Winthrop Center | 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

According to BBJ, Fallon just sold the Vertex buildings for $1.1 billion. Maybe he needs a new project.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Boston is on the low end. you don't want to get too tight because then you don't have enough for companies to move in. Companies will always be upgrading and downsizing based on specific dynamics in their business/industry.

I remember reading a while back that places like Atlanta did a lot of spec building even when rates were high. Part of it is lower construction costs as well as lower office rates. Even now Atlanta's vacancy is over 16% according to colliers 4th quarter report, and that's after a 110 basis point decline from Q3. I think if places like Atlanta and Houston had Boston's vacancy rate, they would see a lot of spec buildings going up.

report here: http://www.colliers.com/-/media/Files/MarketResearch/UnitedStates/MARKETS/Atlanta/2014/4Q13OfficeMarketReport.pdf
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

BosDevelop said:
Just out of curiosity, where did you get the 17.9% number from? Last I heard a few months ago, the financial district vacancy rates were around 9.6%. Did it really almost double over the winter?
Click to expand...

The Bizjournal just had an article outlining each submarket, and they got their numbers from CoStar Group(?) which I posted in the Real Estate Deals thread: http://www.archboston.org/community/showpost.php?p=202887&postcount=140

I agree the 17.9% figure seems awfully high, but I'm just parroting what Thomas Grillo printed. The NGKF numbers seem more realistic.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

aaaaaa said:
Would someone mind putting in perspective some of these vacancy numbers? I imagine there a certain amount of vacancy is desirable, so what percentage vacancy is one in which developments are more likely to happen? At what percentage vacancy are developers unlikely to build more office space? How does the class type (A, B, C) affect the likelihood that a developer builds office space?

Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

Around 10% vacancy is considered a healthy market, and spec construction picks up as you get near 5%. Anything above 10% and you probably won't see construction other than renovations.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Paul McMorrow has another opinion piece out today more or less beating the same drum he always does, but he does explicitly say what we all feel to be the case here:

If Boston officials want to see the garage site developed anytime soon, they’ll need to embrace a new reality. That means ditching any lingering zenith envy and instead taking cues from the smaller tower now rising above Filene’s.
Click to expand...

And

Thus the city and Belkin have two choices at Winthrop Square: settle in for a long wait or shift gears and embrace the downtown’s new, residential future.
Click to expand...

Full article: Boston Evolution Renders Old Plans Obsolete
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

The site could still end up hosting the tallest tower in the City. Not the original TNP plan, but I think FAA would allow 800' here.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

2 things, unrelated to each other, come to mind...

I agree that residential is a good way to go if not the best choice. That doesn't mean it can't still be the new zenith of downtown.

If all the big deep-pocket firms starting setting out for the SD prior to 2008, then we should start to see those rents climb high very soon, making the FD is a more viable investment by the time any development is completed at the garage site.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

what is Paul McMorrow talking about?
Isn't the Handel Filenes tower 20 stories TALLER than the Elkus design?
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Arch101 said:
what is Paul McMorrow talking about?
Isn't the Handel Filenes tower 20 stories TALLER than the Elkus design?
Click to expand...

I think he meant that Millennium Tower is smaller than the plan for TransNational Place.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Yeah. It's still a bit disingenuous to call MT "smaller" than what would have been a tower of unprecedented height. I don't think many readers would consider anything over 600' to be particularly small. I know that's not really what he's saying but it sounds like he's telling to city to "think small," when he's really saying "don't think historically large."
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

from the walls at the BRA
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Whoa! Is this just some random filler, or is there something behind it? Would love to see it from a level perspective so we could see how tall it is.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

this is the only other one I took
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Assuming everything is to scale it looks like it is in the 800 to 900 foot range based on how it looks next 100 Federal Street which is just shy of 600 feet.

I'm guessing it's just filler though... There's a couple other interesting things in that picture. The building on top of the greenway and the tower next to the mechanical/vent station.

Does anyone know what the color coding means?
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Definitely cool. What are those monster buildings just south of Chinatown? Also SS Tower looks like it has a twin.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

Why oh why do you tease us?

Trans National Place? SST? Plus all those other buildings around Post Office Square?

Oy.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

meddlepal said:
Definitely cool. What are those monster buildings just south of Chinatown? Also SS Tower looks like it has a twin.
Click to expand...

Gateway Center (South Bay)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Bay_Tower

And I'm pretty sure these are all fillers. The red are under/construction, the pinks are approved, and the blues are probably proposals and visions. The good news is that the blue ones also represents the maximum height allowed, meaning that there are plenty of areas in Boston where they are allowing significant height as shown in the pictures.
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

some renderings from an 2007 Boston Globe Magazine I found today
 
Re: Trans National Place (Winthrop Square) Part 2

It's amazing the density that is possible in the seaport and down on the parcels by the 93 on and off ramps. (Talking about the BRA model on last page.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top