Linda discussed the many changes the commercial real estate industry has faced including how more women are taking on prominent roles and using new technologies to promote the industry.  She also discussed the importance of using social media in her everyday interactions and marketing.  See below for the interview.
BOSTON-The commercial real estate industry has faced many changes over the years, and the best news is that it has yet to finish adapting. More women, for instance, should be taking on prominent roles and new technologies are creeping into everyday industry interactions. Cassidy Turley’s senior vice president Linda McDonough spoke with Globest.com about her views regarding women in the field, and the ever-increasing importance and prominence of social media. Want to follow her on Twitter? Check out @CassidyTurleyMA for her insight on the Boston market and more.

1. How do you think commercial real estate firms can benefit from using social media and how have you used it as part of your job?

Social media is a great tool for commercial real estate experts to promote their knowledge and experience and position their firms as industry thought leaders by sharing relevant industry information. Another benefit of using social media is that it allows firms to strengthen their relationships with existing clients and prospects by showcasing the firm’s expertise and engaging in meaningful dialogue. At Cassidy Turley, I have spearheaded the use of a variety of social media platforms for the Boston office, including Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs, all of which have helped us build brand awareness and drive business leads. By utilizing these tools, we have positioned Cassidy Turley Boston as a CRE expert and developed key relationships with current and prospective clients, industry leaders and influential professionals. Social media has also made it easier for us to keep our clients informed about the CRE market within and outside of Boston, as it’s a great way to share local and national real estate news and trends.

2. How are commercial real estate firms primarily communicating information, deals, etc. these days and what new developments have you seen?

Commercial real estate firms are typically slow in adopting new technologies. However, during the past year, I have seen more and more firms combining traditional public relations with social media strategies to maximize their reach and share deals and media placements across a variety of channels, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging Google+ and YouTube. This allows firms to take these initial media hits and turn them into conversations with clients and external audiences, fostering a level of communication and engagement that would not be possible with just traditional media.

3. As a woman in the industry, how easy or difficult is it for other women to move ahead with their careers? How has this changed over time?

I believe women are making great strides in their commercial real estate careers today because there are a higher number of senior female executives who can take younger women under their wings and mentor them. When I started working in commercial real estate 15 years ago, this was not the case. Today there are many more opportunities for women to succeed not only in the brokerage role but in marketing, lending and development as well. Cassidy Turley has embraced a forward thinking approach to providing opportunities for women in the workplace through sponsorships such as The CREW Network Bridging the C-Suite Gap: Executive-Level Mentoring Program, which helps women fill more leadership roles within the company.

4. In what ways do you think that commercial real estate could welcome a wider range of women into roles with significant responsibilities?

In addition to having senior female executives serve as mentors for young women in the industry, we need to make more of an effort to reach out to young women in universities across the country, regardless of their major, and encouraging them to consider real estate as a career field. We cannot cultivate female leaders without first providing them with the solid foundation of education and training that they need to shine in this industry. If more young women decide early in their college careers that they want to enter commercial real estate, they will have time to hone the theoretical and practical skills they need to succeed. Once these young women move into leadership roles, they can mentor the next generation of leaders, allowing the cycle to continue year after year.

5. How do you expect that the industry will shift going in to 2013? What would you say is your New Year’s “wish list” for commercial real estate?

Boston is one of the fastest growing commercial real estate markets in the country, and we’re hoping it will continue to grow in 2013. As talks about the fiscal cliff continue, it’s hard to know what the future holds for real estate, but Boston seems to be in a good place. Construction spending is on the rise here, so more building projects could mean an increase in the number of commercial properties available, which is always good news for us. My New Year’s “wish list” would include two items. First, I would like to see Boston’s commercial real estate market continuing to grow and leading the way for the national real estate recovery. Second, I hope Boston’s commercial real estate market will continue attracting the top-tier tenants it has during the past several years. With the high rents and low vacancies we are seeing in areas like East Cambridge and in certain exits along Route 128, it seems that the demand for space is as strong as ever, and I hope it continues to strengthen in the New Year.

That’s where Cassidy Turley’s research comes in. After a roller coaster of a ride brought on by the “Great Recession,” CRE professionals recently concluded Route 128 South could be on the mend, and other areas in this submarket also look promising.  Sparked by these conclusions, Cassidy Turley identified the most competitive commercial real estate hubs along what was once known as “America’s Technology Highway.”

