Scott Van Voorhis
With construction cranes lining the highway and office rents headed up, Route 128 is on the rise again as we head into 2017.
But if it ever hopes to recapture its glory days as “America’s Technology Highway” and be mentioned as something more than a just a satellite office for bursting-at-the-seams Kendall Square, 128 still has a long way to go.
And whether the 128 corridor can forge anew a distinctive, cutting-edge business culture may hinge on the budding N2 Innovation District that spans a cluster of business parks and development sites on the Needham/Newton line.
The initiative took flight a couple years ago as part of a bold bid by the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce to create a suburban Kendall Square, not just by recruiting new tech and biotech firms, but by building a community of entrepreneurs and fast-growing, second stage companies.
Now the organizers of N2 are stepping up their game, kicking off a major fundraising campaign that will help expand its drive to create an innovation eco system along this key 500-acre emerging corridor along 128.
The new push couldn’t come at a better time, with tech and biotech companies increasingly forced to look beyond cramped Kendall Square and its environs for lab and office space.
“We are definitely hoping to benefit from that,” Chuck Tanowitz, the N2 district’s acting director, told me. “The prices have gone so high so fast downtown it’s hard for anyone to get a decent amount of space.”
In a big step, N2 last week announced it is roughly 40 percent of the way towards meeting its fundraising goal of $325,000, having netted a number of significant contributions.
Normandy Real Estate Partners and Westbrook Partners, which are building out Founders Park, a fast-expanding mixed-used development on the Needham side of the N2 district, kicked things off with a $50,000 contribution.
TripAdvisor, which opened a new headquarters in the district in 2015, is chipping in $25,000, while a pair of developers – the Davis Cos. and Wingate Cos. – and Mount Ida College have pledged $5,000 each. Newton Mayor Setti Warren provided another big boost last week, announcing the Garden City would be writing a $24,000 check.
Tanowitz, the N2 district’s acting director, said he hopes to reach the final fundraising goal soon, possibly in the next month or so, as other contributions that are currently in the works come to fruition.
The $325,000 will cover N2 first two years of operations, paying for a full-time director as well as for marketing materials, tours and building “a powerful digital presence,” according to a statement from the group.
As it gets up and running, N2 will work closely with local real estate brokers and state economic development officials to get the word out to potential target companies, Tanowitz noted.
The new district isn’t seeking new solo startups just getting off the ground; rather, N2 is hoping to lure companies that have gotten beyond the initial startup phase and are now moving into the marketing and sales of their new service, product or other offering. These are small but growing firms, ranging anywhere from 10-15 to 200 employees.
The idea is to build upon and expand the current base of innovation economy companies specializing in the pharmaceuticals, cybersecurity, travel and media and the Internet of Things. Companies calling the N2 district home include TripAdvisor, PTC, CyberArk, Shark Ninja, Big Belly Solar, Building 36, Kaminario and Karyopharm, according to Tanowitz.
It’s definitely the right time to start promoting the district. The office vacancy rate in East Cambridge has fallen from 7 percent to a record low 3 percent over the past two years, while the average lease rate has skyrocketed to more than $76 a square foot, the latest stats show.
And that’s before we get to the Boston area’s increased clogged highways and troubled public transit system that can make a daily commute in and out of Cambridge a miserable experience.
By contrast, the N2 Innovation District is easier to get to from outside the city while office rents are less than half of what they are in East Cambridge. Plus, you won’t have a problem finding a parking space.
Creating An ‘Innovative Ecosystem’
The N2 district is already experiencing a development boom, though the progress has been uneven.
The old Needham Crossing business park, since renamed Founders Park, has since a surge in new development activity that includes TripAdvisor’s big new headquarters, hundreds of apartments and two hotels
However, while Northland has announced big new development plans for stretch of acreage just off Needham Street in Newton that is being primed for redevelopment, progress has been slower at the old Wells Avenue office park amid an unfortunate spat between a developer and Newton officials.
To be truly successful in the long run, N2 will have to offer more than just a cheaper place for a company to stash its employees. To that end, N2 is looking to create an innovation ecosystem that will as powerful, if not more powerful, an attraction to prospective companies than just cheaper space.
“While we do think there are a lot of advantages to being out here, we want to make sure when companies move there they are moving into a community, not just taking the cheapest space available,” Tanowitz said.
The group is gearing up for its first “Know Your Neighbor” lunch event on Jan. 23 that will bring together employees from across the district to learn about all the different products and services being offered by companies in the buildings and office suites around them. Other potential ideas include running clubs and yoga at nearby Cutler Park on the Charles, which can help fill a void for smaller companies that don’t have access to things like an on-site gym.
“We want to make it so people want to park their car and go to lunch and meet other people,” Tanowitz said. “That is one of the challenges of the suburbs forever.”
Still, while it’s nice that Newton is chipping in towards the effort, the city could provide an even greater service by being more flexible about the types of development it allows on its side of the N2 district. If N2 is to thrive and become much more than just another collection of suburban office parks, it needs housing and it needs density. Hopefully Newton will come to its senses, but I’m not holding my breath.
That said, hats off to the N2 initiative, which is clearly off to a grand start. And if it succeeds, it may very well help move the 128 corridor out of Kendall Square’s long shadow and maybe even restore of the luster of the old glory days.
