MARKET GREATER BOSTON - Colliers
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SUPPLY AND DEMAND • Lab is still front and center, both in future development and conversions; it’s the hottest asset type out there today. 105 W. First Street is moving forward thanks to a full building lease from CRISPR, adding an anchor to the emerging A Street Life Science Corridor. As of now, it appears that projects underway at the start of the pandemic will continue to move forward, with others hot on their heels. Winthrop Center received approval to modify its plans on the residential BOSTON OVERVIEW component of its project, reducing the size and changing from condos to for-rent apartments. The office component of Winthrop Center is unchanged. Conditions continue to soften in the Boston market. After a record-setting decline in Q2, absorption struggled again in • Demand has slowed considerably since the start of the year, Q3, when overall negative net absorption of 1.3 million SF as most tenants hesitate to sign long-term commitments sent the vacancy rate up to 12.6%, its highest rate since Q1 or are unsure of future space needs, especially since rents 2013. Sublease space has flooded the market, adding a net have not declined significantly. Tech companies formerly 630,000 SF in the quarter. This marks the most sublease in aggressive growth modes have cooled, some reversing space ever added to the market in a two-quarter period course with layoffs and space reductions. Employers from of time, topping the figure in the early 2000s recession. across industries have delayed a return-to-work until 2021. Meanwhile, rents have begun to weaken, though only While we haven’t seen big leases cancelled or tenants not slightly, with Class B declining less than 1% in Q3. occupying space (as with Pinterest in San Francisco, or REI in Portland, Oregon), leasing activity is just a fraction Employees have hesitated to return to the office, as of its normal market rate. Boston and the surrounding area remote work has taken hold across many office-intensive rank among the top spots across the country for VC funding industries until the successful development and distribution to cutting-edge technology — from autonomous vehicles, of a COVID-19 vaccine. This is further delaying the ultimate cybersecurity, IoT, robotics, AI/machine learning, and decision-making of many firms, which are unable to project biotech/life science — supporting new businesses going their future space needs. The back-to-school challenges of forward. Life science VC investment has never been stronger. remote or hybrid education will keep many office workers at home, at least part-time, for the foreseeable future. This shift could profoundly affect office vacancies in Boston, but it will take time to manifest. SOME OF THE LARGER REQUIREMENTS INCLUDE: 350K 50 Eaton Vance 12.6% 1.3M 2.7M vacancy rate SF negative absorption SF total sublease space 225K Loomis Sayles & Co Statistics in the core submarkets are as follows: 80K VACANCY YTD 2020 Whoop MARKET SEGMENT SUPPLY RATE* ABSORPTION Back Bay 13,379,652 9.7% (435,792) Class A Class B 11,549,046 1,830,606 9.4% 11.3% (393,440) (42,352) 70K Sasaki Financial District 34,354,264 13.4% (627,742) Class A 28,676,597 12.1% (502,140) Class B Seaport 5,677,667 12,002,934 20.0% 16.2% (125,602) 48,290 60K American Well Class A 5,964,295 12.3% 5,760 Class B 6,038,639 19.9% 42,530 45K * includes sublease space Tessera Therapeutics
Highlighted transactions from this quarter include: RENTAL RATES BOSTON • Rents are showing limited signs of decline. In aggregate they Back Bay Financial District Seaport Fenway continue to hold, but differences are emerging between Class A and B. Class B rents fell less than 1% in Q3. We had seen some CRISPR | 105 W. First Street adjustments in rents quarter-to-quarter at a building level in Q2, Columbia Threadneedle | 290 Congress Street which continued in Q3. Landlords have been trying to hold on to Chewy.com | 343 Congress Street face rents, but they increased concessions in the form of more free rent or a higher tenant improvement allowance (i.e., turnkey Pearson | 1 Federal Street space). The surge in sublease space has caused Class B rents to Citadel Investment Group | 28 State Street soften first. If history is a guide, it will take time for price discovery Frontier Capital | 99 Summer Street and for rents to hit bottom. From there, rents tend to stabilize before recovering, which can take years. With limited leasing velocity, there are few deals to help set the market. 