Not surprising, Cassidy Turley’s most recent quarterly report found that 128 Central continues to outperform other suburban markets. It has more than double the total inventory of 128 North and 128 South, but its availability rate is the lowest. In fact, the exit to watch along the Rt. 128 corridor is within the 128 Central submarket. Exit 26, which leads to Waltham and Weston, has a low 2.02 percent vacancy rate – an 8.7 percentage point decline from last year.  Other exits such as 31B have vacancy rates as high as nearly 37 percent. With high-profile tenants located off exit 26 such as Constant Contact, the exit boasts a rental rate of $31.16 per-square-foot, the second-highest rate among the highway’s exits. This number towers above the rental rate of nearby exit 25, which is just $21 per-square-foot.

Click here to see the interactive map.

While requirements from the biotech and innovation sectors may not lead to appreciable net growth in the near-term, they will keep our market balanced for the foreseeable future.

Click HERE to access the report

In Cambridge, rents are still elevated and continue to climb.  East Cambridge now boasts an office vacancy rate of 4.7% while the Mass. Avenue Corridor is even tighter at 1.3%.  As a result, larger firms are turning to build-to-suits while smaller firms gravitate toward collaborative executive workspaces.  Third quarter negative absorption in the office sector is wholly attributable to 143,000 SF hitting the market at Two Canal Park in East Cambridge. 

Despite Vertex adding 147,000 SF to the East Cambridge sublease market (675 West Kendall Street),    activity in the lab sector is solid – vacancy has hovered around 10% for the past 4 quarters.  Deals of note include Ragon Institute’s 40,000-sf deal at 400 Technology Square and Merrimack Pharmaceuticals’ 22,000-sf expansion at One Kendall Square, Building 600.  At $54.20 PSF NNN, asking rents in East Cambridge are up 8.5% since the beginning of the year.  And as large lab users begin turning to new construction and build-to-suits, we expect rents in those buildings to climb even higher – likely averaging $65 to $70 PSF NNN.

In the suburbs methodical expansions continue to drive office leasing activity.  Yet despite positive growth, overall office absorption totaled (378,974) SF.  This is a result of large blocks of space flooding the market in Metrowest and 495 West.  In addition to TJX’s space (that came online in Q2), Verizon is vacating 160,000 SF at 251 Locke Drive, Marlborough.  In a move to consolidate, Staples has also put 72,000 SF online at One Research Drive, Westborough.  Although space is abundant in the western suburbs, limited large block in both 128 Central and 495 North may mean that we could soon be looking at a spike in rental rates.

Boston
Downtown Boston’s Recovery Continues; Tenant Base Diversifies

• Overall, conditions in Boston are notably healthier than 12 months ago and continue to gain strength.
• Overall vacancy is down 2.2 percentage points (down 1.7 percentage points in the past 3 quarters) to 10.8%.
• At (130,778) SF YTD, absorption is considerably lower than 12 months ago, but this is largely a result of the MFS space (Q2) State Street’s space (Q3)space coming online.  We expect these large availabilities to be backfilled within the next 6 to 12 months. 
• The South Boston Waterfront continues to be the hottest market in the city – overall vacancy has dropped 4.4 percentage points in the past 12 months, with vacancy in Class A properties declining by an extraordinary 14.5 percentage points (from 25.2% to 11.0%).
• Availability in the Seaport is extremely limited for large users (only 1 option over 100,000 SF and 4 over 50,000 SF).
• These limited options mean asking rents are rising (for example, asking rents at Fan Pier are in the low $50s).  As a result, traditional Seaport tenants (i.e design and architecture firms) are beginning to look elsewhere for more economical options.
• Additionally, high rents and limited availability means the new  wave of tech-based users are beginning to consider other options
• EXAMPLE: PayPal committed to 65,000 SF at One International Place in the Financial District.  This might be the beginning of a trend.
• While there are more options for tenants seeking less than 50,000 SF, many of these companies are venture capital-backed and do not want to commit or invest in long-term leases at this stage.
• This means the new wave of VC-backed innovation companies that have been flocking to Boston may wind up in low-rise Financial District space where large institutional landlords are more willing to do a short-term deal.

