Corporate tenants, their employees and tourists are all fueling Boston's building boom, but developers and urban planners also will need to consider what will happen to all of the older buildings that are left behind.
"You can in fact build a new building for less than acquisition cost," said Ray Ritchey, executive vice president of Boston Properties. "Tenants are going to new buildings to rebrand themselves. ... When you see the Innovation District and buildings going up, it really needs to be tempered with what happens to the buildings that are left behind."
At an Urban Land Institute forum yesterday, James Clayton, vice president of research at Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors, said money is flowing to both existing properties and new development, noting that his company has been associated with properties as varied as the Copley Square Hotel and Fan Pier.
"We have investors who want well-leased core property because they're after income," Clayton said, "whereas others are after total return, and they're willing to take more risk."
Ted Tye, managing partner at National Development, noted that about 5,300 apartments also are going up in Boston over the next several years, and tenants are looking for amenities.
"We're thinking about bikes, rental cars, dogs," Tye said. "The answer really is in variety."
The challenge, however, is to provide all of that at an affordable price, he said.
"We can have all the job growth in the world," Tye said, "but we need to have affordability, otherwise we're going to lose people to other cities."
