0 Shared Office Space is Here to Stay

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shared office space kitchen

Credit: The Boston Globe

Shared office space is here to stay.  Think about it like “Just in Time Inventory,” allowing now companies to focus on the company while having all the amenities of much larger corporations.  In short, you pay for flexibility, but that combined with some great peer networking is exactly what clients are looking for.

The Boston Globe defined the shared office space ‘trend’ in a recent article:

“a new kind of office is popping up in neighborhoods from Newton to Chelsea to Boston’s Leather District: communal spaces where you can rent a desk or three on a month-to-month basis, and mingle with other businesspeople around the kitchen’s beer tap at the end of the day. (Unlimited brewskis — or cups of coffee — are included in the rent.)”

0 Boston Seaport Attracts Tech and Biotech Start-ups

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2 Seaport Lane, Boston Seaport district

World Trade Center East, 2 Seaport Lane

Boston continues to expand into the Seaport.  The once-famed $7-per-day-dirt parking lots have been replaced with corporate office space for the biotech industry, law firms, financial services and newly funded technology companies.  Did this happen overnight?  Well, no.  The Ted Williams Tunnel to the airport, and onramp to Mass Turnpike East and West fostered accessibility and spurred new opportunity. That level of infrastructure was the catalyst of for our current development cycle, combined with demand for residential and office development.

The Boston Globe states:

“The new face of Boston’s Seaport is the old face of the city’s downtown. The lawyers and accountants who are financing the waterfront construction boom are abandoning Boston’s historic commercial center for something newer and more exciting. This exodus is opening up cheaper commercial space for creative firms and tech companies…Boston’s downtown and its waterfront are slowly swapping identities.”

More information on the Seaport’s transition is provided in the Boston Globe’s full article.

Alternatively, you can view our listings for currently available office space in the Seaport.

0 7-9 Channel Center in Seaport Slated for Renovation

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Channel center rennovation in Boston

Credit: Boston Business Journal

Berkley Investments is bullish on the Seaport with their soon-to-be-renovated 7-story, 10K SF floor plate building.  This building is targeting funded and stabilized technology companies.

According to the Boston Business Journal, Berkeley is rehabilitating “9 Channel Center, a 7-story office and retail building totaling 77,000 square feet in the growing Seaport neighborhood. The interior and exterior rehab will include the installation of new building systems and the addition of as much as 4,000 square feet of street-level retail. The building’s brick and beam architecture will be restored. The design also calls for a new atrium lobby, retail storefronts and a roof deck. The building’s floor plates will span approximately 10,000 square feet.”

Details on the design and tenant plans for 7-9 Channel Center are included in the BBJ article: office rehab in Seaport.

0 Boston Real Estate: High Demand for Office and Lab Space

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210 Broadway st in Cambridge

Two Cambridge Place

Boston continues to shine nationally due to our healthcare, education, finance, biotech and high-tech industries.  Blackstone, owners of Equity Office are shopping their remaining Class A office portfolio to perhaps one buyer, which will push office rent even higher as the new ownership justifies their investment.

Here are some relevant projections for the Boston office market, from nerej.com:

A few key neighborhoods and areas will see particularly high levels of growth this year. Although major areas like the Back Bay and the Financial District continue to provide the largest amount of market space, growth and many new lease transactions will be seen in other areas, which provide more opportunities for company relocation and for out-of-town businesses to take root…Kendall Sq. in Cambridge is currently red hot, both for offices and for lab space in medicine, high-tech, and more. In particular, Google is coming in to Kendall Sq. and will take up 300,000 s/f of office space. Google will leave its own large footprint, while making the area even more attractive for other tech companies.

0 Why are they leaving Waltham for Boston and Cambridge?

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Kendall Square commuters rely on the T to get to work in Cambridge, Ma

Credit: MIT

Why are the V.C. firms leaving Waltham for Boston?  Is it traffic and higher priced rents?  No, the customer is there.  Downtown Crossing (DTX) has evolved to being a hot bed of new technology companies that wanted a few simple items.  Rents; looking for an affordable option, DTX has Class B rents ranging from the mid to upper $20’s to the mid to upper $30’s PSF.  The swing in price is due the specific location, the build out of the space and the condition of the overall building.  In addition some buildings have a staffed lobby, while other operate on a key FOB system.

Location; emerging companies are competing for a hot commodity, talented staff.  Location becomes a huge factor what that young employee doesn’t own a car and relies on the T to get them around.  DTX is uniquely positioned at the Red, Green, Blue and Orange lines.

