The Commercial Brokers Association (CBA) announced the winners of the 2016 CBA Achievement Awards at its annual awards dinner on March 16 at the InterContinental Boston. The awards recognize the Greater Boston area’s most significant real estate deals of 2016 and honor local industry professionals who have distinguished themselves among their peers.
At the awards dinner, Joseph Flaherty, a Managing Director at JLL, was presented with CBA’s top honor, the Broker of the Year Leadership Award. Deal of the Year Awards were presented for Office (Boston, Greater Cambridge and Suburban), Retail, Industrial, Life Science and Most Creative deals, as well as the Investment Sale of the Year and the Community Impact Award, recognizing a transaction that had a significantly positive effect on the community. In addition to Broker of the Year, Special Recognition Awards were presented for the Landlord, Rising Star, and Collaborating Professional of the Year.
2016 Deal of the Year Winners are:
Office – Boston: Publicis Groupe’s lease at Congress Square
Publicis Groupe, the French advertising, marketing and communications firm with significant holdings in Boston, began its search for new office space three years ago, hoping to consolidate its two Downtown Crossing locations under one roof. The search ultimately led to its agreement this past fall to lease 217,277 square feet of office space at Congress Square, becoming the new anchor tenant and making the deal the largest office lease signed in the city during 2016. JLL represented both the landlord, Related Beal, and the tenant, Publicis Groupe.
Office – Greater Cambridge: Akamai Technologies lease
Akamai Technologies was considering moving out of Cambridge, as it sought to consolidate its current six locations in the city into one. But Akamai and Boston Properties reached an agreement that Akamai would lease 100 percent of a new 476,000-square-foot, 19-story structure at 145 Broadway, as well as lease an additional 150,000 square feet of Boston Properties space elsewhere in Kendall Square, making the 15-year deal one of the largest and richest transactions in the Boston area in years. Boston Properties represented itself, and Akamai was represented by Cresa Boston.
Office – Suburban: Kronos lease at Cross Point, Lowell, MA
Kronos, a major software firm based in Chelmsford, was looking for a new headquarters to bring its 1,400 employees together in one location, from three buildings along Billerica Road in Chelmsford. With key tax-incentive packages provided by the city of Lowell and the state of Massachusetts, Kronos agreed to a 12-year lease for 505,664 square feet of office space at Cross Point in Lowell. CBRE | NE represented the landlord, while Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant.
Retail: Eataly Boston, Prudential Center
As a result of a joint effort by Boston Properties, the city of Boston and a CBRE broker team, Eataly opted to open its third location in the U.S. in Boston, in 53,000 square feet of space over three floors at the Prudential Center. The highly visible location at the Prudential Center now serves as one of Boston’s premier consumer experiences and tourist attractions. The landlord, Boston Properties, represented itself, while the tenant, Eataly, was represented by CBRE in New York and Boston.
Industrial: Repositioning of 150 Blackstone River Road, Worcester, MA
Three years after purchasing 150 Blackstone River Road in Worcester and undertaking a complete demo of the steel structure, GFI Partners transformed 150 Blackstone into a 632,000-square-foot, high-bay distribution center that was fully leased out last year, in one of the most dramatic turnarounds of a large industrial site in years. Imperial Distributors leased 325,000 square feet, G3 Enterprises leased 230,000 square feet of space, and Mid-States Packaging agreed to lease 70,000 square feet. CBRE | NE and Kelleher & Sadowsky represented the landlord, GFI Partners; CBRE | NE was also the representative for tenant G3, while Imperial was represented by The Stubblebine Co.
Life Science: Shire Human Genetic Therapies lease at 500 Kendall Street, Cambridge, MA
Last year, Shire Human Genetic Therapies began exploring taking more space in Kendall Square and learned that a tenant in neighboring 500 Kendall Street was unlikely to renew its lease. Shire approached BioMed Realty – the owner of both Shire’s existing building and 500 Kendall Street – and entered into confidential discussions with Transwestern, which represented both the tenant and the landlord. The trio ultimately reached agreement on a 12-year lease for 343,000 square feet of space at 500 Kendall Street, in one of the largest deals of the year in Cambridge.
