 startups will work in the new place from June 23, kicking off the fifth MassChallenge accelerator program.”

0 A Universal Trend in Workplace Design

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design trends in boston office space

Credit: hok.com

A recent hok.com article on workplace design informs a trend all real estate professionals are seeing. The question is no longer just “how many SF and how long of a term do you need?” It is now, “what do your employees want, what type of environment helps you as the CEO of your company recruit, retain and maximize your talent and production within the space?”

From hok’s Top Trends Influencing Workplace Design:

“People Matter! If there is one macro-trend that encompasses all of the trends listed here, it would be the growing emphasis on people. Workplace design and strategy can play a huge role in helping to maximize the comfort and performance of occupants. Engaging with employees on how the workplace can best support them is a great way to start.”

0 44 Luxury Condos to Line Greenway

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rendering of proposed luxury condos on the Boston Greenway

Credit: The Boston Herald

What do you want to see on the Greenway?  Are you a fan of keeping the green space or providing more housing, retail and office.  This plan calls for market condos and 4,000 RSF of retail space to be added to Boston’s Greenway .

From the Boston Herald:

“A Boston developer is looking to build a 12-story luxury condominium building to fill in one of the missing “teeth” facing the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway…Boston Residential Development’s plans for the estimated $40 million India Street project call for 44 condos and some 4,000 square feet of restaurant/retail space on a 7,100-square-foot site that’s now a small parking lot.

The condos would be a mix of one- to three-bedrooms from 600 square feet to 1,750 square feet.“

0 Downtown Crossing Transformation Nears Completion

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construction in Boston's downtown crossing

Credit: NY Times

Live, work & play.  Downtown crossing is in the final phase of its transformation.  23 years ago I moved back to Boston from California and took the T to Park Street and walked to Milk Street daily.  At that time you could still buy a suit at Filene’s Basement.  Over those years we have seen retailers come and go and some shuttered buildings evolve to residential buildings.  Now, we are seeing the area become a destination location for office workers priced out of E. Cambridge, but wish to maintain Red Line access.  1,000 new housing units are coming online and the repurposing of the Daniel H. Burnham building into offices for Arnold Communications.

A national voice on Downtown Crossing, the NY Times, describes “some $4 billion in private investment over the last decade is finally stoking the long-neglected district with both a new attitude and fresh appeal. Developers are rapidly reinventing Downtown Crossing as an upscale residential neighborhood filled with stores, restaurants and cafes catering to students and young professionals.”

The NYT article is available online: New Energy Rouses Boston’s Downtown Crossing

0 Tower Considered at Back Bay Station

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rendering of proposed tower at Back Bay station

Credit: Boston Globe

The Back Bay skyline could see yet another change on the horizon.  Plans state that there would be one high rise and at least one mid-rise tower on the site.  The present building was designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Wood and opened in 1987.  That building replaced the older station that opened in 1928 for New Haven Railroad.

The Boston Globe reported on the considered remodeling of Back Bay Station, nothing “the owner of the John Hancock Tower in Boston is negotiating with Governor Deval Patrick’s administration to renovate and manage the MBTA’s Back Bay Station in exchange for the right to build a towering complex of residences, stores, and offices… [it would include] a skyscraper and at least one other building above the rehabilitated station, which would get a new retail arcade, ventilation upgrades, and a glass facade along Dartmouth Street.”

The full Globe article is available online, here.

0 Blackstone Continues to Sell Boston Holdings

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125 summer street in Boston

Office building at 125 Summer Street (click for details)

Our city is on the move, and along with it, some noteworthy addresses. 100 High Street and 125 Summer Street are the latest towers to announce that they are under agreement to be sold by Equity Office, Blackstone.  The sale is expected to close in September.

The BBJ, reporting on Blackstone’s portfolio activity, notes “the private equity firm, which acquired its Greater Boston property portfolio in 2007 when it bought Equity Office Properties Trust for $39 billion, has reached an agreement to sell five office properties in Greater Boston to a Canadian real estate investment firm. The deal is the latest move by New York-based Blackstone as it disposes of the local real estate portfolio it bought before the financial crisis.”

More information is available on the Boston Business Journal’s coverage, here.

0 Boston Office Demand Remains Strong

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NAIOP seaport - logo

Credit: NAIOP

Our own Chris Sower participated in a panel discussion this morning in the Seaport for NAIOP. Demand showed little sign of letting up for office space in Boston through 2015.  Tenant-in-the-market demand is up nearly 70 percent from 2012.

From Banker and Trandesman:

Greater Boston’s busy development scene shows little sign of slackening through 2015 with strong demand for commercial and multifamily properties, analysts predicted at an industry event Thursday. Tenants are in the market for 4.4 million square feet of office space in downtown Boston, an increase of 69 percent from 2012, said Rebecca Galeota, a senior vice president at Cassidy Turley. “The flight to urbanization only plays to the strengths of our city,” she said.

0 Marine Park’s Bronstein Center Targeted for Commercial Use

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22 Drydock Ave. office building

Credit: Boston Business Journal

What does it take to convert a former munitions building to full commercial use?

Well, some history of the site according to Wikipedia.  The Department of Defense purchases the site in 1920 and split it up between the Navy Annex and the South Boston Army Base.  During World War II the site was used as a machine shop, power plant, barracks, dry dock warehouse.

Post World War II the annex was used to store ships and in 1074 the City purchased the site and it became the Boston Marine Industrial Park.  As our city expand we need to accommodate more commercial use and less industrial use and Jamestown is looking for approvals to do so.

The Boston Business Journal reports, “last year, Jamestown Properties bought the Boston Design Center from Millennium Partners for $72.7 million and the adjacent Bronstein Center for $48 million. The 1.4-million-square-foot complex is located at 21, 23, and 25 Drydock Ave. at the far end of the Seaport District.”

Details on Marine Park and the potential commercial conversion, head over to the BBJ’s website.

0 Smart Parking Meters Coming to Boston

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Parking meters in Boston

Credit: Boston Globe

Do you have a $10 roll of quarters in your car for the City of Boston parking meters?  If not, you’re not alone.  Boston’s new app would take the place of change and allow you to pay with your smart phone.

According to the Boston Globe, “the city’s Transportation Department is developing a smartphone application that would eliminate the scramble for cash, by using an iPhone, Android, or BlackBerry to pay for a metered parking slot. ‘Two things people have in their pockets: They have a credit card. And they have a cellphone,” interim Transportation Commissioner James Gillooly said. “We aspire to have everybody use a credit card or pay by phone.'”

Additional details on Boston’s smart parking initiative, jump over to the Boston Globe’s website.

0 212 Stuart Street in Bay Village: Demolition, then Condos

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Stuart street office and retail space in Boston's Bay Village

Credit: Boston Business Journal

What is the status of 212 Stuart Street?  It is scheduled to be raised and a new 18-unit condominium building will take its place.

The Boston Business Journal is reporting that “the 10,000-square-foot brick building at 212 Stuart St. will be demolished, beginning today. In an email to its members, the neighborhood group said demolition work is expected to take place over the next eight weeks. The property’s owner, Boston’s Revere Hotel, notified the neighbors this week that it secured the necessary demolition permits from the city’s inspectional services department.”

More information is available on the demolition of 212 Stuart St, jump over to the BBJ’s website.