Six Key Upcoming Boston-Area New-Construction Office Buildings
Update
01/15/18
With influential global companies including General Electric and Philips moving headquarters offices to the Boston area, the region’s office market has become increasingly desirable, leading to the construction of multiple new office buildings, often on a speculative basis. Below is a selection of major office buildings that will be constructed over the next couple of years, many of which already have committed tenants:
East Cambridge
250 North Street, an upcoming 11-story, 430,000-square-foot science and technology building that is the first phase of the 45-acre, 4.5-million-square-foot Cambridge Crossing development, will be the future home of Philips’ North American headquarters. Philips has leased 243,000 square feet at 250 North Street, and will open its’ new 2,000-employee office there in 2020. The LEED Gold-certified 250 North Street will be located steps from the soon-to-open relocated Lechmere MBTA Green Line Station, and minutes from Kendall Square and Downtown Boston.
Seaport District
Set for completion in March 2018, 121 Seaport will be a new 17-story, 450,000-square-foot tower located the heart of Boston’s Seaport District. The building, which will feature 400,000 square feet of Class A office space above a 50,000-square-foot retail podium, is already fully leased. Internet of Things (IoT) provider PTC has leased 250,000 square feet, and Alexion Pharmaceuticals has leased 150,000 square feet. Amenities at 121 Seaport will include a private fitness center, a rooftop terrace with sweeping skyline and harbor views and high-speed elevators. The building will be LEED Platinum efficiency-certified, largely due to its’ energy-saving elliptical design.
Seaport District
Innovation Square is an upcoming four-story, 360,000-square-foot research, development and manufacturing complex located next to the Innovation and Design Building in Boston’s Seaport District. The first phase of Innovation Square broke ground in December 2017, and will construct a four-story, 125,000-square-foot building scheduled to open by the first quarter of 2019. Mass Innovation Labs will open a two-floor, 54,000-square-foot office within the first phase. Innovation Square will be located across from Harpoon Brewery, with amenities including a collaboration center, a fitness center and green space.
Bulfinch Triangle
The Hub on Causeway is a 1.87-million-square-foot mixed-use development located in Boston’s burgeoning Bulfinch Triangle, a neighborhood recently given the name “Uptown” due to the staggering amount of development taking place there. The development will feature three towers with retail, office, hotel and residential uses. The Hub on Causeway’s first phase will consist of a podium with 175,000 square feet of creative office space anchored by Rapid7, a leading cybersecurity and IT operations analytics solution provider. Rapid7 has leased 147,000 square feet at The Hub on Causeway, and will relocate its’ global headquarters there in the second half of 2019 from the Financial District. WeWork is also rumored to be leasing 38,000 square feet within the first phase for a new workspace. The Hub on Causeway’s future office tower will construct 525,000 additional square feet.
The first phase of The Hub on Causeway will also construct 210,000 square feet of multi-level retail/restaurant space, with tenants including Star Market, ArcLight Cinema and a new entertainment venue by Big Night Entertainment Group and Live Nation New England featuring a nightclub, a restaurant, a concert venue and a bowling facility. Additionally, the first phase will construct 64,000 square feet of expansion space for the adjacent TD Garden, and 540 new underground parking spaces. Later phases of The Hub on Causeway will also construct a 38-story residential tower with about 440 units and a 10-story citizenM boutique hotel tower with approximately 260 rooms.
Bulfinch Triangle
Bulfinch Crossing is a 2.9-million-square-foot multi-phased development project that will replace the existing above-grade concrete Government Center Garage with six mixed-use buildings. Two office buildings will be constructed at Bulfinch Crossing, including a signature 43-story, 528-foot-tall, 1-million-square-foot Class A office building known as One Congress and a nine-story boutique office building facing the Rose Kennedy Greenway.
The first phase of Bulfinch Crossing, a 45-story, 480-foot-tall luxury residential apartment building featuring 368 apartments and 55 condominiums for a total of 423 residences, is now under construction. When fully built, there will be 1.15 million gross square feet of office space at Bulfinch Crossing, in addition to 800+ housing units (apartments and condominiums, including affordable units), 200 hotel rooms and 82,500 gross square feet of retail space.
South End
321 Harrison Avenue will construct an eight-story, 232,500-square-foot office building visible from the Massachusetts Turnpike with a sweeping glass curtain wall facade overlooking the Boston skyline. The building will be located in the rapidly developing Upper South End next to the existing eleven-story, 235,000-square-foot office building at 1000 Washington Street, and will be built atop the property’s existing three-story parking garage.
321 Harrison Avenue will be built on a speculative basis, with foundation work anticipated to start this Spring and completion expected by the end of Summer 2019. As part of the project, the 1000 Washington Street site will be reconfigured to create new, walkable open space, including widened sidewalks, green space and outdoor seating.
