Related Cos. Takes Stake in 1.4 MSF Boston Mixed-Use

Innovation and Design Building

Jamestown has sold a 50 percent stake in the 1.4 million-square-foot Innovation and Design Building in Boston’s Seaport District to Related Fund Management, Related Cos.’ investment management affiliate. The joint venture intends to begin constructing additional lab and office space next year. A team from Newmark represented Jamestown in the deal.  

Located at 1 Design Center Place and anchoring the metro’s Innovation District, the property is less than a mile from Amazon’s 525,000-square-foot office tower, which recently topped out. The LEED Gold-certified Innovation and Design Building is home to Reebok’s global headquarters, with the tenant roster also including several creative and life science tenants such as Boston Design Center, Ginkgo Bioworks and Autodesk.

Easily accessible by public transit, the property is close to five MBTA Silver Line stations, two MBTA bus routes, shuttles to the North and South stations and two Bluebikes sharing stations.

Jamestown purchased the 1.4 million-square-foot asset in 2013 and invested more than $200 million in capital improvements, including creating a street-level promenade with several dining options, event spaces and programming. According to CommercialEdge data, Jamestown paid $120 million for the asset. Originally built in 1918 by the U.S. Department of Defense, the building was used as a waterside storehouse for the South Boston Army Base where some 50,000 people repaired and overhauled ships.