Image courtesy of Rockport Group
Rockport Group is known for its niche in the walking shoe sector, an image that clashed with its longtime home in a car-dependent suburban office park.
The footwear company’s 2015 sale by Adidas meant an imminent departure from its decades-old home on Reebok’s Canton campus. As Rockport executives toured a half-dozen office buildings, they sought a walkable, densely populated neighborhood, said Georgia Wraight, Rockport’s COO. At the same time, they wanted to minimize commuting disruption for Rockport’s 220 Massachusetts-based corporate employees, many of whom live south of Boston.
In the end, Rockport leased 90,000 square feet at 1210 Washington St. on the edge of West Newton’s business district. Move-in day was Dec. 12.
“We were looking somewhere that has easy access to the city but is part of a community where people could go out whenever they want,” Wraight said. “Coming from a campus like (Royall Street in Canton) in the middle of nowhere, there was no sense of community and nowhere to go.”
The 3-story converted mill building owned by Davis Marcus Partners has frontage and a high-visibility corporate sign on the Massachusetts Turnpike. It was expanded in the 1980s with additional office space.
Rockport hired Boston-based Baker Design Group for the interior fit-out, which took six months. Interior walls were removed to set up open-format offices. Phone rooms for private calls and 18 conference rooms for meetings provide alternate workspaces.
Wall-mounted video screens provide the direct commerce division with real-time Google Analytics data on how many shoppers are visiting the Rockport website, order totals and average prices.
While shops and restaurants are within walking distance, Rockport subsidizes deliveries to the West Newton offices by Fooda, a catering company that delivers meals from local restaurants. A fireplace and cafeteria were added in the lobby, and a patio with seating, firepits and a water element is being built in front of the building.
Rockport’s is the latest in a series of high-profile decisions by footwear companies to make long-term commitments for their corporate functions in the Boston area.
In December, Reebok leased 220,000 square feet in South Boston’s Innovation and Design Center as it prepares to sell the Canton campus. New Balance and Converse recently occupied new build-to-suit headquarters in Brighton and the West End. Clarks North America opted to stay in the suburbs, leaving its Newton Lower Falls headquarters for a renovated former Polaroid building overlooking Route 128 in Waltham.
