West End Retail Space - For Rent & Sale
Typical Properties
The exceptional density and desirability of this area means that most properties here are housed in multi-story structures or towers. Ground floor commercial suites are prevalent, and mixed-use projects are the most common typology, although some boutique suites are available. Both refurbished historic structures and brand new projects comprise the bulk of the market.
As an example, the 16 story complex at 1 Emerson Place hosts a variety of units, including residential, office, and some commercial suites. The exterior is designed in the classic modernist style, with a series of extruded enclosed balconies jutting from the face of the concrete tower. Banks of windows provide excellent natural light and spectacular views of the surrounding metropolis. With 445,830 square feet of total space, this high-rise complex was built in 2008 and features suites of varying sizes available for lease, ranging from 713 square feet to several thousand square feet.
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Meanwhile, the property at 205 Portland Street was built in 1890, and has six stories of suites housed within an elegant, beautifully maintained brick and masonry shell. The ground floor features high ceilings and enormous windows around the perimeter of the building, creating an ideal suite for showcasing goods and welcoming large crowds into the store. With a total leasable area of 43,505 square feet, the building occupies a corner lot and is 0.2 miles from the nearest subway station and MBTA Commuter Rail line. It is also only 3.3 miles from Logan International Airport.
The property at 117 Causeway Street is located on a corner lot, and has five stories of commercial and residential suites available for lease. Built in 1899, the interiors feature vast open floor plans that can handle almost any configuration. The large windows provide natural light, creating an airy, brick and beam atmosphere. Hardwood floors are available in some of the units, and the building is serviced by an elevator. Business signage can be mounted on the canopy directly above the ground floor, which wraps around the sides of the building. The property is 0.1 miles from the nearest subway station. With 25,500 square feet of total leasable area, the structure offers suites of 4,200 square feet for lease.
Located on 272 Friend Street, this five story yellow brick building has a newly revamped ground floor commercial suite with a vanilla shell and the option for tenants to configure the unit however they see fit. Built in 1899, the high ceilings of the interior combine with the historic windows to create a welcoming, airy atmosphere. With 15,166 square feet of leasable area, the ground floor suite is sized at 2,162 square feet. Business signage is available both directly above the ground floor and on a seperate mounted sign that is illuminated at night.
The property at 141-147 Portland Street has a stately exterior of red and white brick, with a stone frame wrapping around the exterior of the ground floor commercial suite. With three floors of units available for lease, the building has a total of 22,680 square feet available. The suites range in size from 1,060 square feet to 7,432 square feet, and have an open floor plan that makes them easy to either customize on the fly or add specific furnishings as needed. The nearest subway station is 0.2 miles away, and Logan International Airport can be reached in approximately nine minutes via car. Built in 1899, the building has been beautifully maintained, and features elegant exterior lighting fixtures that illuminate the busy sidewalk below. Located on a corner lot, the building is also host to an elaborate mural on its windowless side.
Average Renting and Buying Prices
With its immediate proximity to the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and downtown Boston, this area does not have many below market offerings, although it is considered to be more affordable than any of the aforementioned areas. The average rent for a commercial space ranges from between $2.80 to $4.00 a square foot per month, and the average purchase price for commercial property ranges between $800 and $1,000 a square foot.
The property at 1 Longfellow Place speaks to the incredible urban density of this neighborhood: with over 20 stories of suites, this complex is suited to high traffic businesses that want a prominent locale. Built in 1976, the building features a ground floor series of suites with a total area of 11,500 square feet. One of these suites has 2,484 square feet of configurable space available. The units are located in the Mass General Hospital Campus, and as such are perfectly suited for companies that specialize in medical equipment and other related items. The rent for this unit is $3.91 a square foot per month.
The structure at 84 Joy Street is located on the southern edge of this neighborhood, and features 2,600 square feet of space over three stories. Built in 1900, the brick edifice features elaborate motifs above the bank of windows on the second floor, as well as several wooden boards perfect for business signage. Located in an older part of town, this neighborhood is densely populated and boasts a great deal of foot traffic. The building also has a roof deck for recreation purposes, and is close to several other businesses, restaurants, and shops. Located 0.1 miles from the nearest transit station, the property is highly accessible. The sale price for this property is $2,450,000, or $942.30 per square foot.
Located on the southeastern edge of the neighborhood, the property at 72-78 Canal Street features four stories of elegant, historic brick construction. Built in 1920, the building has a ground floor commercial suite that features a wrap-around series of display panes that invite the pedestrian in to the renovated space, which has a configurable floor plan that is adaptable to tenant needs. With 15,600 square feet of total leasable space, suite sizes range from 250 square feet to 1,012 square feet in size. The property is located 0.1 miles from the nearest subway stop, and 0.2 miles from the nearest MBTA Commuter Rail line station. The property is also only 3.5 miles from Logan International Airport. The rent for this property is $2.20 a square foot per month.
