Photo by Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
Private equity giant KKR is establishing a major presence in downtown Boston with the signing of a 15-year lease for 132,529 square-foot lease at The Chiofaro Company’s Two International Place.
Currently, more than 300 KKR employees are based in the Boston area, primarily serving the firm’s insurance business, the company said in a statement.
“I think they loved all of the modernization and the amenities that we’re incorporating into the building. My sense is that they are going on a bit of a hiring spree and they want to be able to attract as many people as they can with the real estate they are going to be in,” Chiofaro Companies Director Duna Chiofaro said.
The transaction is the second major office lease transaction in the downtown area, following Hasbro’s recent decision to relocate its headquarters from Rhode Island to 400 Summer St. after subleasing 265,000 square feet from Foundation Medicine.
Boston office tenants in the FIRE (finance, insurance and real estate) sectors expanded their aggregate footprint by 11 percent in the first half of 2025, according to a report by brokerage Avison Young.
The sector’s growth helped offset declines in the tech and life science sectors, the report said, but Greater Boston still experienced the largest increase in Class A office availability over the past year of all major U.S. office markets.
In Boston’s central business district, the office vacancy rate at the midyear point was 21.5 percent with a 25.3 percent availability rate, according to the Avison Young report.
KKR acquired insurer Global Atlantic Financial Group in 2023, giving it a foothold in Boston. Global Atlantic leased 46,290 square feet at 20 Guest St. in 2017, in a relocation from Southborough.
International Place owner Chiofaro Cos. and its financial partner PGIM are in the midst of a $100 million capital improvement project for the two office towers completed in the late 1980s, which total 1.8 million square feet.
Work on a tenant roof deck and a new courtyard at the Fort Hill entrance to the towers continues, while the new IP Commons lobby courtyard is nearing completion.
“The reaction that we’ve gotten as we’ve unveiled the components of this renovation has been way more positive than I would have expected,” Chiofaro said.
The International Place 2 tower lost a major tenant last year when Eaton Vance relocated to One Post Office Square, leaving behind 283,000 square feet. KKR will occupy five floors of former Eaton Vance space.
Headquartered at New York’s Hudson Yards, KKR has existing U.S. offices in Houston, Miami, Los Angeles, Menlo Park, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
“We are excited to establish our new Boston office at International Place and intend to grow at this location over time to help us deliver on the firm’s future goals,” KKR Chief Operating Officer Ryan Stork said in a statement.
In July, KKR reported $686 billion in assets under management, up 14 percent from the previous year. The Boston expansion follows KKR’s July announcement that it will expand its existing Dublin, Ireland offices to house commercial mortgage special servicing and asset management units.
Brokerages JLL, Newmark and Cushman & Wakefield represented KKR in the International Place transaction.
