Tag Archives: Boston Innovation District
0 GE Brands Boston HQ ‘Innovation Point’
Credit: Boston Business Journal
Where is Innovation Point? If you ask your Uber driver, I imagine you will get a confusing look back at you from the rear view mirror. If you Google it, it is yet to be clearly defined in Maps other than showing part of the Northern end of the Seaport section of South Boston. Innovation Point is the name selected by GE for their new corporate headquarters in Boston.
Jeff Caywood a GE spokesperson, said the name is a reflection of both the neighborhood and company…The “innovation” piece is reflective of GE’s 125-year history, and the innovative products it has brought to the market — everything from lightbulbs to appliances to jet engines, he said. The “point,” meanwhile, reflects both the Fort Point neighborhood and the “acceleration point” of GE as it transforms into what it has dubbed a “digital industrial” company.
You can read the full article on the BBJ, here.
0 Tech Companies Heading to Downtown Boston
Credit: BBJ
Location, Location and Location. The largest concentration of office space north of NYC is Boston’s Financial District and including in its size is easy access by commuter rail, T, Boat, bus and yes, car.
The tech audience seems most attracted to the proximity to the Red Line; with quick access to E. Cambridge and Kendall Square, and prices that are 10% – 20% less in comparable asset classes, the market’s appeal is strong.
According to the BBJ, “In the city’s post-recession economy, more than 2.1 million square feet of professional services, law firms and consultancies have vacated the traditional downtown neighborhood for a spiffier Innovation District address. But at the same time, some 1.8 million square feet of technology, advertising, media and information-based companies — also known as TAMI tenants — have flooded into downtown and the area around North Station.”
Additional information is available on the Boston Business Journal’s website, here.
Related Available Office Space
Boston financial District office space for lease
0 Boston’s Next Innovation District? Four Neighborhoods Marked as Candidates
Credit: Boston.com
Where will the innovation district go next to accommodate tomorrow’s new technology startups? One of the key components is access and infrastructure; if you can’t get there without a car, it’s not going to be viable.
According to the BBJ, “a task force created by Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh has been focusing on how to replicate the success of the Innovation District in other parts of the city…the group officially recommended the city focus those efforts on the following four neighborhoods: Dorchester’s Fields Corner, East Boston, Dudley Square in Roxbury to Uphams Corner in Dorchester, Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood in Dorchester.
More information on the administration’s plan for the new innovation district are available on the Boston Business Journal’s website.
0 Boston Innovation District Multiplies
Credit: BBJ
Innovation is moving beyond the Innovation District according to Mayor Walsh. This is a great example of taking what has worked and duplicating it in other communities.
The BBJ observed that “Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced on Friday the formation of a ‘Neighborhood Innovation District Committee’ with one purpose: to expand innovation within the city of Boston. A news release states the Neighborhood Innovation District Committee ‘will seek to identify policies, practices, and infrastructure improvements to support the development of innovation districts throughout the city.'”
Additional information on the Innovation District Committee are available on the Boston Business Journal.
0 Boston Financial District: The Tech Hub?
Click to view the google map
No longer is the Financial District home to money managers, law firms and accounting firms. Now, tech firms are moving in to take advantage of the largest concentration of office space north of New York city combined with great infrastructure and competitive pricing. Tech Firms want fault tolerant power, redundant Telco and security that can accommodate companies on one floor. Class A towers have this option and are opening their doors and reposition themselves to attract this type of tenant. On a tour a property manager for a Class A tower had a new issue she had never dealt with before, a broken window from a floor hockey game from a new tenant. Problem solved, by her dedicated team of technicians, but that was a first.
An article on BetaBoston.com declares, “Boston’s Financial District, of all places, has emerged as a hotspot for the region’s tech startups.” The author reports finding “more than 30 tech companies large and small that occupy offices in the Financial District.”
The complete article, along with a complete list of tech companies in Boston’s Financial District, is available on the Boston.com offshoot, BetaBoston.com
0 AtSite Lands Innovation District Office in Boston
Credit: Boston Globe
The Innovation District continues to grow and has become a destination location for 1st timers opening offices in Boston. AtSite’s president and CEO says is all, “Boston’s Innovation hub is the perfect setting for our building performance solutions.”
The announcement from AtSite is featured on digitaljournal.com:
“The Boston location is in a neighborhood known for its creativity and collaboration and draws a steady stream of entrepreneurs. ‘WeWork’s biggest draw for AtSite is the emphasis on an innovative use of shared resources, in a forward leaning and collaborative way,’ said Lisa West, AtSite VP of Marketing. ‘We are really excited to be in Boston, and having our offices operated with an inspiring design aesthetic and a great location is a real win for us.'”
The full article can be found on digital journal, here.
0 Price of Office Space in Boston’s Innovation District Still Climbing
How expensive is the Innovation Districtt? Well, Boston’s Innovation District has pulled neck-and-neck with Back Bay. The Innovation District has benefited from a tremendous influx of tenants that could no longer afford East Cambridge and Kendall Square. Now with prices at or above pre-crash levels, the value play is within the low-rise Class A and Class B office space in the Financial District.
Credit: Boston Globe
A managing director at Cassidy Turley, David Campbell, recently commented to the Boston Globe, “the Innovation District has offered the most obvious place for the city to grow…the Big Dig and the convention center and the Ted Williams Tunnel have really made it fertile ground for future development.”
More from Campbell is available in the full article, on the Boston Globe’s website.
0 Innovation District gets Smart Parking Sensors, Time to Destination Signs
Credit: innovationdistrict.org
How smart is your parking space? Well in the Innovation district and Boston Seaport are stepping it up a few notches with a real-time data app from www.streetline.com. Imagine knowing where to go for the nearest spot and no longer circling the block, it’s here in our city!
Banker & Tradesman posted a report on the traffic installations in the Innovation District:
The technology is designed to help manage traffic congestion in the downtown neighborhood. The smart parking sensors and time to destination signs will provide drivers with constantly updated information on available, on-street parking spaces as well as the quickest route to take out of the Innovation District to the highway system during the evening commute. Drivers may begin taking advantage of this new technology on Wednesday, Dec. 11.
The full B&T articles is available on their website.
Alternatively, follow this link to view available office space in the Innovation District
0 Boston Tech Companies Throw Dance Party at Lunch
Credit: The Boston Globe
It seems that ice cream Friday for the office doesn’t stand a chance, when pitted against a lunchtime dance party. Will this be a new mainstay within the Innovation district or a passing fad?
The Boston Globe reports, “Lunch Beat Boston style is an amped-up dance hour, where the Seaport’s District Hall is turned into a darkened disco, and techies groove to thumping electronica so loud that networking becomes, by necessity, a wordless bounce to the beat with your neighbor…Lunch Beat — a global franchise that started three years ago in the electronic dance music hub of Stockholm — is a noontime rave intended to break up the work routine with a midday jolt of techno tunes. Organizers in Greater Boston held their fourth such rave Wednesday at District Hall, the newly erected center of the city’s budding Innovation District.”
The full Globe editorial is available to Boston Globe subscribers on its website.