88 Black Falcon Pier

Design catalyzes change. That’s one reason that reimagining and reinventing existing properties remains among the most effective ways to capture value in regional markets.

Real estate owners and developers are essentially mining for value in their own portfolios by sizing up growth opportunities and then positioning to benefit. The success stories offer insight on leveraging design and branding, plus improving building features and systems for operational and economic advantages. And it means making everyday spaces inspiring and useful, creating a rich backdrop to our daily lives and shared experiences.

Examples can be found in downtown areas, up-and-coming neighborhoods and the suburbs alike. In formerly industrial/warehouse zones like the thriving Seaport District, existing port buildings have offered the ideal bones for loft office suites and light industrial or high-tech spaces. To get attention, they need to amenitize and artfully brand the experiences surrounding the big commercial spaces, making the location a memorable destination.

Seizing on this opportunity are new projects like the newly branded 88 Black Falcon Pier, a useful case study in tactical renovations and environmental graphics, applied big and small. Melding architecture and interior design with welcoming signage to serve a completely reinvented brand identity and applied by Dyer Brown throughout, the much-anticipated reimagining brings daily life to the lifestyle-driven signature of developer, The Davis Cos.

Adding robust amenities and attractive modern design elements has been essential to repositioning formulas. For 88 Black Falcon Pier, this approach transforms the 1920s-era industrial structure with a new café, fitness rooms, refurbished common areas and elevator lobbies. Oversize vintage photos and new art wrap the walls. Adding new windows, the common areas become welcoming and bright with sunlight. The renovations position the loftlike workspaces with tech-ready interiors, making them both functional and inspiring for newcomers, with sweeping harbor views.

The case for brand-driven repositioning cuts across all commercial property markets, too, with different demands. Consider the new 117-room hotel launch, Studio Allston, inspired by Allston’s flourishing artist community. The efficient turnaround (also by The Davis Cos. with Spot On Ventures and Highgate) completely revamps the tired 1960s-vintage building. The Dyer Brown design for the new interiors takes cues from the custom, site-specific art commissioned from at least 17 artists by the project team. In this way, another art-inspired renovation becomes its own, distinctive brand.

In some cases, a strong sense of arrival is needed. Studio Allston’s bold lobby installation with striking colors and patterns create a dramatic first impression, with a matching hotel shuttle wrap literally carrying its identity out into neighborhood streets. Each guestroom includes original artwork by renowned artists, with no two rooms alike. In this way, the former Days Inn on Soldiers Field Road suddenly has buzz. The result is completely original, proving you can’t overestimate the power of art – or of repositioning with tactical renovations.

Deniz Ferendici

Rebranding for Corporate Tenants

Office properties everywhere can offer the highest ROI for reinventing both the “front door” experience and tenant comforts. In Boston’s downtown, recent repositioning ventures including 116 Huntington Ave. have focused on extensive building overhauls merging streetscape experience with more welcoming entries, common areas and upgraded office spaces and suites. In this case, it started outdoors with better lighting and brighter finishes on the sidewalk, culminating in a sparkling entry lobby enclosed by a frameless glass façade.

Where the Seaport project trained its sights on growing tech and maker companies drawn to loft offices, strategic renovations for 116 Huntington considered corporate tenants. Elements like a penthouse oculus window and the frameless glass entry façade deliver on the promise of raising the cachet of occupant companies. Tenant amenities and operational upgrades complete the picture: owner Columbia Property Trust worked with Dyer Brown, project manager Redgate and Shawmut Design and Construction to focus on the façade, windows, exterior arcade and a new two-story penthouse. A potential dedicated elevator serves the penthouse, where two large roof terraces entice occupants outdoors.

Upper-floor views to the city and the Charles River, including through the oculus window that can be seen from miles away, become the big draw for the 1988 building – in essence, an architectural rebranding for the property reposition. It shows that in some cases, the building itself is a bigger asset than expected.

Deniz Ferendeci is director of asset design and support at Dyer Brown architects, where he leads a team involved in nearly 23 million square feet of office space in the northeastern U.S.