This from the Newton-Needham Chamber newsletter this morning:
“There’s now 700,000 square feet of office space is now on the Boston market, up from 300,000 at this time last year, according to Hunneman. By the end of the summer, they believe total sublease market could top 2 million square feet.
Among the properties in Boston is 54,000 square feet that TripAdvisor is looking to sublease at North Station. (TripAdvisor is also looking to sublease up to 100,000 square feet of its Needham headquarters.)
Some brokers believe our suburban communities may be more attractive to companies in the COVID era.
“We’ve received a lot of inquiries over the last 30 days, many of which are from existing Boston companies looking to make a move out to the suburbs or exploring a satellite office,” Jeremy Freid at 128 CRE told me yesterday.
“Whether or not they act on it remains to be seen.”
What’s left in Newton to offer these companies?
companies are just following the lead of employees…
Just look at the crazy hot demand of single family homes and townhouses in Boston suburbs (compared to dismal condo sales in the city)
Newton should absolutely try to take advantage of this moment to bring in new revenue from these companies.. we need leadership on this..
Hopefully some companies can land here in Newton. We probably have an obligation to mention to these potential companies that our city leaders and residents are in the process of “defunding”or “radically reimagining” our police force.
Company calls requiring police can be routed directly to the mayor at city hall or to the city council member or
members who represent that area.
I’m sure owners will be thrilled that there will be a diminished police force to patrol and protect their employees and properties.
Getting back to the topic, I’m wondering what is available here in Newton to lure these companies to our great city? We could sure use the revenue.
“What is available here in Newton to lure these companies to our great city?”
This is a short-lived opportunity for Newton. Big cities didn’t disappear after previous pandemics. While we live in an interconnected world where remote work is more possible, we are social beings. COVID-19 will not hang over us forever, and it is a mistake to believe it will change everything forever. We should use this moment to lure companies that might have been on the fence about locating here to commit.
And what can we offer? The ability to work and live in the same city or town is extremely alluring as people struggle to balance their lives. What do employees want? What many of us want. That means doubling down on the things that benefit us all. First class schools. Great parks and recreational facilities. Diverse, inviting, local, and convenient shopping & dining for essentials and special events, with opportunities to get there either without driving or without driving much. Local events, arts, and entertainment so that heading out doesn’t mean heading into Boston for every outing. A community that is welcoming to all, where you’ll meet people who aren’t just like you. Places to live that young professionals and families can afford and get going, with upmarket opportunities when they get established. Villages that provide a sense of place, anchoring walkable, bikeable neighborhoods where people of all ages can get out, enjoy, and meet. A sense of place and community that binds us together, including everyone from least to most. A sense that optimism and “yes we can” beats out pessimism and “no we can’t”. A place where surprises are delightful 95% of the time, and we’re aiming for 100%.
That’s your base offer. Then, for the companies themselves, set high standards for design, community involvement, inclusion, sustainability, and transportation. Don’t let them nickel and dime you, because you’re a catch, a high value product, and you shouldn’t settle. Plan for the future at a world class level, but now you know the world can change quickly.
Because now we know change *can* happen quickly. Be ready. Be willing. Be prepared to harness the power of that change for common and noble goals that benefit everyone.
@ Michael Halle: YES – but where? Particularly for the larger companies? What’s the availability in Wells Avenue? Are there other areas in the City to accommodate the more moderate and larger businesses?
I’m just going come right out and say where Amy trying to lead the conversation. Plot by plot, we’ve given way our business zoning for mixed use and luxury apartments – Northland and Riverside to name two of the biggest.
There simply is not much land left for office development. And while I hope that @Mike Halle is right; that we are social creatures and Covid will not last forever, the fact remains that technology has allows us to engage in being social, without being under the same roof. Technology allows us higher levels of productivity from home than ever before.
Lastly, do not be surprised if people start moving beyond the 95/128 belt. Single family homes takes priority in the “American Dream” much more so than luxury apartments. Except families to be willing to live further out for larger single family homes as trips to the office become less frequent.
Matt, didn’t Right Size Newton negotiate a large reduction in commercial space at Riverside in a private negotiation with the developer?
It is completely conceivable to me that more businesses more to a leaner real estate profile by allowing more people to work more of the time virtually. That would give them more freedom to locate at the centroid of their workers. Mixed development supporting more moderately sized companies would be fine, even great for that. Diversity would protect us from big companies such as TripAdvisor crashing.
We are, though, space constrained for larger development.
What’s up with the old and tired industrial area on Rowe Street? Maybe something decent could be built there.
I’ve discovered in recent discussions that many of the commenters on Village 14 these days seem to have great sympathy for corporations and CEOs, so the obvious solution to the conundrum in this thread is tax increment financing.
We Needhamites have used this amazing corporate-welfare instrument several times to great success, robbing you sucker Newtonites of some of your wealthiest companies (at least, wealthy at the time), such as TripAdvisor and NBCUniversal.
Admittedly, both companies had already made up their minds to relocate to Needham, and the TIF requests were just ex post facto money-grabs to test the gullibility of our local officials. But that doesn’t mean Newton shouldn’t try using TIFs to steal away companies from us here in Needham, or to cannibalize the office-space market in our regional economic engine of Boston/Cambridge.
Every town for itself at this point.
I don’t envision Boston Based companies relocating their office space. They will be eliminating/downsizing their space having more of their workforce working either 100% or partially remotely
@Mike Halle, I believe you are correct that Right Size negotiated down the commercial footprint of Riverside, but I believe that was a “lesser of two evils” compromise – a reduction in density first, regardless of composition. Can understand how Lower Falls had to take whatever they could get (and in hindsight, lament that Right Size did not take a more aggressive stance in supporting Upper Falls in dealing with Northland directly).
What the Riverside negotiation also showed was that big development favors residential! It will be interesting to see how our definition of work, and where we work from, morphs post pandemic.
https://youtu.be/MxDVucUZCnc