The New Office/Lab Thread

Credit to bigpicture7:

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-aetna-boston-relocation-20170130-story.html

Lots of places this could go. 121 Seaport, Pier 4, SST, Bulfinch Crossing...

EDIT: ...and I misspelled "thread." I'm a moron.

This is entirely anectdotal, but I feel like i see a lot of Financial District high rises with multiple vacant floors. This is observational and strictly based on what I see as "construction lighting" at night in towers. So it's not even a little scientific. But I can't imagine it would be too hard to accommodate them.
 
Well with 1 Million square feet of office space proposed at Bulfinch Crossing, I imagine HYM is working aggressively to pitch their space to Aetna. Leasing 400,000 sq. ft. at Bulfinch Crossing would be enough to bring that signature tower to construction.

Similarly, the Boston Properties Hub on Causeway office tower would likely qualify for the amount of space Aetna is ultimately seeking, too. Never mind what's going on in the seaport... at least Aetna and any other corporations shopping to relocate have choice in our market.
 
400,000 square feet would be about 15-16 floors of a typical FiDi highrise. That's a lot.
 
Credit to bigpicture7:

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-aetna-boston-relocation-20170130-story.html

Lots of places this could go. 121 Seaport, Pier 4, SST, Bulfinch Crossing...

EDIT: ...and I misspelled "thread." I'm a moron.

I think Pier 4 office would be off the table for this move - The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) will be moving into 202K sq ft which per the article is 7 of the 13 floors of that building http://www.bcg.com/en-us/d/press/27june2016-bcg-announces-move-to-tishman-speyers-pier-4-development-38021
 
400,000 square feet would be about 15-16 floors of a typical FiDi highrise. That's a lot.

Yeah, that's a lot. Most of what I've seen (that could be currently under contract and being renovated or not actually vacant at all) looks to be 1-4 floors.
 
Seaport available NOW.

Aetna needs to be Downtown.

Walsh/Golden/HYM in crossfire!!

version 2:

Walsh/Golden/Don Chiofaro takes down Aetna in crossfire!!
 
I don't think I understand the value and purpose of this thread? What is this about? Are we just naming new developments that have office space? Because that is literally half of the threads on this board.
 
I don't think I understand the value and purpose of this thread? What is this about? Are we just naming new developments that have office space? Because that is literally half of the threads on this board.

It's a place to discuss companies potentially moving significant office space to Boston. We had several threads going on all over the forum on specific news items.
 
It's a place to discuss companies potentially moving significant office space to Boston. We had several threads going on all over the forum on specific news items.

Ah. Maybe it should be renamed "The New Company" thread or the "Incoming Companies" or something?
 
I could see them at SST...bulfinch, hub on causeway, and especially chiofaro are too far off. That being said Putnam is vacating a large amount of space right on PO square, I'm sure there are other existing buildings with vacancy. Maybe exchange place?
 
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I just spoke with someone involved with business/operations planning at Aetna and they said that the Boston move isn't happening. They said it never progressed beyond initial talks and there were never any serious proposals floated. It sounds like the initial talks were just feelers to see what the state was willing to offer to move and it didn't come close to what they would have needed.

For full disclosure, this person isn't at the senior executive/director level (but still fairly high up) so they may not be privy to all the information.
 
BBJ: NBCUniversal seeks to build $125M regional HQ in Needham

BBJ said:
Media giant NBCUniversal has outlined plans to establish a “world class broadcast and digital media center” in at the former General Dynamics campus in Needham, a $125 million project that could kick off as soon as this summer.

The facility could span a minimum of 165,000 square feet — though the company is already considering taking on an additional 50,000 square feet beyond that — and house 375 employees.

[...]

The NBCUniversal facility would be located at 189 B St., a vacant 171,000-square-foot building that's part of Normandy Real Estate Partners’ master-planned Founders Park campus. Normandy declined to comment on this story.
 
“There are 250 tenants actively looking for space in the market,” Aaron Jodka, director of research at Colliers International, said. “We’ve never tracked a number that high.” The companies are collectively seeking over 5M SF and, while Jodka said most need less than 25K SF, there are some large-scale space requirements that could boost 2017’s performance. Education and technology company Cengage Learning is looking for 100K SF and the law firm of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo is expected to have a deal for 200K SF in Q2

Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/boston/news/...7#ath?utm_source=CopyShare&utm_medium=Browser

https://www.bisnow.com/boston/news/...ut-signs-point-to-downturn-73169?rt=39697#ath
 
According to a new BBJ article, Aetna does indeed plan to move out of CT, and NYC and Boston are the prime candidates.

The article mentions 121 Seaport as one of the places under consideration...but the article also mentions that NYC is the front runner over Boston...

Full article here: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/n...confirms-its-looking-move-hq-out-of-conn.html

The company has considered 121 Seaport Blvd., a 440,000-square-foot, 17-story office now under construction in Boston’s Seaport District. Skanska USA started construction on that property without a lease from an anchor tenant and aims to wrap up construction next year.

EDIT: And here's a more detailed article in the Hartford Courant:

Despite Plea From Malloy, Aetna Will Move Forward With Plans to Move Headquarters Out of Hartford.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-aetna-reports-of-moving-0531-20170530-story.html

This article implies that the move could result in a new presence in both NYC and Bos...and speaks to the Boston component as follows:

A source close to negotiations in Massachusetts said Aetna is still interested in as much as 400,000 square feet in Boston's Seaport District as the company seeks to transform and attract new tech workers.
 
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According to a new BBJ article, Aetna does indeed plan to move out of CT, and NYC and Boston are the prime candidates.

The article mentions 121 Seaport as one of the places under consideration...but the article also mentions that NYC is the front runner over Boston...

Full article here: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/n...confirms-its-looking-move-hq-out-of-conn.html



EDIT: And here's a more detailed article in the Hartford Courant:

Despite Plea From Malloy, Aetna Will Move Forward With Plans to Move Headquarters Out of Hartford.

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-aetna-reports-of-moving-0531-20170530-story.html

This article implies that the move could result in a new presence in both NYC and Bos...and speaks to the Boston component as follows:

Interesting, I wonder if this is just public negotiating? The person I know who works for Aetna was pretty confident the Boston deal was dead, but that was a couple months ago. It's possible they've re-opened talks, or they're just using this as leverage to get a better deal in NYC.
 

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