10K 20K 30K 40K 50K 60K 70K 80K 260K Square Feet The spread between asking rents in various segments of the ABSORPTION, VACANCY, AND FORECAST market is depicted below: • Absorption was negative in Q3, declining a net 1.3 million SF. Vacancies rose to 12.6%, up 1.8 percentage points from last quarter and 4.4 percentage points from one year prior, and are now back to 2013 levels. Both Class A (negative 980,000 SF) and Class B (negative 286,000 SF) vacancies increased. The biggest difference was between direct and sublease vacancy. In Q2 sublease space additions outpaced those of direct space, but $80-$115 $65-$80 $60-$65 $50-$65 in the third quarter both increased about 630,000 SF. The North Class A High Rise Class A Mid Rise Class A Low Rise Class B Station market has the highest ratio of sublease space, at 7.9%, and also the highest vacancy level, 23.2%. LOOKING AHEAD... • Neither Boston nor the U.S. economy has experienced the kind of concerted, deliberate pullback in economic activity seen in the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic figures have been ugly, The outlook is unknowable. However, we are businesses are closing and will continue to close, and human projecting limited business activity by year- lives are being lost to the virus, all together, not a normal end to end, before a resumption next year, resulting a business cycle. In this situation, we have to take a wait-and- in a lower absorption projection for 2020. At see approach, as past experience, while a helpful guide, is much this time, we’re holding to our supply forecast less comparable, given the unprecedented nature of intentionally pressing pause on almost all economic activity and then in the chart below, with the caveat that project restarting in a staggered approach. completion dates could be adjusted, based on • Coworking is showing signs of a retreat. Regus, Greater Boston’s how social distancing affects timelines. second-largest flexible office provider, has filed for bankruptcy in some of its locations, including three in the Boston area, while WeWork wants to get out of some of its space in Boston (it has let leases lapse in other markets, and pulled out of other locations across the country). The growth of coworking has been Forecast | Vacancy & Absorption well documented, and if it unravels as an industry, it will only add more stress to the office market as WeWork is Boston’s second- 4,000 Forecast 16% largest tenant. 14% 3,000 13.1% 14% 2,000 12% 105 W 1st Street | CRISPR Deal 1,000 10% Vacancy Rate Boston, MA SF (000s) 0 8% Source: www.bostonglobe.com (1,000) 6% (2,000) 4% (3,000) 2% (4,000) 0% Absorption Supply Vacancy
OFFICE MARKET • Office absorption was negative 163,000 SF in the third quarter. All three submarkets posted negative absorption. Rents meanwhile softened, however this is more a result of a changing sample size, than true market weakness. • Sublease space, while increasing, is modest. Overall levels are akin to those at the end of 2019. While sublease space held flat at mid- year, it increased by 80,000 SF in Q3. Life science companies needing office space are looking to Boston for growth or relocation, CAMBRIDGE OVERVIEW particularly out of East Cambridge, for rent The Cambridge market remains relatively unscathed by the savings north of $20/SF that could push beyond ongoing global pandemic. With the biotech sector’s deep $30/SF. Case in point: bluebird bio plans to strength in research and development, Cambridge-based firms are at the forefront of COVID-19 research and therapies. offer the office space at 50 Binney Street in Tremendous capital flowing into life science from government Cambridge for sublease (it had subleased it grants, NIH funding, M&A, and venture capital is essentially from Sanofi) with a number pushing $100/SF speeding up our medical research. That should be good news for startups and demand in the Cambridge and broader life triple-net, to be available when Sanofi moves to science marketplace into the future. its new headquarters in 2022. An increase in Vacancies barely budged in the third quarter, up to 4.5%, and quality sublease space in Boston makes it even rents softened slightly. However, given the low vacancy rates, more appealing for cost-conscious firms. any change in direct vacancy can have an outsized impact on rent levels. As Boston and the suburbs held flat, that is the likely outcome in Cambridge as well. New development, which is highly preleased, has yet to come on the market, and new projects have recently been announced. Tenants continue to look to Cambridge for expansion, as seen by Bristol-Myers Squibb’s LAB MARKET recent deal at Cambridge Crossing. • Lab vacancies are moving down — decreasing modestly to 1.7% during the quarter — the opposite of the direction of office market vacancies. Both direct and sublease lab space decreased. East 4.5% 80K 0.3% Cambridge vacancies are pushing a record low. • Bristol-Myers Squibb’s 360,000 SF lease at Cambridge Crossing will help the firm consolidate operations under one roof. Its current vacancy rate SF negative East Cambridge absorption lab vacancy rate locations will likely be gobbled up before it even moves. Key statistics for the quarter include: The active tenant-in-the-market list shrunk SUPPLY SF VACANCY ABSORPTION (000s) MARKET (000s) RATE Q3 2020 quickly at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Total Cambridge 24,721 4.5% (80) However, that list is filling back up. The current active tenant requirement list is dominated 11,948 7.4% (163) by Series A and early-stage firms, which are seeing strong capital inflows from VC firms and 12,774 1.7% 83 a healthy IPO market.
