Photo by Steve Adams|Banker & Tradesman Staff
When close to 1,000 HarbourVest employees head to the office, they have access to an amenities package worthy of a luxury condominium tower.
The investment managers’ new home in downtown Boston includes perks ranging from a trio of private dining spots to a roof terrace including basketball court encircled with chain-link fence to keep errant passes from sailing onto the streets below.
The 36-story office tower’s new owner, DivcoWest, hopes other companies are impressed with the recent changes and fill vacant space at the 1 million-square-foot building.
DivcoWest, which acquired a mortgage interest in the former State Street Corp. headquarters in 2022, submitted the high bid of $400 million for the property at a foreclosure auction last spring along with BDT and MSD Partners.
The $100 million upgrades were tied to a $1 billion refinancing package announced at the time that HarbourVest agreed to relocate from the nearby One Financial Center tower.
DivoWest hired architect Nelson and Leggat McCall Properties to take over project management on the upgrades to the tower, originally completed in 2003. DivcoWest took pointers from the strategy of other developers investing in amenities designed to lure employees back to the office more frequently. including the new JPMorgan Chase headquarters in Manhattan, Roopenian said.
“Everybody’s back five days a week. It’s 2.5 million square feet, with the things that people want to get their employees back to [the office]: convenience, parking, health and wellness, multiple ways of working and collaborating,” Roopenian said.
The 400,000 square-foot low-rise section is available along with 175,000 square feet on the tower section, Roopenian said.
One Lincoln’s strategy takes advantage of the broad 60,000 square-foot floor plates on the low-rise section of the building to build the 11th-floor roof deck with its flexible recreation and socializing areas replacing utility equipment.
Accommodations for visiting executives include private micro-hotel-style suites. An amenities floor includes a large meeting hall, conference rooms and small “work lofts” for privacy, plus a kitchen and coffee bar.
HarbourVest currently requires three days of in-office attendance, spokesman Andrew Hopkins said. In January, it will shift to a four-day office work requirement. Employees who meet the goal receive assigned desks.
“What we’ve tried to do here is create the highest quality workday space in the entire city,” Roopenian said. “The market will be the judge of that, I think, however it’s all about getting people back to work. It’s about elevating the workday experience.”
WATCH: Join the press tour of One Lincoln’s new amenities
Photo by Steve Adams | Banker & Tradesman Staff
