BOSTON—Boston's commercial markets have concluded a first quarter that DTZ says was “quiet on paper,” but much busier in reality, with class B rents jumping in the city and movement of activity from Cambridge to Lechmere. And suburban Lexington become a hotspot as bio-pharmaceutical leader Shire grabbed more than 200,000 square feet of space as it became available. These development's are noted in DTZ's first-quarter MarketWatch research report, and accompanying press release:

As we usually see in the first quarter it was quiet on paper. However, there is always a story behind the numbers. And this quarter brought a few trends we'll be watching throughout the year.

In Boston, the story of the quarter was the jump in class B rents—up more than 10% in the Financial District just in the past 90 days, DTZ says. Also, in the past year, Midtown and the Financial District (neighborhoods that adjoin the up-and-coming Downtown Crossing) have seen class B rents jump 16.4% and 56.5%, respectively. Meanwhile, tightening conditions in the Kendall Square Cambridge have convinced tenants to consider Lechmere.