CIM Group, Nordblom Company and CBRE announced today the topping off of 321 Harrison Street, a 234,000 sq. ft. Class A office building in Boston’s burgeoning South End neighborhood. Situated above a three-story parking garage, the eight-story contemporary new building comprises large, efficient floorplates, a robust amenities collection, outdoor space and ground floor retail.

CBRE’s David Fitzgerald, Kristen Blumetti, Eric Smith and Jeff Landers oversee leasing for the building’s office space and CBRE’s Matt Curtin and Paul Grossman will market the building’s available retail.

“We are thrilled to announce that 321 Harrison Street is one step closer to completion,” said Og Hunnewell, Executive Vice President at Nordblom Company. “The building creates a unique opportunity for companies seeking premier office space with expansion, branding and headquarters potential in an evolving live, work, play environment. Being in a vibrant urban setting outside the congested core of Boston is an advantage now more so than ever.”

CBRE’s Fitzgerald added, “321 Harrison is committed to promoting health and well-being with high indoor air quality, which is critical as we transition into post-COVID office occupancy. The spacious floorplates, high ceilings and state-of-the-art systems allow for customizable configurations to accommodate various company sizes and requirements, which are critical given the current conversations on changing office layouts.”

Located at the nexus of Boston’s Back Bay, Downtown and Seaport Districts, 321 Harrison Street is a joint venture between CIM Group and Nordblom Company forming a 450,000 RSF campus adjoining the existing office building at 1000 Washington Street and a three-story covered parking structure. 321 Harrison Street boasts 29,000 sq. ft. floorplates with side core design, 10’ floor-to-ceiling windows, signage opportunities and a sleek, boutique hospitality-inspired design. Building amenities include a modern two-story lobby, living room tenant lounge/conference facility, furnished rooftop terrace, penthouse pocket porches, tenant-only fitness center, outdoor café, bicycle storage and parking.

The first new construction apartment building in over a generation recently opened in downtown Providence. Nightingale is pleased to welcome its first residents this month. The newly constructed 143-unit luxury apartment community is in the heart of walkable downtown Providence. In addition to five stories of contemporary apartments, Nightingale contains 11,500 square feet of ground-level retail space, expansive residential amenities, the latest smart building technology, and original local artwork.

Located at 100 Mathewson Street, residents of Nightingale will enjoy an abundance of amenities, including a state-of-the-art fitness center, indoor parking, bike storage room, a well-equipped co-working space, a resident club lounge, an elevated courtyard with firepit and roof deck with panoramic city views. The project is a culmination of efforts among project partners Cornish Associates, Nordblom Company and Boston Andes Capital, LLC.

“Nightingale is an elegant new building adding to the urban fabric of our wonderful Historic Downtown and importantly, providing much needed housing for our City. We thank our partners from Massachusetts for seeing the opportunity Downtown Providence presents and for joining with us to make this project a reality,” – Buff Chace, managing partner at Cornish Associates.

The partnership between Cornish and Nordblom took root as the two development firms came together to redevelop the former Providence Journal Building located at 75 Fountain St. Nordblom, based out of Burlington MA, brought extensive knowledge and expertise in the commercial office sector, while Cornish, headquartered in Providence, provided decades of experience developing mixed-use real estate in the local market. Together the two firms redeveloped the four-story office building, providing state-of-the-art office space for companies including Infosys, the Providence Journal, Tufts Health Plan, Virgin Pulse and Charles Schwab.

Included in the acquisition were two surface parking lots, one of which was the future home of Nightingale, stretching from Washington St. to Fountain St. between Mathewson and Clemence streets. In early 2017, the group initiated plans for Nightingale, shifting focus from commercial office development to the demand for additional residential units in the downtown neighborhood. What was once a surface parking lot would soon be home to 143 new apartments, dramatically increasing the density of the residential community in downtown Providence.

Nightingale—whose name is a nod to a notable 18^th century owner of an iron and steel business on the same site—offers residents a variety of stylish studio, one- and two-bedroom apartment homes boasting contemporary finishes, some with den options, that range from 500 to 1,200 square feet. The pet-friendly apartment homes feature open concept floor plans, in-unit washers and dryers, and generous closets. Spacious balconies or patios are available within select units.

Just steps outside their front door, residents will be able to enjoy Providence’s rich creative culture, including the city’s best restaurants, theaters, art galleries and shops, as well as convenient access to public transit, Amtrak/MBTA stations and ride shares.

The ground floor commercial spaces promise additional amenities, with the potential for a small urban grocery shop, restaurants or retail.

“We are pleased to be involved in this transformative project,” said Ogden Hunnewell, Partner at Nordblom Company. “Nightingale compliments the dynamic local community, while illuminating the opportunity to invest in the quality of its future.”