CAMBRIDGE LOOKING AHEAD… • The underlying fundamentals of Massachusetts’ life science market remain sound despite the COVID-19 outbreak. As the global R&D epicenter, Cambridge is still at the forefront of cutting-edge therapies and treatments for a wide range of medical conditions. The life science industry has clustered around Kendall Square for a number of reasons, chiefly Bristol-Myers Squibb Lease Cambridge Crossing | Cambridge, MA connections to both talent from MIT and mass transit. Source: www.bldup.com Highlighted active tenants and recent transactions are But competition is appearing. The A Street shown in the tables below. Corridor in Boston, Harvard’s planned expansion in Allston, and multiple locations in Somerville all aim to become the next 200K “it” location for life science. The Cambridge market will remain at the center of this Ragon Institute 20 industry and drive growth, but in the years ahead will have far more competition. In fact, some of Cambridge’s largest landlords are 200K investing in new markets. BioMed recently joined Somerville’s Xmbly development, GSK while Alexandria has focused on Watertown, Waltham, and Boston. 150K Smartlabs • Alewife could be next in line for Cambridge’s surging life science market growth. Across the train tracks from Cambridgepark 100K Drive, properties off Concord Avenue could be the next relief valve, and recent investment/property turnover there suggests TCR2 that redevelopment is not far off. Since Alewife is just a few stops away on the Red Line, the area might offer alternatives to East Cambridge firms needing space. Cambridge needs new 80K areas to emerge to maintain its competitive advantage because of Kendall’s limited growth opportunities. Constellation VELOCITY East Cambridge Alewife Harvard Square Bristol-Myers Squibb GCP Applied Technologies Verve Korro QurAlis 0K 5K 10K 15K 20K 280K 285K 290K 360K Square Feet
SUPPLY AND DEMAND Underway projects are driven by a mix of build- to-suits (Olympus in Westborough) and life science (225 Wyman St., Waltham; 75 Hayden Ave., Lexington; 101 South St., Somerville). SUBURBAN OVERVIEW There are conversions underway in Watertown, Waltham, and Lexington (among others), to make Boston’s suburban market had a generally slow third quarter, save buildings lab or lab-ready. Lab has become the for the former Reebok campus in Canton coming off the market. main driver of the pipeline. And that looks to hold: The property was purchased by Tufts, and removes the largest the next development cycle is becoming clearer, block of vacancy in the suburbs. Outside of that, leasing velocity is well below normal levels, like downtown Boston’s. Sublease space with Alexandria recently purchasing a portfolio in has started to increase (860,000 SF in the quarter), putting it in Waltham, including a development site, as well as league with the surge of that space downtown. PTC’s sublease land in Watertown. space at 140 Kendrick in Needham has been a bright spot, with strong interest and additional LOIs signed in the quarter. Overall suburban vacancies moved up 1.3 percentage points in the third quarter, to 17.2%. Lab has been the best story, posting positive • Life science has been a key driver across Greater Boston, and absorption on the year, while office has turned negative. the suburbs are no exception. Year-to-date, lab accounts for There is talk in the market, though we have yet to see it, of a all positive suburban absorption. Two million SF of life science trend to move back to the suburbs. Some groups are considering growth has come to the suburbs, including lab/manufacturing suburban offices in addition to their urban spaces. While we space in recent years, and 75 Hayden Ave. in Lexington will do not expect a reversal in the urbanization trend of recent deliver fully occupied in Q4 after strong leasing. years, opportunities exist for landlords. At the end of the day, a • The suburbs’ highly educated workforce has been driving strong diversified base of industries and a rapidly expanding life science demand from numerous industries and business categories. market have been and remain the backbone of suburban Boston’s The suburban markets have long been dominated by technology office market. companies, but technology has evolved to software as a service (SaaS), 3-D printing, robotics, manufacturing, and life sciences, now current and future drivers of the market. Healthcare and medical and business services have remained key drivers. 