So, that is why the V.C. firms are moving back to the city to pay Class A rents that can start in the upper $40’s PSF and beyond?

The latest Venture firm to vacate Waltham for Boston or Cambridge? North Bridge Venture Partners.

From betaboston.com:

North Bridge Venture Partners, based in Waltham, is planning to move to Boston or Cambridge some time later this year, said general partner Michael Skok. “Our leanings are toward the Innovation District or Downtown, mostly based on entrepreneurs saying it,” Skok said.

The Betaboston.com article on North Bridge Venture Partners is available in full, here.

 

0 Sweetgreen Opens Location in Boston Seaport

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Sweetgreen in Boston seaport district

Credit: Boston Business Journal

From 11:45 AM to 1:45 PM the Boylston Street location for Sweetgreen is mobbed.  My office is a ½-block away, so I frequently walk past their location and see the line out the door for those crazed salad fans.  Yes, I too am a fan and appreciate fresh food served quickly for a competitive price.  The Seaport location will attract a following that no doubt will see similar long lines out the door.  Enjoy!

According to a report on the Boston Business Journal, “located at 372 Congress St., the 1,655-square-foot eatery joins the neighborhood of local firms Life is good, Rue La La, and Zipcar….Sweetgreen says it prides itself on preparing foods from scratch on location, not from a commissary, using ingredients from local farms that are prepared and cooked daily.”

More information is available in the BBJ’s coverage, here.

0 Government Center MBTA Station Closed for Construction

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rendering of the new governement center MBTA station

Credit: Bisnow

Transportation is critical for any city to grow and prosper, and Boston is no different.  On March 22nd, the Government Center T Stop closed for two years for a major overhaul.  While this is a challenge for commuters during that time, the outcome stands to offer passengers a new gateway to Government Center.

From bisnow.com, speaking with MassDOT secretary Richard Davey:

“When construction is completed in three years, the universally accessible Government Center station will have a sleek, steel entrance with landscaping and will take riders to Logan Airport…It will also have new lobbies, elevators, fare collection, security, finishes, lighting, emergency exits, and more retail space.”

Additional information on the Govt. Center station overhaul is available on bisnow.

0 Former Dunkin’ Donuts Location in Financial District Lands New Occupants

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Commercial space for rent at 176 Federal Street in Boston

Credit: chartercm

A recent instance of this trend is evident in the move of Pret A Manger made to snag the 2,000 sq. ft. space in the Financial District, formerly occupied by Dunkin’ Donuts.

The BBJ reported on the new occupants of 176 Federal St. in the Financial District, noting it may be just the first of many similar moves for the London-based eatery, “Pret A Manger has been looking to expand in Greater Boston with plans to open a dozen cafes over the next five years. James O’Mara, an attorney representing the eatery, said Pret A Manger will be opening a shop as early as this spring at 101 Arch St. in Boston’s Downtown Crossing at the former Men’s Wearhouse.”

Additional information on the location at 176 Federal Street is available on the Boston Business Journal.

0 Boutique co-working space opens in Back Bay

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More co-working office space is now available in Boston for upstart companies to choose from. Not too sure if you can make a long term lease commitment? Idea Space at 867 Boylston Street is the newest to jump in to this evolving market. Their niche: boutique co-working space.

Co-working space in Boston's Back Bay

Idea Space in Boston

According to coverage on the BBJ, “the 4,500-square-foot space is home to about 25 small companies.” Idea Space owner, Lauren Mearn, notes the impetus for opening the co-working space in Back Bay in the BBJ article:

“people want ‘a cool place to work that wasn’t a coffee shop and that wasn’t home'”

The full article on the Boston Business Journal is available, here.

0 Boston Office Market is on Fire!

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Boston offices 109-129 Kingston St.

office space at 109-129 Kingston Street in Boston

WOW! This market is on fire ! I haven’t seen the market this competitive for tenant’s trying to lease office space in years !! The last several commercial office lease deals I have done in Boston have ended up with multiple tenants competing for the same space. My advice to tenants out there is to keep your options open, choose more than one possible option when looking for office space because you never know when you may be out bid. If you find a space you love, just grab it quickly, time is of the essence in today’s market.

Follow the link to view available office space in the downtown area: Boston commercial office space

If you’d like any assistance, have questions, or would like to schedule a showing, please contact Bonny L. Doorakian at bdoorakian@bradvisors.com, or by phone at 617.850.9655 (tel), 617.763.2919 (cell).