Real Estate News
This region has become a popular destination for redevelopment projects, thanks in part to its numerous parking garages. The structure at 50 Sudbury Street, known as the Government Center Garage, was previously a 2,300 square foot garage that has since been transformed into a massive mixed use project that features 1.15 million square feet of office space, 85,000 square feet of commercial suites, 192 hotel rooms, and 812 residential units. The project has an impressive total of 2.9 million square feet, spread out over six buildings.
The Garden Garage at 35 Lomasney Way in this neighborhood is being transformed into a 44 story tower that is primarily host to residential units. The project is expected to be completed in 2021. It will open in relatively close proximity to another major new development in the area known as the Hub on Causeway. This 1.87 million square foot development will place stores, offices, residences, hotel rooms, and restaurant units on what used to be a parking garage near the North Station. The renderings for this development, which will completed in three phases, reveal a medley of towers and multi-story buildings that create vast walkways between the major buildings. The ground floor suites are equipped with an inventive array of units that use both large display windows and dramatic offsets to both the sidewalk and the upper stories to create original nooks and exterior foyer-like regions that encourage passerby to come inside and explore the merchandise.
The 210,000 square feet of commercial suites span several stories, creating an innovative environment for retailers. Currently, a major movie theater chain has optioned 60,000 square feet, while an entertainment company will take on 31,680 square feet. The architect that has designed this space has purposefully referenced the region’s original railways by creating a glass and steel structure that offers the ability to live and thrive within a tightly focused development within the larger metropolis. Phase 1 is currently undergoing construction. The project will also have 540 below ground parking spaces when it is complete.
In 2016, the Avalon North Station development opened. This project, which features 503 units of condos, also includes a substantial amount of publicly accessible green space in the form of an arcade that provides access to the North Station and several other subway lines. The project also will add 220 parking spaces to the area. This project includes a 38 story tower at 1 Nashua Street with a fitness center and bike storage.
The region in general is increasingly being marketed as “Uptown” in order to foster a new brand awareness, although it is unclear if this label will stick. As these major development projects either reach completion or launch a new phase, one thing is proving true: numerous technology companies have relocated to the area in order to take advantage of the new suites being built there. The city is open for transformation of all kinds, and is an excellent site for innovative retailers and entrepreneurs who want to occupy a brand new, exciting part of the region.
After each of these developments are complete, the neighborhood will boast a full array of urban amenities, creating a perennially desirable region for business and commercial tenants.
Sign Up Benefits
Who has time to individually schedule viewings of properties? Busy professionals prefer to use our selective viewing service, which allows you to quickly find the properties you are looking for and arrange appointments to see them that are convenient to your particular schedule. Whether you are seeking a tour of newly completed redevelopment projects or are searching for a boutique space in an older part of the city, we can help you find what you are looking for with a minimum of difficulty.
We pride ourselves on matching our clients with their desired properties. Part of our success is due to the fact that we ask the right questions. We try to understand what specific property configurations you are seeking, and then craft our notifications to suit your needs. If you want a unit on the ground floor in a historic building or a LEED Certified suite in a freshly completed high rise, we can help you find it and view it immediately. We also make sure to find ideal lease terms for you. We understand that flexibility is sometimes the most important factor in finding the right unit, and we have designed our service to cater to those specific requests.
Our viewing service will also alert you to floor plan specifics, including the option of building out a space to fit a particular business configuration. We can help you tour furnished properties or vanilla suites that have never been leased before. For our clients who wish to purchase property, we can also help you find precisely what you are looking for in a matter of minutes. We’ve spent years researching the city, and have developed excellent relationships with a number of owners and leaseholders that keep us up to date on the newest and most pertinent listings.
In addition to maintaining listings on a number of properties built in the late 1800s and early 1900s, we are currently monitoring several of the new developments that are transforming underutilized garage spaces into massive new mixed use projects. Whether an organization is looking to secure a unit in one of the highly desirable suites at the Hub at Causeway, or perhaps is looking to invest in the Government Center Garage, we can help put you in touch with the listing agents who know the details of each of these properties. For our clients who are interested in opening a business in the older part of the city, we offer a flexible series of viewing appointments that enable us to quickly create an itinerary that will allow you to tour multiple properties. By clustering appointments, you can save time and enjoy a geographical tour of the city’s best available suites.
Signing up for our viewing service enables our clients to see the properties they are most interested in a time efficient manner. Instead of spending hours scrolling through listings in hopes of connecting with an agent, our viewing service connects you instantly with associates who are ready to make the sale or draw up the lease. Signing up takes minutes, and saves countless hours.
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Retail Space