17.2% 1.5M FLAT vacancy rate SF negative quarterly absorption rent movement “The Block” Canton, MA Aggregate statistics for the office and lab market Source: www.bizjournal.com | les vants photography are provided below: MARKET/ VACANCY ABSORPTION SF SUPPLY SF (000s) SUBMARKETS RATE Q3 2020 Suburban Boston 123,666 17.2% (1,454) Inner Suburbs 6,876 14.1% (150) Route 128 68,296 14.6% (251) Route 495 45,602 21.7% (938) Worcester 2,892 16.7% (115)
SUBURBAN Some of the larger requirements include: 50 150K ZoomInfo 150K Translate Bio 90K Siemens • Rents held flat in the third quarter in aggregate, continuing their pattern from the start of the year. However, as vacancies 60K started to rise in the third quarter, the suburbs’ most expensive submarkets, 128 Mass Pike, 128 Northwest, and Inner Suburbs, Ophthalmic Consultants have shown signs of rent declines. As in Boston, concessions of Boston to get a deal over the finish line are now more common. 50K LOOKING AHEAD… 6 River Systems/Shopify 40K • The future of work is an open-ended question: how much space tenants will need in a post-pandemic world is unknown. Where Vicarious Surgical employees work is likely to become more flexible, and a distributed workforce has been floated as a possible future space-planning strategy. Will this cause a sea change in the suburbs? Tenant Some of the larger transactions during the quarter included: relocations out of Boston have been limited to small firms, but some larger operations are considering the move. Life science and Inner Suburbs Route 128 Route 495 Worcester tech have been pushed out of Cambridge for years, but that hasn’t happened yet in Boston. With substantial projects around the Mass Azzur Group Pike coming up in the years ahead, some suburban flight could be Affinia Therapeutics just around the corner. Integral Health Dragonfly Therapeutics The Hilb Group of New England LLC The future of large blocks is the key to Meta Systems the suburbs’ rebound. They have been 5K 10K 15K 20K 25K 30K 35K 40K 45K 50K 55K 60K dealing with large-scale vacant blocks Square Feet caused by space givebacks from State Street, Computershare, Eisai, Oracle, Sanofi, Philips, and others, while upcoming ABSORPTION, VACANCY, AND FORECAST losses from Puma and more fallout from • Absorption took a sharp turn down in the third quarter, by Sanofi are next. These big blocks weigh negative 1.5 million SF, the first quarter with such losses since on the suburban market: Spaces larger the first quarter of 2009. These losses were widespread in than 100,000 SF account for 28% of total markets, except 128 South, supported by the completion of two build-to-suit projects for Meketa and Citizens Bank, and Tufts’ vacancy. As these big blocks go, so goes purchase of the former Reebok campus, dubbed The Block. Both the suburban market. direct and sublease space increased, after holding steady at midyear. Vacancies are back to 17.2%, reminiscent of early 2018 levels.
CAPITAL MARKETS OFFICE/LAB SALES AND HIGHLIGHTS 1 UPLAND ROAD NORWOOD • The debt markets are alive and well. Interest rates are favorable, and lenders are back in the game. BUYER: ALEXANDRIA REAL ESTATE EQUITIES Transaction volumes have slumped, a PRICE: $97,783,696 national phenomenon, but should start to PSF: $440 improve later this year, into next, as deals have started to come back to the market. • International capital sources are still looking, focused on core. A persistent low-interest-rate environment OFFICE/LAB will drive investors to real estate over time. 151 CAMPANELLI DRIVE • Lab and industrial are the favored asset classes. MIDDLEBOROUGH Triple-net deals with term are easier to transact. The inherent growth within e-commerce and life science is a major positive in favor of these asset classes. BUYER: BOYD WATTERSON ASSET MANAGEMENT PRICE: $15,900,000 PSF: $272 OFFICE/LAB OFFICE/LAB 40-50-60 SYLVAN ROAD 405 COCHITUATE ROAD WALTHAM FRAMINGHAM BUYER: ALEXANDRIA REAL BUYER: R.J. KELLY COMPANY ESTATE EQUITIES PRICE: $12,400,000 PRICE: $330,000,000 PSF: $291 PSF: $644 OFFICE/LAB OFFICE/LAB 36-64 WHITTEMORE AVE 60 HICKORY DRIVE CAMBRIDGE WALTHAM BUYER: IQHQ BUYER: KHS MANAGEMENT PRICE: $125,000,000 PRICE: $12,050,000 PSF: $435 PSF: $208
