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The 695,000-square-foot building is large enough to house thousands of workers, with huge floor plates that Nordblom is repurposing for technology firms and other companies that like to spread out. Because it’s an existing building — Nordblom bought it from the Globe for $81 million in December — rents can be lower than they are in new buildings.
“It’s a value alternative in a market where new space would cost a lot more,” said Og Hunnewell, executive vice president at Nordblom. “We’re trying to respond to growing companies that can’t find space in the city.”
Likewise, the Boston developer Berkeley Investments is converting an old Bank of America building in Malden Center into Exchange 200, a 315,000-square-foot office building and data center that’s designed for creative-industry and tech tenants. Heavy-duty floors and extra-high ceilings make the building ideal for manufacturing or research and development, said Dan McGrath, a vice president at Berkeley, while its location, steps from the MBTA’s Malden Center Station on the Orange Line, could appeal to companies whose coommuters need good access to transportation.
“These are pretty unique buildings,” McGrath said, referring to 200 Exchange and Nordblom’s Dorchester project. “They’re in the urban ring, on transit, with high ceilings and big floors. That has resulted in a lot of interest.”
They come on the heels of several other “outer-urban” office projects that have landed major tenants.
New Balance’s Boston Landing campus has lured life-science companies that have been priced out of Cambridge, as well as suburban companies that want a presence in the city.
Partners Healthcare chose Assembly Row in Somerville to consolidate into one large office.
The roadside assistance operator Agero recently signed a lease to fill a building under construction in the Wellington section of Medford.
And other projects are in the works in East Boston, the Alewife area of Cambridge, and along the planned Green Line Extension in Somerville.
These locations make a lot of sense, said David Townsend, executive managing director at Newmark Knight Frank, a real estate firm. These days, proximity to a workforce is key, and these are the sort of neighborhoods where Boston’s smart young workforce increasingly lives.
“If you’re a PhD or a postdoc, you probably can’t afford to live in Back Bay, or even South Boston,” Townsend said, as he discussed outer-urban projects at a recent panel talk on the office market. “These neighborhoods are where the employees are, and where companies are going to be near the talent.”
And rents are substantially more reasonable than in downtown. Even for new high-end space, office rents in so-called streetcar suburbs like Brighton, Dorchester, and Somerville are two-thirds, on average, of what they are in the Seaport and a little more than half of the going rate in Kendall Square, according to data from Perry Research.
The combination of talent, space, and lower rents is driving a lot of interest in 200 Exchange, said Carolyn Zern, Berkeley’s vice president for development. The firm is talking with companies ranging from robotics developers to co-working operators and hopes to sign leases before opening early next year.
“We’re thinking this place will be a blend,” Zern said.
Hunnewell is thinking the same for the former Globe site, at 135 Morrissey Blvd. — a mix of companies large and small, across a variety of industries. He believes projects like his are in a sweet spot at a moment when Boston’s office market is changing. Marketing is scheduled to begin soon, with the complex opening in fall 2019.
“We’ve got companies coming in from Route 128, and being pushed out of downtown,” Hunnewell said. “We need to be thinking about it both ways.”
Tim Logan can be reached at tim.logan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @bytimlogan.
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Originally constructed as a bank operations center and most recently occupied by Bank of America, Exchange 200 offers a number of unique assets for a building less than 15 minutes from downtown Boston: large, flexible floorplates, redundant high-capacity power infrastructure, high ceilings, and heavy floor loads. According to Young Park, President, Berkeley Investments, “the redevelopment of Exchange 200 will preserve this infrastructure while installing new, efficient building systems and incorporating modern design features to enhance the interior and exterior of the property.” Improvements will include adding a two-story light well in the center of the building capped by a large skylight, as well as floor-to-ceiling glass on the exterior at key locations to increase natural daylighting to the interior spaces; a new two-story lobby to create a welcoming and dynamic entrance; and adding amenities that will appeal to today’s employers and employees including a fitness center, networking spaces and bike storage.

The masterplan is to turn the building into a vibrant mixed-use innovation center with street level retail, a state-of-the art data center, and more than 200,000 square feet of creative office, R&D, and flex space. Carolyn Zern, Development Vice President, Berkeley Investments, adds, “we couldn’t ask for a better partner than the City of Malden. The City has fully supported our efforts to create a transit-oriented development across the street from the Malden Center T stop targeting forward-thinking, creative tenants who crave the amenities and transportation options of an urban location at a great value.”

