A second tech tenant is planning to relocate to Assembly Row in Somerville, the 66-acre mixed-use development being built by Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT).
A digital media software company has signed a letter of intent to occupy office space in the building, Federal Realty CEO Donald Wood said Wednesday during a conference call to discuss the company’s fourth-quarter earnings.
The tech tenant, which is relocating from within the Greater Boston market, will occupy 16,000 square feet at 450 Artisan Way, according to a source familiar with the transaction.
The first office tenant, Beverly-based SmartBear Software, moved its corporate headquarters with 100 employees to Assembly Row earlier this month after leasing 33,000 square feet at 450 Artisan Way. The building contains 132,000 square feet of office space with retail space on the ground floor.
Partners HealthCare, which is consolidating area offices in a 700,000-square-foot build-to-suit site at Assembly Row, will take occupancy in late 2016, Wood said. Construction of that phase began last year.
The estimated $1.5-billion project has permits to build a total of 500,000 square feet of retail, 1.75 million square feet of office space, 2,100 residential units and a hotel. The next phase will include more street retail with apartments on upper levels, and construction of a boutique hotel, Wood said.
The 300,000-square-foot initial retail phase of Assembly Row, which opened in May, is now 93 percent leased with 53 tenants open for business.
Wood mentioned the Legoland Discovery Center, AMC Theater and Saks Fifth Avenue store as tenants that are outperforming expectations. The adjacent Assembly Square Marketplace, a power center also owned by FRIT, has seen "dramatic improvement in sales" since Assembly Row opened, Wood said.
"The Greater Boston community has clearly embraced the first phase of Assembly Row, even if it’s buried in snow at the moment," he said.
The company also announced the promotion of Don Briggs as part of a consolidation of the development team’s management.
Briggs, who will continue to work in FRIT’s Somerville office, has been promoted to executive vice president of development. A 16-year employee, Briggs has overseen development of Assembly Row and the Pike & Rose mixed-use complex in Maryland. In his new role, he will oversee all of the company’s East Coast development.
FRIT owns 89 properties totaling over 20 million square feet of retail space and 1,500 residential units.
