"It works well" for office space, says Lincoln VP Gian Starita, who is handling the leasing with colleague Ned Halloran. The five-story brick building had been considered for uses ranging from residential to a multi-level auto dealership, but those concepts are now being sidestepped to take advantage of the improving office market. Boston's Back Bay and Financial District are posting single-digit vacancy rates and near-record rents, forcing companies intent on remaining in the city to pursue fringe markets. "Things have gotten a lot better," Starita says of leasing velocity. "People see [Allston-Brighton] as a real alternative."

Besides the cache of a Boston address, Starita says 61 N. Beacon St. offers a generous parking ratio that will be enhanced by use of the ground floor for vehicles. The structure also has an efficient layout, he says, and can accommodate users needing upwards of 55,000 sf. Several prospects requiring that amount of space are already considering the building, reports Starita, expressing optimism that a taker might be identified over the near term.

Allston-Brighton is best known for accommodating three major colleges in Boston University, Boston College and Harvard University, but the firm has seen a smattering of office space added during the past 15 years. That process was advanced greatly in the late 1990s by construction of Brighton Landing, a two-building complex off North Beacon Street that is now headquarters to New Balance. When Boston's economy cratered earlier this decade, inner suburban office markets became less attractive, but the tightening of supply downtown is again reverberating in such areas as Allston-Brighton, Charlestown, Somerville and Watertown.