The BEAT

Window and Facade Install Underway for The Beat

Windows are going in, and new sections of the brick facade are taking shape at The Beat in Dorchester. The redevelopment of the former Boston Globe headquarters will feature 695,000-square-feet of creative office, lab, and retail space. Amenities on-site will include a fitness center, roof deck, mini-basketball court, and a golf simulator. The project will also include a 100-seat restaurant and craft microbrewery.

As part of the renovation, Eversource is working with the development team at Nordblom to support the installation of energy-efficient infrastructure. High-efficiency rooftop air conditioning units will be used to condition and ventilate the building, and an LED lighting scheme will provide superior lighting quality while consuming minimal energy. The Beat will also include one of Eversource’s largest EV projects, featuring more than 40 spaces equipped with ports for charging electric vehicles. Construction is expected to wrap up this coming spring.

After Extensive Demo, The Beat Beginning to Show Signs of It's New Look

As construction continues on the revamp of The Beat, leasing efforts are also ramping up with new signage on the project (as we are sure anyone driving on 93S has noticed). Hints of the finished product are also beginning to show with some windows in and new steelwork in place over what will be the main entrance to the nearly 700,000 square foot project. Tenants and the public will be welcomed to the building via the new multi-story atrium which will create a central gathering area and feature a food hall and collaborative meeting spaces. The atrium will also allow natural light to circulate throughout the building.

Construction Continues on The Beat in Dorchester

Construction continues on Nordblom's transformation of BEAT in Dorchester, set to include 360,000 square feet of office space and 300,000 square feet of flex/light industrial space. The project will also include a 10,000-square-foot fitness center and a 100-seat restaurant and a micro craft brewery with a food component, including an outdoor beer garden. A new multi-use path will also be created around the site, restoring the adjacent Patten’s Cove public park and integrating the site into the surrounding Dorchester community.

The BEAT Secures $252.74 Million in Financing

The BEAT in Dorchester has secured $252,747,880 in financing via Oaktree Capital.

The project calls for the repositioning of the 16.6-acre former Boston Globe headquarters at 135 Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester. The existing three-story office and an industrial building will be retained and retrofitted into a 695,000-square-foot modern hub for creative office, laboratory and retail uses dubbed The BEAT. The project would create spaces to stimulate growth in fields such as robotics, life sciences, and high-tech manufacturing.

Building Permit Issued for The BEAT

A building permit has been issued for The BEAT, the new development project at the former site of the Boston Globe headquarters in Dorchester, MA.

The BEAT will include 360,000 square feet of office space and 300,000 square feet of flex/light industrial space, along with retail including a 10,000-square-foot fitness center, a 100-seat restaurant and a micro craft brewery with a food component, including an outdoor beer garden. A portion of The BEAT will be dedicated to robotics-related work. 868 parking spaces and over 200 bicycle storage spaces will be provided on site. Smaller outbuildings will be removed from the existing 815,000-square-foot existing building in order to construct The BEAT, creating 695,000 square feet of space.

Demo Ongoing for The Beat

Demolition of parts of the former Boston Globe headquarters is ongoing to transform the site into a creative hub of office, retail, and lab space. The existing three-story building at the center of the site will be retained and a new multi-story atrium will be built at the entrance. The atrium will be open to the public and offer a food hall and meeting space.  In total, The Beat will include 360,000sf of office space, 300,000sf of flex/light industrial space, a 10,000sf fitness center, and a 100 seat restaurant. 

Be sure to check out their website www.thebeatboston.com for some new renderings, like this amazing one of the lobby.

The Beat at 135 Morrissey gets BPDA approval

FROM THE BPDA:

The proposed project consists of the renovation and reuse of the approximately 695,000 square foot building located at 135 Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester (the former Boston Globe Headquarters).

Live: A contribution of $4,772,723 in Housing Linkage to the Neighborhood Housing Trust (NHT), public community space
Work: 3,000 full-time jobs, STEM-focused campus, on-site career center
Connect: 275 bike storage spaces, building wifi, LEED Silver Certified
Size: 695,000 square feet

The 135 Morrissey Boulevard project is located in Dorchester at the former Boston Globe Headquarters building. The project includes a comprehensive renovation of both the inside and outside of the former Boston Globe Headquarters building. In addition, the project will include landscaping improvements throughout the project site.

Overall, the improvements will result in 695,000 square feet of refurbished space meant to attract creative office, technology, light manufacturing, warehouse, retail, and life science tenants, with approximately 868 off-street parking spaces and approximately 209 bicycle storage spaces. The envisioned building program is made up of the following uses: office/business, tech flex/light industrial, retail/restaurant, food service and fitness space.

In addition, the proposed 135 Morrissey Boulevard project will provide community benefits to Dorchester and Boston as a whole. These benefits  include 2,500 square feet of space located at the project site to be programmed and utilized as a community job training/employment center, open to the public. This space will be provided at no cost to a local non-profit organization. In addition, a contribution of $4,772,723 in housing linkage will be made to the Neighborhood Housing Trust (NHT), along with a commitment to adopt the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR)-owned public open space known as Patten’s Cove for no less than 10 years.

The BEAT to provide Dorchester with creative office and industrial hub

Nordblom Company and Alcion Ventures, who acquired the former Boston Globe property in Dorchester for $81 million in December 2017, propose to transform the property into The BEAT, a $200 million office and industrial innovation hub that would bring over 3,000 new jobs to the Dorchester economy. The BEAT would repurpose the existing building on site, creating a total of 695,000 square feet including 360,000 square feet of office space and 300,000 square feet of flex/light industrial space.

At The BEAT’s center would be a natural light-laden atrium open to the public during working hours, including a food hall and collaborative meeting and gathering spaces. The BEAT would also include a 10,000-square-foot fitness space, a 100-seat restaurant and a micro craft brewery with a food component, including an outdoor beer garden.

