The downtown Boston submarket led the region in office leasing activity to close out 2015, with nearly 1 million square feet of transactions completed during the fourth quarter.
Across Greater Boston, technology companies accounted for 25 percent of all leases signed during the quarter, the largest share of any industry segment, according to JLL’s fourth quarter office leasing report.
Software company Bullhorn leased 77,550 at 100 Summer St., in a relocation and 30,000-square-foot expansion from 33 Farnsworth St. in Fort Point. Bullhorn will move to renovated space in the 32-story tower in April, spokeswoman Vinda Souza said, after increasing its global workforce by nearly 45 percent in the past year including offices in London and St. Louis.
100 Summer St. has filled vacancies left behind by traditional Financial District tenants with tech companies, including GSN Games and IT security company Rapid 7, in the past two years.
After scouting Boston locations, HubSpot recently signed a 118,561-square-foot expansion at Jamestown’s Davenport building at 25 First St. in Cambridge, giving it occupancy of the entire 218,038-square-foot building. And online furniture retailer Wayfair added 94,000 square feet at 1 Copley Place in Back Bay.
The fourth quarter accounted for nearly 3.5 million of the 5.1 million square feet of leases signed during 2015. Tenants committed to nearly 1 million square feet in both the downtown Boston and Route 128/Massachusetts Turnpike submarkets.
Average direct asking rents throughout the region rose for the fifth straight quarter, ending 2015 at $34.04 per square foot. Vacancies declined to 13.8 percent, the lowest level since 2007.
Chelmsford-based defense contractor Mercury Systems signed the biggest suburban lease of the quarter for 114,100 square feet at Brickstone’s 50 Minuteman Road in Andover, according to the JLL report. The company will relocate from 201 Riverneck Road in Chelmsford in early 2017, Chief Financial Officer Gerald Haines said.
