A workstation library area in CarGurus' new Back Bay headquarters in Boston. Photo courtesy of Robert Benson Photography
CarGurus’ arrival in Back Bay coincides with a resurgence of a neighborhood that commands Boston’s highest office rents but was overshadowed in the past decade by the Seaport District’s building boom.
The online vehicle marketplace brings 900 employees to its new headquarters at 1001 Boylston St., which was opened for media tours Thursday.
CarGurus relocated from Cambridge to anchor 10 floors totaling 225,000 square feet at Samuels & Associates’ parcel 12 Massachusetts Turnpike air rights development, which also includes a citizenM hotel that opened in August.
CEO Jason Trevisan said Back Bay’s vibrancy and its accessibility by public transit and auto tipped the scales in favor of the Samuels & Associates project when the office lease was finalized in 2019.
“We were very excited about this neighborhood because of the restaurants and shopping, and there’s just much more activity,” Trevisan said.
CarGurus currently requires employees to work in the office 60 percent of the week, and is ramping up that requirement to 80 percent in coming months, he said.
While Boston’s Financial District continues to shed office occupancy, with absorption declining over 636,000 year-to-date, the Back Bay office market has recorded nearly 173,000 square feet of positive absorption in 2024, according to CBRE data. Back Bay’s average asking rents of $69.08 per square foot are the highest of all Boston office submarkets, CBRE reported.
After its founding in Harvard Square in 2006, CarGurus expanded in East Cambridge and is leaving behind three previously leased office buildings in the Lechmere Canal neighborhood.
Along with amenities ranging from a baristas bar to two libraries, the headquarters gives CarGurus exclusive access to a penthouse lounge and pair of roof decks.
The 1001 Boylston St. lease executed in 2019 calls for an initial annual base rent of $17.8 million.
CarGurus’ new headquarters is the anchor tenant for Samuels & Associates’ Lyrik development in Back Bay. Photo by Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