Nordblom and Alcion hope to start construction of The BEAT in the third quarter of 2018; construction would last 12 to 14 months. The City of Boston is now reviewing the proposed project plans.

Sale of Boston Globe’s former Dorchester headquarters closes for $81 million

Nordblom Company and Alcion Ventures, who propose to develop The Boston Globe’s former headquarters at 135 Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester into a hub for high-tech jobs, have acquired the property for $81 million. The sale of the 815,000-square-foot office and industrial building, which stands on 16.5 acres located just off of Interstate 93, amounts to about $99 per square foot. Acore Capital Mortgage LP provided $75 million in financing towards the acquisition.

Nordblom and Alcion plan to construct an urban innovation campus on the property, renovating and reusing the existing building to create 690,000 square feet of creative office space for technology and life sciences companies, light industrial space and food & beverage-oriented retail including a craft brewery. The adjacent Patten’s Cove public park would also be overhauled, and improvements would be made to the connectivity of the Savin Hill neighborhood to the nearby JFK/UMass MBTA Red Line station. The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) is now reviewing Nordblom and Alcion’s proposed plans for 135 Morrissey Boulevard.

Nordblom begins city review process for 135 Morrissey commercial development in Dorchester

Nordblom Company has submitted a Letter of Intent (LOI) to the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) for 135 Morrissey, the proposed redevelopment of the former Boston Globe Headquarters in Dorchester into a hub for high-tech jobs, kicking off the project’s official review process. As previously reported, the existing building would be renovated and reused, resulting in approximately 690,000 square feet of uses including creative office space for technology and life sciences companies, light industrial space and food & beverage-oriented retail. Significant landscaping and pedestrian realm improvements would be made to the 16.61-acre site, including an overhaul of the adjacent Patten’s Cove public park and increased connectivity of the Savin Hill neighborhood to the nearby JFK/UMass MBTA Red Line station. Nordblom will reveal additional details of the 135 Morrissey proposal in a Project Notification Form (PNF) filing in the coming months.

Plans unveiled for former Boston Globe headquarters in Dorchester

Developer Nordblom Company, who has an agreement in place to acquire the 16.5-acre former Boston Globe headquarters at 135 Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester, plans to transform the existing three-story building into a hub for high-tech jobs. Existing structures would be retrofitted for new uses including large labs and offices for robotics, life sciences and high tech manufacturing. Per a Dorchester Reporter report, MassRobotics and Cambridge Innovation Center are interested in opening a joint workspace at 135 Morrissey Boulevard.

Some smaller outbuildings would be removed from the existing 815,000-square-foot 135 Morrissey Boulevard building, resulting in 690,000 square feet of available space. A portion of the property would become a micro craft brewery with a food component. As part of the project, a multi-use path would be created around the site, renovating the underutilized adjacent Patten’s Cove park. Nordblom’s deal to acquire 135 Morrissey Boulevard is expected to close in mid-November. The latest details and renderings of the proposed project are posted above.

Nordblom acquiring 16.5-acre Boston Globe headquarters in Dorchester

Local real estate developer Nordblom Company will reportedly acquire the 16.5-acre former Boston Globe headquarters site at 135 Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester. The Boston Globe and Nordblom reportedly signed an agreement for the acquisition this past Tuesday, August 1st; the deal will likely close this Fall. Development plans for the site have not yet been revealed. A vacant three-story, 815,000-square-foot building currently stands on the site, with the site's remainder comprised of surface parking. The Boston Globe has moved its' operations to a 75,000-square-foot office at Exchange Place in the Financial District, and its' printing and distribution to a 330,000-square-foot industrial building in Taunton.

Developer backs out of deal to acquire 16.5-acre Boston Globe headquarters in Dorchester

Center Court Properties has reportedly backed out of a deal to acquire the 16.5-acre Boston Globe headquarters in Dorchester for over $80 million. “We’re enthusiastic about exploring other possibilities,” said Globe Chief Operating Officer Sean Keohan in the Globe's report. Center Court's abandonment of the deal follows Winstanley Enterprises pulling out of its' agreement to acquire the Globe property in 2015. The Globe will still move forward with its' move to a new 75,000-square-foot office at Exchange Place in the Financial District this June.

Center Court Properties acquiring Boston Globe’s Dorchester headquarters

Banker & Tradesman reports that David Ridini of Center Court Properties, based in New York, will acquire The Boston Globe’s 16.5-acre Dorchester headquarters facility for approximately $80 million. The sale price would top the $70 million that John Henry paid to acquire The Boston Globe in 2013.

Ridini is a partner in JDMD Owner LLC, developer of the 71-unit Archer | Donahue condominium project on Beacon Hill approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority for construction this month. Ridini is also a partner in 171 Tremont LLC, developer of the 18-unit 171 Tremont Street condominium project in Downtown Crossing. Ridini is also a partner in CC Bunker Hill Owner LLC, who acquired the 52,944 square foot Bunker Hill Business Center at 440 Rutherford Avenue in Charlestown for $14.725 million in September 2015.

Boston Globe reaches agreement to sell 16.5-acre Dorchester headquarters

The Boston Globe reports that it has reached an agreement to sell its 16.5-acre headquarters facility located along Morrissey Boulevard and Interstate 93 in Dorchester. A locus map of the facility is posted above. The 16.5-acre facility includes the 815,000 square foot Boston Globe headquarters building in addition to surface parking lots.

Citing a confidentiality agreement, The Boston Globe has not disclosed the facility's buyer. The Boston Globe's headquarters will move to Exchange Place (53 State Street) in Downtown Boston, and printing and delivery operations will move to a new facility in Taunton, MA. This page will be updated with additional details as they become available.