It’s been a quick turnaround for Braintree-based Flatley Co., repositioning Schrafft’s City Center in Charlestown and finding replacement tenants for Partners HealthCare following its move to Somerville.
Flatley held an open house Thursday to highlight the latest updates to the 1-million-square-foot candy factory-turned-office complex. Flatley hired Boston-based CBT Architects in 2014 to design updates to common areas and take advantage of the property’s Mystic River access with a renovated pier.
Molly Heath, an executive vice president with leasing agent JLL, says lobby updates such as a coffee bar and fireplace reflect tenants’ demand for casual meeting spaces in common areas. The property is being marketed as a less-expensive alternative to the rising office rents in downtown Boston.
“They wanted to take a deeper look at the lobby and a lot common areas within the building and also outside,” Heath said. “Today’s tenants are looking for a lot of this collision and communal space, which sparks conversation and ideas.”
Boston Medical Center leased 171,800 square feet in 2015 to replace most of the space vacated by Partners HealthCare, which left behind 266,000 square feet in August in a relocation to Assembly Row in Somerville. DiGiorgio Assoc. and nonprofit Community Research Initiative of New England recently leased space previously occupied by Partners HealthCare. Other tenants include digital marketing agency Boston Interactive and Converse, which has a test store. Only 85,000 square feet on the sixth floor is still available.
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