Registry of Motor Vehicles Looking for New Space

BOSTON-The Registry of Motor Vehicle’s five-year lease at Copley Square is coming to an end at the end of July and the agency is on the lookout for a new place to call home. With the increase in sublease space here and the softening of the commercial market, the 120,000 sf of space that the agency needs has not gone unnoticed.

Reportedly, owners and real estate service firms all over town are very interested in pursuing the Registry as a tenant–especially in light of the recent dot-com fallout, which left some owners here leery of dealing with potentially shaky tenants. According to Kevin Flanigan, spokesperson for the Division of Capital Asset Management, which makes the decision on where the registry will go, the process of choosing a site is very specific.

“The state has a very rigid set of directives,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “It is an open and competitive process.” The process involves choosing among over a dozen bidders each of whom is offering space in a different location. While Flanigan insists that the Division has no standard time frame on when it makes a decision, some local brokers are reportedly surprised at how long the state is taking to choose among the bidders. The issue takes on more of an urgency because the chosen space will most likely need to be refurbished to accommodate the Registry.