Recent content by Brick Top

90% leased!

Really shows how low the demand for lab space has fallen if the developer is appropriating part of its brand new lab building for its own offices (which USQ currently leases in 31 Union Square). Sounds like they know they're not getting any lab tenants anytime soon, and would rather occupy that...

I don’t think much (if any) of the lab space is leased. Saw last night that the interior is finished but completely empty—there aren’t any tenant build-outs whatsoever. Since lab space build-outs take a couple months minimum to complete, most tenants of new buildings are eager to start the...

I totally agree with all of this. My slightly celebratory tone in my original post concerns the lab construction bubble bursting in general, with this lease being yet another piece of supporting evidence. I have nothing against this particular developer, and didn't mean to come across as if I...

Because if building lab space (which only drives up housing costs) is no longer so lucrative, developers will hopefully pivot to building housing. Things can always change, but if you look at the actual numbers, it's very hard to imagine a dramatic turnaround within the next year or two...

From the article: (emphasis mine) So a net change of +37,000 square feet is one of the largest leases of 2023. I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the boardroom of a developer with lab space currently under construction. I bet they are sweating bullets, desperately hoping that they're not...

The once-hot market for biotech jobs and lab space has cooled. What now? https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/26/business/boston-biotech-market/ (unpaywalled link here) From the article: (emphasis mine) It will be interesting to see if/how large lab buildings that haven't yet broken ground...

A little birdie in commercial real estate whispered in my ear that they doubt this will be built as proposed. They said that the lab building boom has saturated the supply end of the market, while a contraction of VC funding has dampened the demand end of the market. To wit, the second Boynton...

Something tells me that the repairs are going to take a lot longer than 42 days. From May of last year:

Oof, that really sucks for the rooms that have windows immediately abutting that CMU wall. There's what, a foot or two of clearance at most?

The proposed South Bank bridge (shown in green) is supposed to cross the tracks well south of where the current walkway heads towards the bridge: The pedestrian path across the drawbridge is currently proposed for the west side, not the east side, although it's all up in the air and could...

Amazing, a $3M SFH with all the aesthetic charm of a generic yuppie box apartment building. So much for NIMBYs fighting against denser housing because it would "ruin the neighborhood character." Edit: for comparison, ~$3M could also get you: An 3300 square foot brownstone two blocks from...

Here's another (somewhat morbid) one: It's possible to walk north from Lovejoy Wharf, hang a left at the dam, go underneath the Zakim, and end up on a pedestrian path next to the North Station tracks that dead ends right at the MBTA drawbridge: Here's a street view image of the path taken...

The east end of Neptune Road in Eastie comes to mind.

I personally would much rather have the airiness of Cambridge Crossing over the shadow-filled canyons of Hudson Yards. Boston is not New York, nor should it try to be.