Photo courtesy of Mike Casey
Construction crews topped off the 43-story One Congress tower at Boston’s Government Center as a brokerage report detailed signs of a recovery in the city’s office market including an uptick in asking rents.
State Street Corp. will occupy 22 floors within the 43-story, 1 million-square foot tower designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and CBT Architects. The 510,000-square-foot anchor lease and construction financing were finalized in 2019 before the pandemic disrupted office leasing and prompted many companies to offer their workspaces for sublease.
Boston sublease offerings declined to 3.2 million square feet in the second quarter, according to CBRE’s MarketView report. Companies have removed nearly 200,000 square feet of sublease space since January.
“Companies that were working fully remote have now begun meeting in person as employees feel more comfortable gathering with their peers and are realizing the benefits of face-to-face interactions,” CBRE/New England President Andrew Hoar said in a statement.
Asking rents rose 22 cents per square foot citywide to $67.18, and now are just 30 cents below pre-pandemic levels.
Vacancies remained flat at 11.9 percent, while availabilities rose to 19.2 percent.
Carr Properties, National Real Estate Advisors LLC and Boston-based HYM Investment Group are partnering on the One Congress project as part of the Bulfinch Crossing development, which includes the Sudbury apartment and condo tower and a proposed life science building.
Acting Mayor Kim Janey joined construction manager John Moriarty & Assoc. and building tradespeople for the topping-off ceremony Thursday, marking the completion of the vertical construction phase. The project, which includes a 30,000-square-foot roof garden connecting to the 11th floor, is scheduled for completion in January 2023.
Other large-scale office developments under construction include Millennium Partners’ Winthrop Square which is marketing nearly 800,000 square feet of office space and Hines South Station tower, which will include approximately 700,000 square feet of offices on the lower floors and condos on the upper levels.
