Mortimer Zuckerman said he’s been surprised by the high rents media and technology companies are paying for older office stock, and that his Boston Properties may try to cash in on the trend. Still, he’s got a second new office building in the works for Midtown, he said today on Bloomberg TV’s “Market Makers” (see video above).
Zuckerman regularly touts his company’s focus on “‘A’ buildings in ‘A’ locations.” When analyzing commercial real estate, Boston Properties’ goal is “always to imagine that it is possible that the economy doesn’t go up all the time,” he said.
But with technology and media companies expanding into older buildings, he hinted that his property firm might look to acquire real estate that attracts the new generation of high-tech workers. “These people aren’t interested in the conventionality of high-rise office buildings in financial districts,” he said.
However, he still views traditional financial and law tenants as the chief drivers of real estate, and considered their needs when building 250 West 55th Street. He said his company found there were 19 companies in upper Midtown whose leases of at least 200,000 square feet were expiring. He wanted to lure those companies, and said he’s found success — although would not confirm that Microsoft is a possible tenant — to the point that he’s on the verge of announcing more new Midtown office construction in the near future.
