The South market is the suburban market directly south of downtown Boston, anchored by Quincy and Braintree along I-93 and Dedham, Westwood, Norwood, and Canton which are clustered around the interchange of I-93 and Route 128 (I-95). Major employers in the South market, including Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, State Street Corporation, Reebok, Allied Domeq (Dunkin Donuts), One Beacon Insurance, and Meditech take advantage of the market’s lower cost real estate, access to and from Boston and Rhode Island, public transportation options by the MBTA subway and commuter rail, and educated labor force. The market has long been utilized by Boston firms as a back office location and boasts a diverse industry mix including financial services, health care, retail/consumer goods, technology, and services. The South market also has the largest industrial real estate base close to Boston.
|
Landlords in the South submarket suffered a significant setback when an additional large block of available space was added to the market during the second quarter. In April, Real Estate Capital Partners, began marketing 108 Myrtle Street in Quincy, a six-story 150,000-square-foot Class A building. The property’s former occupants included: Aviva Life Insurance and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. British-based Aviva acquired AmerUs Group in 2007, which is based in Des Moines. The combined company transitioned its U.S. operation from Massachusetts to Iowa and vacated both 108 Myrtle Street and Batterymarch Park III. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, which occupied the bottom three floors of 108 Myrtle Street, completed construction in 2007 on a 330,000-square-foot headquarters at 25 Technology Place in Hingham. Since that time the company has been transitioning many of its Quincy-based employees to Hingham.
|
LEASE
Mac Systems Inc.
15-45 Dan Road, Canton
49,521 s.f.
Renewal
Gryphon Networks
249 Vanderbilt Avenue, Norwood
25,000 s.f.
Renewal with expansion
Irrational Games
1515 Hancock Street, Quincy
18,009 s.f.
Relocation
|
