by Steve Adams / via Banker & Tradesman
A lease by a second major tenant could fill up the 1 million-square-foot One Congress office tower at Boston’s Government Center well before its scheduled completion in January.
Developers of the 600-foot tower and future State Street Corp. headquarters are in talks with a tenant that could lease more than 400,000 square feet on the upper floors, according to commercial real estate sources.
Cambridge-based health data management firm Intersystems Corp. is the likely tenant, according to two sources. The One Congress leasing web site lists 11 floors of office space still available, but local brokerage sources say developers are no longer entertaining proposals for large blocks of space, suggesting that a lease may be imminent.
State Street Corp. signed on as anchor tenant with a 510,000 square foot lease in 2019, enabling the development team to break ground. State Street will occupy 22 floors on the lower levels of the building in a relocation from 1 Lincoln St.
One Congress got a second commitment in December when law firm K&L Gates leased two floors, also in a relocation from 1 Lincoln St.
The development team, led by Boston-based HYM Investment Group, had been expected to fill up the upper floors with smaller tenants, but the pandemic may have changed the leasing strategy.
“Historically speaking, the number of large anchor tenants in the Boston area are limited, so they were prepared to go floor-by-floor or a grouping of floors. But I think they are thrilled to have the opportunity to land a large tenant,” one local real estate executive said.
HYM, leasing agent CBRE and InterSystems did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Founded in 1978 by entrepreneur Philip “Terry” Ragon, InterSystems leased nearly nine floors at Cambridge’s One Memorial Drive in 2017, with a lease expiration of 2027, according to Middlesex Registry of Deeds records. That property, which also includes Microsoft offices, was sold by Oxford Property Group in 2021 for $825 million, a record price per square foot for an office building in Greater Boston.
One Congress is a partnership between HYM, Carr Properties and National Real Estate Advisors and is part of the 2.9 million-square-foot Bulfinch Crossing mixed-use development.