The Back Bay is just going through a recalibration right now.With some of the nation's fastest elevators, you'll arrive at the Observatory in 39 seconds. “Three or four years ago people were talking about the death of the Financial District. “I would never bet against the Back Bay,” he said. If the Back Bay’s soft right now, it’s just a reflection of how business districts, and the city itself, evolve, said Andy Hoar, president of brokerage CBRE/New England. And John Hancock last year won city approvals for a 26-story tower at 380 Stuart Street, just a block from its old namesake building, which it aims to open in 2019. But one sign of its confidence in the neighborhood is a major redevelopment of Back Bay Station that the company recently proposed, including a 26-story office building along Dartmouth Street. “They feel good about the real estate they’ve got.”īoston Properties declined to comment beyond Linde’s remarks Wednesday. “I think they’re achieving what they want to achieve,” Verrette said. The company also owns the 2.6-million square foot Prudential Center office complex, which is nearly full, and it knows the Back Bay office market well. And brokers said they’d be surprised if that happened. Yet 180,000 square feet at the base of the building that Boston Properties revamped last year to woo tech firms are still empty.īoston Properties has given no sign it plans to lower rents on the vacant space to fill the tower, which Linde said range from the mid-$50s a square foot to more than $80, depending on the floor. Verrette says he knows of several hedge fund and private equity firms that have leased upper floors of the tower at rents topping $90 a square foot, among the highest in the city. Small financial firms that want a prestige address are signing pricey leases in the Back Bay, but the big fish that can fill a lot of space have been harder to come by. Meanwhile growing tech tenants have preferred older buildings and spots closer to the Red Line and commuter rail hubs at North and South Stations. Verrette noted that long-established Back Bay companies such as Houghton Mifflin and Wells Fargo are leaving behind large blocks space for new homes in the Financial District. James Avenue while online retailer Wayfair, which is in Copley Place, is reportedly looking for yet more room to grow.īut after decades as Boston’s premiere business address, Boylston Street and its surroundings have lost their edge lately, said Glenn Verrette, a veteran office broker at Cushman & Wakefield. And co-working giant WeWork recently signed a 113,000-square-foot lease at 31 St. Boston Properties has leased about 80 percent of a new tower at 888 Boylston Street. Office rents in Back Bay have climbed 10 percent on average in the last year, according to real estate firm JLL. To be clear, the Back Bay is not exactly hurting. But those other markets have slightly less vacant space than Back Bay. Rents in the Financial District and the Seaport, on average, are on a par with Back Bay. “Now you think about the Seaport, the Financial District. “Back Bay had always been the coolest area to be in,” said Steve Purpura, market leader at real estate firm Transwestern. And it’s also, real estate experts say, a reflection of the way Boston itself is changing, with new development in the Seaport and in downtown making Back Bay feel the slightest bit tired.
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