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Amazon has agreed to lease 630K SF of new office space in the Seaport, more than doubling its current commitment in the still-rising neighborhood.
WS Development and Canadian pension investment manager PSP Investments will build One Boston Wharf Road, a 17-story, 707K SF mixed-use building including a performing arts venue, the developers announced Thursday. The move is Amazon’s second full-building office lease with WS Development in the neighborhood.
The move represents a major boon to the neighborhood primed to become a technology and life sciences cluster, and a shot in the arm to Boston's moribund office market.
“We are proud to continue our partnership with Amazon in Boston’s Seaport, a neighborhood that has grown to serve forward-thinking employers, residents, and retailers and that is now a global hub of innovation and talent,” WS Development Chairman and CEO Jeremy Sclar said in a statement.
WS Development touts a 430K SF Amazon full-building lease at 111 Harbor Way, expected to be completed later this year. The projects combined are anticipated to add approximately 5,000 tech and other related jobs to the market.
One Boston Wharf Road will include ground-floor retail space and a performing arts center with two venues totaling 600 seats, and sit on an upcoming 1.5-acre Harbor Square park. The project, designed by Henning Larsen architects and expected to break ground later this year, is projected to be completed in 2024. It will also fund $5.5M in affordable housing funds for Boston, the developers said.
Amazon, which has dominated the Greater Boston industrial market, is establishing more than 1M SF of office in the Seaport bursting with life sciences plays. BioMed Realty Trust last month acquired the former John Hancock Life Insurance Co. headquarters in an office-to-lab conversion, while Lincoln Property Co. announced its own mixed-use project in a ground lease with the Massachusetts Port Authority last week.
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