Plans also include leveraging the building’s existing infrastructure by dedicating part of the space for data center usage. Due to its original use, the building currently has the power and network redundancies necessary for data center tenants that are cost prohibitive to install on a speculative basis. JLL is marketing the new building’s 60,000 square feet of energy efficient data center availability including 25,000 square feet of critical operation space.

Gabe Cole, Managing Director, Data Center Solutions, JLL, says: “Exchange 200 represents the future of data centers in New England. Built when ‘banks were banks,’ it is one of a handful of buildings in Massachusetts that are truly served by two separate substations – Malden and Melrose in this case. Its location adjacent to the MBTA easements and proximity to the GTT cable landing station in Lynn make it a fiber hub providing connectivity to all of New England, Eastern Canada, Western Europe, and beyond.”

Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has been retained by Berkeley to lease and market the remainder of the building, some 200,000 square feet of flexible commercial space ideal for office and innovative tech tenants looking to capitalize on Exchange 200’s extensive infrastructure and convenient transit access, a rare combination in today’s competitive market. “Berkeley’s intent is to create vibrant innovation space that will appeal to forward-thinking creative tenants who are price-sensitive but crave the amenities and direct-to transportation package of an urban location,” says Phil Giunta, Executive Managing Director, Corporate Advisory Group, NKF.

Giunta also points out that one of the many other attractors for this building is that it offers a built-in, millennial workforce; a talented employee pool who already lives nearby given the dynamic live-work-play environment and transit flexibility that Malden Center offers. “When it comes to employee talent,” explains Giunta, “they’re already here. That’s a huge plus for prospective tenants.”

Additionally, the redevelopment of Exchange 200 will transform the pedestrian experience of the building by replacing much of the ground floor with over 16,000 square feet of dynamic ground floor restaurant and retail space, using glass storefronts to create a vibrant, interactive experience at the street level. NKF is also leasing the retail space and is targeting restaurant, café, and service retail users, amenities that will benefit the building’s other tenants and surrounding community. “For those who presently work nearby, and for the many residents who now live in this area, the new building will add positive value for many reasons,” concludes Giunta.

About Berkeley Investments, Inc.
Berkeley Investments, Inc. is a Boston-based full service real estate investment and development company with a focus on urban residential, commercial and mixed-use properties. Founded in 1991, Berkeley has established a track record of successful investment management and value creation through a diverse award-winning, commercial and residential portfolio which includes properties in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

About JLL
JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. A Fortune 500 company, JLL helps real estate owners, occupiers and investors achieve their business ambitions. In 2016, JLL had revenue of $6.8 billion and fee revenue of $5.8 billion and, on behalf of clients, managed 4.4 billion square feet, or 409 million square meters, and completed sales acquisitions and finance transactions of approximately $145 billion. At the end of the third quarter of 2017, JLL had nearly 300 corporate offices, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of over 80,000. As of September 30, 2017, LaSalle Investment Management had $59.0 billion of real estate under asset management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.

About Newmark Knight Frank
Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) is one of the world’s leading commercial real estate advisory firms. We provide a fully integrated platform of services to prominent multinational corporations and institutional investors across the globe, as well as to occupiers, owners and developers of real estate on a local, regional and national level. Together with London-based partner Knight Frank and independently-owned offices, NKF’s 15,000 professionals operate from more than 400 offices in established and emerging property markets on six continents. For more information, visit www.ngkf.com

Originally constructed as an operations center for Bank of Boston, this four-story property features abundant floor loads, oversized windows, robust infrastructure and large, efficient floorplates. Berkeley Investments has engaged Stantec to devise a significant renovation program that includes improvements to the streetscape and the building’s curb appeal as well as a complete renovation of the interior spaces. The plan is to turn the building into a vibrant mixed-use asset with street level retail, a state-of-the art data center, and nearly 200,000 square feet of creative office space. Street level retail will be created on two sides of the building adding to the already vibrant restaurant scene in the area and appealing to the new millennials living and working in the new downtown. Berkeley plans to take full advantage of the building’s irreplaceable infrastructure by turning part of the first floor and the second floor into highly sought after data center space. Due to its original use, the building currently has the power and redundancies necessary for data center tenants that are cost prohibitive to install on a speculative basis. In the remainder of the building, Berkeley will create vibrant office space that appeals to forward-thinking creative tenants that are price-sensitive but crave the amenities and transportation package of an urban location. Berkeley intends to turn outdated office space on the upper floors into creative and efficient space by adding sky lights, an atrium, new systems, and incorporating sought after building amenities like a fitness center, shared conference room, bike storage, and updated lobby.

Read the full press release here.