A suite of new conference and meeting space is part of developer Synergy’s ongoing upgrades to the 10 Post Office Square office property in downtown Boston. Image courtesy of Synergy
Foosball tables, indoor slides and golf simulators were all the rage as office tenants and landlords sought to distinguish workspaces and attract talent in the competitive environment before COVID.
In today’s leaner economic climate, the focus is shifting to practical amenities that have a direct effect on business operations. Landlords are taking advantage of office and retail vacancies to convert leasable space into business centers equipped with board rooms and meeting spaces.
“Tenants don’t have to carry it within their own footprint,” said Don Chiofaro Jr., a vice president at The Chiofaro Companies in Boston. “They can utilize the shared spaces, and hold functions without actually having a massive conference room within their space that they only use once a month.”
Landlords including Chiofaro Companies, Boston-based Synergy and Waltham-based Hobbs Brook Real Estate are wrapping up projects that executives say resonate with newly arrived companies and help retain existing tenants.
Work is continuing at Chiofaro Companies’ 1.8 million-square-foot International Place in Boston, where a floor of office space formerly occupied by Eaton Vance is being converted into a business center dubbed “The Aries Club.”
Five meeting rooms and a conference center connect to an outdoor terrace between the two office towers. Tenants are already taking full advantage of the business center, Chiofaro said.
“To be relevant in the next generation of office buildings, you have to have these services,” he said.
The changes, part of a $100 million project announced in 2023, appear to be paying off. Last fall, private equity heavyweight KKR signed a 15-year lease for 133,000 square feet at Two International Place.
“It was something that they were focused on, for sure,” Chiofaro said.
Such upgrades can be critical to differentiate a property amid stiff competition among landlords. Boston’s citywide office vacancy rate was nearly 24 percent at the end of 2025, according to a Colliers report.
Hobbs Brook Real Estate this month completed an expansion of its conference and meeting rooms at 404 Wyman St. in Waltham. The Waltham developer credits amenity upgrades with a high tenant retention track record. Image courtesy of NBBJ
Adding Workplace Synergy in Post Office Square
Boston-based developer Synergy is in the midst of reinvesting in 10 Post Office Square following the departure of Boston Private Bank offices and one of its retail branches.
The 1920s-era office building totals nearly 452,00 square feet and was acquired by Synergy in 2012. Boston Private Bank was a major tenant, leasing 150,000 square feet in 2012, before its acquisition by Silicon Valley Bank and its subsequent 2023 collapse. That left Synergy with big office blocks and a former retail branch to fill.
A board room, conference center, flexible training spaces, lounge and health club fill the mezzanine level in a loop-type layout. Synergy executives considered such amenities as a golf simulator, but ultimately settled on a mix of work- and fitness-related spaces, Marsh said.
Business-related amenities offer savings to tenants, who don’t have to include large meeting rooms as part of their space requirements for leasable space, Marsh said. And prospective tenants respond well to seeing the work that’s under way, he said, in contrast to artist renderings of promised future projects.
More than 75,000 square feet of leases were signed in 2025 by Capstone Partners, American Ireland Funds, Fairmont Consulting, Level Markets and Baker Newman Noyes.
A massive former basement vault is being repurposed as a new cocktail lounge, while another section is being readied for an Italian restaurant by COJE Management Group, which operates the existing Mariel restaurant on the property.
Hobbs Brook Updates Waltham Amenities
It’s not just downtown landlords that are optimizing common areas in response to tenants’ preferences.
Hobbs Brook Real Estate this month completed expansion and updates to its 404 Wyman St. property’s conference center in Waltham, updating audio-visual capabilities and adding eight smaller flexible meeting rooms available for reservation by tenants. The 12-month-long project also included a new cafeteria, fitness and locker rooms.
Steve Adams
“Conference room space is always a priority for our tenant partners,” said Kerry Hawkins, vice president and senior director of asset management at HBRE. “So that was paramount to us as we were looking at what was a critical necessity, and to provide for larger tenants who may have all-hands meetings, but also smaller tenants that may not have appropriate conferencing facilities within their premises.”
The project has boosted tenant retention efforts. In the largest suburban Boston office lease since 2020, Dassault Systèmes in November renewed nearly 321,000 square feet within the office park at 175 and 185 Wyman St.
The Waltham-based developer lost just three of its 170-plus tenants to a competitor in 2025, Hawkins said.
Having access to a large meeting hall for company-wide meetings resonates with tenants, said Bryan Montgomery, a researcher with brokerage JLL.
“Anything that a tenant is not going to have to space-plan for – and therefore ends up saving them a little bit of money in rent and keeps their space focused on day-to-day operations – is something we’ve seen folks gravitate toward,” Montgomery said.
