Boston Properties Sees Mixed Markets

BOSTON-The economic downturn has created what Boston Properties president Doug Linde characterized as “challenging times” in the REIT’s quarterly earnings conference call. But, he believes Boston Properties is in a position to weather the hard times well.

To emphasize his point, Linde cited Boston Properties’ strategy of operating “at the top end of the real estate markets in select areas with barriers to supply,” commenting that the location and the leasing composition of a portfolio really matters in times like these. For Boston Properties, he says it means that “while we do very well in good times, on a relative basis, we do even better in more challenging times.” The Boston Properties’ president outlined the REIT’s performance in a market-by-market summary.

Office demand in Boston remains pretty strong, Linde said. “We continue to respond to requests for proposals for large tenants. In fact, there are over 15 that are greater than 70,000 sf that are active today in the market at our proposed developments in Waltham and Weston,” he said. In addition, he pointed out that in Cambridge, Google and EMC and VMware and Akamai and Microsoft have all expanded during the last few quarters, leaving a vacancy rate there of just under 8% in Kendall Square. He added that the Boston CBD has been shielded from the job losses stemming from the continued credit crisis because the financial firms in Boston were already consolidated in a trend that has taken place over the past 10 years.