Blackstone Driving Rents Upward in Boston
Blackstone Group is driving office rents upward in Boston. The company has recently signed tenants to leases at $90/sf at One Post Office Square and Rowe’s Wharf, Boston properties that it picked up in its acquisition of Equity Office Properties Trust earlier this year. The rates compare to averages of $62/sf in Boston’s Back Bay area and $56.25/sf in the financial district. Rents in those markets increased 56% and 42% respectively over the past year, and area brokers say that rents of $80/sf and more are becoming more common.

Population Growth Results in Absorption
The San Antonio-area commercial real estate market is expected to absorb 781,000 sf of industrial space from 2007 through 2011, according to data compiled by Delta Associates. The Arlington, VA, research firm cites population growth as one of the biggest factors for the absorption. Delta predicts the population to rise to 2.1 million in 2011 from 1.9 million this year.

First Industrial Sees $2Bln of Investments
First Industrial Realty Trust of Chicago plans to make $2 billion in investments in 2007. The activity will include $750 million worth of development starts and land acquisitions, according to Michael Brennan, chief executive officer of the REIT. Brennan said the REIT could develop up to 8 million sf of development in southern California’s Inland Empire and up to 10 million sf in southern Florida.

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