Cambridge
Rents Continue to Rise; Innovative Users Craft Innovative Solutions

• As we saw last quarter, tenants are still seeking space in other markets due to these tight conditions and escalating rents.  However, those who need to be located in Cambridge are coming up with alternative ways of coping with high rent and limited availability:
• Lab users who need to be in Kendall Square are turning to build-to-suits:  i.e Novartis, Pfizer, Broad Institute
• However, smaller tenants who don’t need an entire building are turning to shared space models
• Workbar (provider of collaborative work space) took 13,000 SF at 130 Bishop Allen
• At One Kendall Square, 4 incubator spaces totaling 9,000 SF have been leased in the past 2 quarters
• Cambridge Innovation Center (currently at One Broadway) is in the market for 50,000 SF of expansion space
• With an office vacancy rate of 4.7%, rents in East Cambridge are still rising.
• Office rents are up 7.5% (to $48.24 PSF) in the past 12 months while lab rents have climbed 8.5% (to $54.20 PSF NNN) in the same time period.
• Overall lab vacancy continues to shrink – down 4.2 percentage points in the past 12 months and 2.5 basis points in the past 3 quarters.
• Overall office vacancy has declined 2.0 percentage points in the past year and 1.1 percentage points in the past 3 quarters.

Suburbs
Does the Lack of Large Quality Blocks Mean a Rent Spike is Imminent?

• At 12.3% 128 Central’s office vacancy rate has declined 1.3 percentage points in the past 12 months.  15 blocks of space are available for tenant seeking 50,000 to 100,000 SF but only five (5) are available for those seeking more than 100K SF.
• Cassidy Turley FHO is currently tracking 8 tenants in the market for over 100,000 SF. 
• With these requirements totaling 1.6 million square feet of demand, only one (self-financed) spec building under construction (at 78 Blanchard Road, Burlington) and an obvious limited supply, could there be a rent spike brewing?
• In the past quarter, asking rents in the office sector have risen 5.3%.
• Activity in the R&D sector is still sluggish with overall absorption totaling 124,478 SF YTD. 
• Overall conditions are slowly improving – in the past year, availability is down a full percentage point (to 29.5%) and asking rents have increased  7.3%.
• Third quarter activity, particularly in 495, 128 and 3/24 South reflected an increase in deal velocity, but not material growth. 
• At 29.5%, availability in 128 South has remained exactly flat in the past 12 months, but absorption was positive at 76,405 SF YTD.

Joe discussed the health of the commercial real estate market, the greater Boston building boom including the Innovation District in South Boston’s Waterfront, Kendall Square in Cambridge and Route 128 as well as what’s coming next for the commercial real estate market.  He talked about the complexity of getting transactions completed and shared some insight on negotiating deals.  

Joe also discussed the sale of FHO Partners to Cassidy Turley – what went into the decision to sell the company, what new services the firm has added and plans to add, as well as how it is working out one year later. 

Click here to watch the interview.

The Second Annual Back to School Supply Drive is one of the ways that Cassidy Turley FHO supports the Dearborn.  Our firm has been a valued community partner of the Dearborn for over 20 years.  Early in our legacy firm’s history, the principals were looking for a way to encourage employees to be actively involved with the youth in the City of Boston.  Education and forging a partnership with the Dearborn was a nice fit for our employees.

Over the years the partnership has taken many forms from providing financial support for the annual 8^th grade class trip to Washington, DC; to providing in class tutoring in Math, Social Science and English Language Arts classes; and one-on-one mentoring.  In recent years, in addition to collecting class room supplies, our employees have also raised money to purchase books to stock a school library.

Like many inner-city schools, Dearborn has severely strained resources with which to face a host of challenges typical to urban schools including a large English as a second language student population struggling with economic and language barriers. The mentoring program provides the Dearborn teachers with much needed help in reinforcing important math and reading/writing skills and it also provides the kids with positive adult role models.   Our team also benefits from learning from the students about their many diverse cultures and backgrounds.

There are 30 classrooms at the Dearborn Middle School this year and one of the challenges the teachers face is the lack of classroom supplies and students who don’t have the basic supplies. As part of Cassidy Turley FHO’s ongoing support of the Dearborn, we are collecting back to school supplies for the classroom teachers through Monday, September 10, 2012.

In addition to mentoring and financial support, Cassidy Turley FHO participates in the Dearborn Partner Advisory Council, an advisory board comprised of community leaders focused on helping the school best utilize its community partners to foster an environment of excellence for the Dearborn student body.