CAPITAL MARKETS MULTI-FAMILY INDUSTRIAL BELL STOUGHTON 3 TECHNOLOGY DRIVE 400 TECHNOLOGY CENTER DRIVE, PEABODY STOUGHTON BUYER: WHEELOCK STREET CAPITAL BUYER: BELL PARTNERS PRICE: $30,100,000 PRICE: $71,650,000 PSF: $189 $/UNIT: $298,541 MULTI-FAMILY INDUSTRIAL 56-58 WALNUT STREET 97 AND 103 WOOD STREET 56-58 WALNUT STREET, SOMERVILLE MIDDLEBOROUGH BUYER: SAVAGE PROPERTIES BUYER: THE SEYON GROUP PRICE: $8,750,000 PRICE: $26,805,000 PSF: $795,454 PSF: $125 RETAIL INDUSTRIAL BRISTOL SQUARE 25 COMPUTER DRIVE 1428 MAIN STREET, WALPOLE HAVERHILL BUYER: CROSSPOINT ASSOCIATES BUYER: EASTERN REAL ESTATE PRICE: $9,200,000 PRICE: $14,000,000 PSF: $471 PSF: $100 RETAIL INDUSTRIAL 21-29 BEALE STREET 15 RIVERDALE AVE 21-29 BEALE STREET, QUINCY NEWTON BUYER: KWAN HA CHAN BUYER: CRITERION DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS PRICE: $5,180,000 PRICE: $13,260,000 PSF: $441 PSF: $250
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MARKET SNAPSHOT Q3 2020 STATISTICS | OFFICE & LAB / CLASS A & CLASS B SQUARE FEET (SF) DIRECT SF SUBLEASE SF CURRENT YTD MARKET VACANCY* SUPPLY AVAILABLE AVAILABLE ABSORPTION ABSORPTION BOSTON 72,329,609 6,368,610 2,717,846 12.6% (1,266,486) (2,931,430) BACK BAY 13,379,652 704,820 589,562 9.7% (435,792) (726,134) FINANCIAL DISTRICT 34,354,264 3,207,439 1,390,515 13.4% (627,742) (1,443,346) ALLSTON / BRIGHTON 962,443 0 19,000 2.0% - (19,000) CHARLESTOWN 2,787,176 279,399 65,906 12.4% (75,291) (177,294) CROSSTOWN 1,025,000 52,371 0 5.1% (34,521) (49,918) FENWAY / KENMORE 4,257,995 71,077 81,469 3.6% 1,931 (79,538) NORTH STATION 2,245,004 344,221 177,410 23.2% (121,709) (274,014) SEAPORT 12,002,934 1,593,003 345,801 16.2% 48,290 (99,873) SOUTH STATION 1,315,141 116,280 48,183 12.5% (21,652) (62,313) CAMBRIDGE 24,721,343 645,962 466,507 4.5% (80,345) 331,785 ALEWIFE STATION / ROUTE 2 3,040,614 221,999 185,165 13.4% (12,883) 244,273 EAST CAMBRIDGE 19,781,234 346,248 229,478 2.9% (42,399) 90,779 HARVARD SQUARE / MASS AVE 1,899,495 77,715 51,864 6.8% (25,063) (3,267) SUBURBS 123,665,783 18,278,387 2,996,093 17.2% (1,453,506) (1,099,185) INNER SUBURBS 6,875,904 883,346 84,160 14.1% (149,723) (114,483) ROUTE 128 NORTH 7,418,401 1,173,509 16,582 16.0% (241,900) (266,578) ROUTE 128 NORTHWEST 21,346,456 2,415,798 381,710 13.1% (241,900) (331,322) ROUTE 128 MASS PIKE 22,739,404 2,867,924 813,837 16.2% (348,752) 132,050 ROUTE 128 SOUTH 16,791,359 1,794,382 480,756 13.5% 581,236 732,333 ROUTE 495 NORTH 21,028,418 4,350,533 551,791 23.3% (326,496) (414,935) ROUTE 495 WEST 21,346,820 4,090,360 488,280 21.4% (506,765) (538,963) ROUTE 495 SOUTH 3,227,097 319,753 78,977 12.4% (104,672) (88,001) WORCESTER 2,891,924 382,782 100,000 16.7% (114,534) (209,286) MARKET TOTALS 220,716,735 25,292,959 6,180,446 14.3% (2,800,337) (3,698,830) *Including sublease space CONTACT: AARON JODKA DION SORRENTINO NICK DESSALINES Director of Research Research Analyst Research Analyst +1 617 330 8059 +1 617 330 8148 +1 617 330 8145 FOLLOW US: aaron.jodka@colliers.com dion.sorrentino@colliers.com nick.dessalines@colliers.com Colliers International | 160 Federal Street | Boston, MA 02110 www.colliers.com In the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, information and data is emerging at a quick and uneven rate. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources deemed reliable at the time the report was written. While every reasonable effort has been made to ensure its accuracy, we cannot guarantee it. No responsibility is assumed for any inaccuracies. Readers are encouraged to consult their professional advisors prior to acting on any of the material contained in this report. ©2020 Colliers International. All rights reserved.
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