State and municipal stakeholders—Rhode Island Commerce Corporation Rebuild RI program and the City of Providence—played a pivotal role in the $54M transformation of the site from a parking lot to a vibrant apartment community and retail destination.

Network Drive, a 1 million-square-foot world-class office and life science campus, has obtained the Fitwel® Commercial Site certification, making it the first campus in the United States to achieve the 2-star rating.

Fitwel is the world’s leading certification system committed to building health for all™. Operated by the Center for Active Design (CfAD), Fitwel is a rigorous, third-party healthy building certification system that sets the industry standard for evidence-based strategies to promote positive health outcomes for building occupants and communities. Fitwel was originally created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and U.S. General Service Administration, with the CDC remaining the research and evaluation partner for Fitwel.

Network Drive, which is also Energy Star-Rated and LEED Gold Certified, joins just one other commercial campus in North America to have achieved the 2-star Fitwel rating under the Commercial Site level.

“Network Drive has always striven to be at the forefront of energy-consciousness and sustainability. Layering on the Fitwel 2-star certification further complements those efforts and recognizes our extensive health and wellness amenity package. We see tremendous value in creating a safe and healthy workplace as our tenants begin returning to the office, and the Fitwel certification validates our continued commitment to do that,” said Vice President Patrick O’Neill.

The Network Drive management team spent nearly nine months on the project, beginning efforts in August 2020, submitting for Fitwel review in December, and achieving certification in April 2021. Management implemented several health-promoting design and operational strategies to ensure its success, including daily fitness programming, access to outdoor spaces and amenities, and healthy food and beverage offerings, among other policies, guidelines, and programs.

The Fitwel certification is a testament to the quality of the original design and the commitment towards the continuous improvement for the health and well-being of the Network Drive community.

 

“We’re thrilled to recognize Network Drive as the first corporate campus in the U.S. to achieve a 2-star Fitwel certification rating, certifying over 900,000 sq. ft., and as a leading example of how real estate owners and operators are embracing the healthy building movement,” said Joanna Frank, President and CEO of CfAD. “By achieving Fitwel certification for such a marquee office and life sciences development, Nordblom has demonstrated its commitment to prioritizing occupant health and safety while creating modern and productive workspaces.”

Azzur Group, a leading solution provider dedicated to helping life science innovators start, scale and sustain their GxP organizations, entered a 12-year lease with Nordblom Company at 60 Blanchard Road, Burlington, and is poised to occupy the entire 50,300 square-foot space by summer 2021. The building includes 650 feet of Route 128 frontage, making it both highly visible and easily accessible. Azzur Cleanrooms on Demand^TM plans to build their largest facility yet, that will serve the Greater Boston area biopharmaceutical industry with over 25,000 square feet of cGMP-compliant space and related services designed to accelerate early-phase manufacturing capabilities.

Nordblom Company, in partnership with Alcion Ventures, acquired the single-story commercial/flex building just last fall. “Nordblom and the team executed quickly on the vision for re-positioning and leasing the property, which will result in a high-quality life science asset,” according to Kris Galletta, Partner at Alcion Ventures. The landlord was represented by Newmark and the tenant was represented by The Stevens Group in this transaction.

The Azzur deal highlights an active year of life science and medical technology leasing for Nordblom in Burlington. So far this year, Nordblom has executed over 200,000 square feet of life science and advanced medical technology leases.

At Network Drive, Nordblom’s 158-acre state-of-the-art office campus, Nordblom stakeholders worked alongside Newmark Knight Frank to execute an 18-month extension of a 44,740 square-foot lease for a notable biopharmaceutical company.

“Burlington is quietly undergoing a notable lab and biotechnology transformation,” said Adele Olivier, Senior Vice President of Nordblom Company. “We are proximate to the lab clusters in Lexington and Bedford and offer an unrivaled amenity rich, mixed-use environment that attracts highly skilled talent. It is not surprising that the life science tenant roster continues to grow in Burlington.”

Nordblom also completed a new lease and extended four of the existing leases with LeMaitre Vascular at Northwest Park. LeMaitre Vascular already occupies 82,907 square feet of primarily lab space across four buildings in the park, and the addition of 32 Third Avenue to their list of Northwest Park addresses brings their total to 109,354 square feet.

In addition to the life science leases, Nordblom leased an additional 24,500 square feet of advanced technology space, including a lease with information technology professionals Daymark Solutions, and advanced materials and manufacturing company Poly6 Technologies.

Northwest Park, located at the intersection of Route 3 and I-95, is comprised of 24 buildings and offers a wealth of walkable amenities including Life Time Athletic, Archer Hotel, Wegmans and the popular retail and dining destination 3^rd Ave.