About the Dearborn Middle School
The Dearborn currently enrolls approximately 300 middle school students evenly distributed between 6th grade, 7th grade and 8th grade classes. The Dearborn student body is largely comprised of African-American and Hispanic students with a large Cape Verdean constituency. At least one third of the students are bilingual in Cape Verdean Creole and English.

Labeled an underperforming school, the Dearborn is in its third and final year of turn-around status and on track to becoming a 6 -12 STEM/EC Academy (Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics/Early College Academy).

Cassidy Turley FHO, a leader in the commercial real estate services field with extensive experience in the greater Boston office market, today announced that Real Estate Forum named Barbara Elia, Senior Managing Director, Principal, one of the most prominent female executives in the commercial real estate industry.Real Estate Forum chose to honor fewer than 50 women from a poll of hundreds of nominees.

“It is an honor to be recognized as one of Real Estate Forum’s Women of Influence, especially given the distinguished peers who join me on the list,” said Elia. “During the past twenty-five years, the commercial real estate industry has evolved, becoming a more collaborative and flexible environment where women can lead, achieve and contribute as effectively as their male counterparts.”

In her role with Cassidy Turley FHO, Barbara leads a 10-person group of professionals who manage the Boston office’s portfolio administration services for corporate clients ranging in size from a few thousand feet to more than 150 global locations.  She also serves on the Executive and Space Planning committees in the Boston office. Barbara’s team recently identified and helped monetize a purchase which enables the client to obtain a $5 million payment to relinquish the unneeded option. 

“Barbara’s ambition and expertise make her not only an invaluable member of our team, but a worthy recipient of this distinction,” said Joe Fallon, Managing Partner of Cassidy Turley FHO.  “Real Estate Forum’s Women of Influence are some of nation’s leading commercial real estate leaders, and I am proud to have a Cassidy Turley FHO executive on the list of honorees.”

In Duncan’s words, “The commercial real estate market is doing very well.  There are a lot of projects going on in downtown Boston because companies want to be in an urban 24/hour environment because they feel they can attract the best labor force, especially technology companies wanting to be in ‘cool’ neighborhoods.”

Duncan also noted, “There has been a shift east which is a good thing for certain suburbs – the core of Route 128 – Wellesley to Burlington.”

To hear the entire radio interview, click here.

Cassidy Turley FHO today announced that Lynne Brown, Manager, Portfolio Lease Administration, received the President’s Volunteer Service Award for her commitment to Citizen Schools, a Boston-based national education organization that partners with low-income middle schools to extend the learning day with innovative academic and apprenticeship programs.

“It is an honor to once again be a recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award,” said Brown. “I’m proud to be a part of the Citizen Schools’ meaningful mission and to uphold Cassidy Turley FHO’s commitment to community service.”

The President’s Volunteer Service Award, created by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, recognizes individuals, families and groups that have made valuable contributions through volunteer service.

Since 2010, Brown has taught middle school students in Massachusetts communities, such as Dorchester and Malden, the basics of commercial real estate and real estate development through the Citizen Schools program. As part of their real estate apprenticeships, Brown encourages students to develop solutions for stalled commercial real estate projects or design problems.

In the past, students have developed ideas for Boston properties such as the former Filene’s site at One Franklin Street, Chiofaro’s Harbor Garage and 320 Summer Street. In addition to her community leadership with Citizen Schools, Brown is also the Cassidy Turley FHO representative of the Dearborn Partnership Advisory Council and mentor at the Dearborn Middle School in Roxbury. It is through Cassidy Turley FHO’s commitment to the Dearborn Middle School that Brown became involved in Citizen Schools. Professionally, she has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate industry and has worked on both the tenant and landlord sides of the business.

Brown, as well as other recipients of the national award from the White House, will be honored at the Citizen Teacher Alumni Event on July 25, hosted by Fidelity Investments.

About Citizen Schools
Citizen Schools is a leading national education initiative that partners with middle schools to expand the learning day for children in low-income communities across the country through afterschool and expanded learning time programs. The organization mobilizes a second shift of afternoon educators, who provide academic support, leadership development, and “apprenticeships”—hands-on projects taught by volunteers from business and civic organizations. At over thirty middle schools in eight states, Citizen Schools students develop the skills they need to succeed in high school, college, the workforce, and civic life.

Click here to read more.