Office Rents Continue to Soar in Massachusetts

Being in Greater Boston’s office market these days is a bit like watching a river at flood stage, with the high-water mark continuously moving upward. Indeed, tenants who feel soaked by a building owner are often able to solace themselves shortly thereafter when the next taker finds the rent even pricier.

Certainly that has been the case in Waltham, long considered ground zero in the suburban market. A pair of just-completed leases underscores how quickly the rents are rising in that city, with deals now exceeding $60 per sf just a few months after the best achieved rate was in the low $40 range.

According to industry sources, the Red Leaf Group has taken 6,000 sf at Bay Colony Corporate Center, paying $60 per sf. Meanwhile, the Hale & Dorr law firm has opened a satellite office in the same park, and is said to be paying a record $63 per sf for its deal. Calls to Hale & Dorr were not returned, while officials at Cushman & Wakefield, which brokered the Red Leaf lease, declined comment. According to one broker familiar with the rent escalations, the supply/demand imbalance is forcing firms to pay increasing rates or risk losing out altogether. “There’s just not a lot of space out there,” says the source. “That’s the important thing to these companies–getting the space, and not what it costs.”