BXP Postpones Construction of 27-Story Boston Office Building

Due to unfavorable financial conditions, Boston Properties (BXP) has postponed the construction of a 27-story, 660,000 ft² office building at 171 Dartmouth Street. in Boston’s Back Bay. During the company’s third-quarter earnings call, BXP President Douglas Linde stated that the rental rates do not justify the borrowing and construction costs at this time, making the project financially unfeasible to start in 2025, according to ctbuh.org which cites Business Journal. With the construction costs estimated to be between US$1,400 and US$1,600 per ft², Linde explained that the high costs would require much higher rents than those the current market can sustain, even in a desirable area like the Back Bay. The project, set to have been built on the site of a parking garage next to the Back Bay Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority station, was originally approved in 2017 and reworked in 2022 to reduce its commercial space by 80,000 ft².