Most Creative: Boston Celtics at Boston Landing, Brighton, MA
After nearly two decades practicing at their Healthpoint complex in Waltham, the Boston Celtics will soon be practicing once again in the city they play in. The team will move into their new training venue at Boston Landing in 2018, following last year’s lease deal with NB Development Group for more than 70,000 square feet in the new development alongside the Massachusetts Turnpike in Brighton. Transwestern represented both NB Development Group and the Celtics.
Investment Sale: One Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA
DivcoWest, which purchased the eight-acre One Kendall campus for $394 million in 2014, sold the 644,771-square-foot, multi-building complex to Alexandria Real Estate Equities for $725 million in July, making it the largest sale of 2016 in the Boston area based on total transaction size and price per square foot. DivcoWest was represented by Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, while Alexandria Real Estate Equities represented itself.
Community Impact: Mount Auburn Hospital Renewal/Expansion, Cambridge, MA
Last year Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge was facing an uncertain future, with its lease for 725 Concord Avenue expiring in 2019 and with sparse alternatives and rising rents in the city. But thanks to a creative deal reached last year, Mount Auburn negotiated a long-term lease extension for its entire 85,226-square-foot building at 725 Concord Avenue, marking one of the largest commercial lease transactions of the past year in Cambridge. The lease agreement negotiated by CBRE | NE with the building’s landlord, Davis Marcus Partners, includes plans for future expansion and a sweeping modernization of the building.
2016 Special Recognition Awards Winners are:
Broker of the Year: Joseph Flaherty, JLL
Joseph Flaherty was named the CBA 2016 Broker of the Year based on yet another stellar performance as head of JLL’s Cambridge team. Among last year’s transactions was a build-to-suit lease deal for 240,000 square feet at University Park at MIT. Besides his strong relationship with University Park landlord Forest City, Flaherty also has a long-standing relationship with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His tenant clients include Alkermes, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, bluebird bio, SONOS, Enanta Pharmaceuticals, and Boston Biomedical, among many others.
Landlord of the Year: Boston Properties
In 2016, Boston Properties broke ground on the redevelopment of 100 Federal Street and the North Station project, which included signing deals to bring in a new hotel and supermarket to the neighborhood in addition to sustainable office and retail buildings. Last year, Boston Properties also signed major lease transactions with Putnam Investments, Advent and Akamai Technologies, and opened the new 888 Boylston Street, the city’s most sustainable building, at the Prudential Center, along with Boston’s newest tourist attraction, Eataly.
Rising Star of the Year: Suzanne Brown, CBRE | NE
Suzanne Brown has only been at CBRE | NE since 2013, but she has already left a mark on the local commercial real estate market. Representing both landlords and tenants as a vice president on CBRE’s Urban Brokerage Leasing team, Brown has already compiled an impressive list of clients such as SeniorLink, Optimus Ride, Wellist, Wanderu, Ceres, Northwestern Mutual and the Boston Business Journal. On the institutional side, her clients have included Shorenstein Properties, Bentall Kennedy and CBRE Global Investors.
Collaborating Professional of the Year: Dyer Brown Architects
Since its founding nearly half a century ago, Dyer Brown Architects, which is based in Boston and has an office in Atlanta, has established itself as a full-service architecture and interior design firm that specializes in the design of a variety of workplaces, including offices, retail and hospitality settings, and academic spaces. Over the years, Dyer Brown has worked with nearly every major brokerage firm and institutional building owner in the Greater Boston area, supporting their work in completing leases while meeting tenants’ needs.
About the Commercial Brokers Association
Founded in 1991, the Commercial Brokers Association represents over 400 members in the commercial brokerage community throughout Massachusetts. CBA is deeply committed to providing relevant educational programs, promoting professionalism and cooperation, and creating an atmosphere where knowledge and ideas are easily exchanged.
