A buyer could opt to try something different on the acre where the tower would go. But that would mean a year-long slog through meetings and negotiations at City Hall. The CBRE pitch instead plays up the “shovel ready” nature of the tower plan for 15 Necco. Another plus: the promise of at least 10 years of rent, starting at nearly $4.2 million a year, from GE for 5 Necco.
The 12-story tower, a stone’s toss from South Station, could be ideal for another headquarters office — presumably for a corporate tenant in better financial health than GE.
But the lab proposal offers a compelling alternative. Look at all the VC money coursing through the industry. In a recent market overview, brokerage Hunneman notes that Boston-area biotechs raised $4.3 billion in 2018, roughly equaling what the sector raised in the previous two years combined. IPO funds, meanwhile, more than doubled in 2018 from the year before.