Amazon Looks To Bring Up To 4,000 Jobs To Boston’s Seaport
Amazon is betting big on Boston’s Seaport.
Boston Planning & Development Agency documents show Amazon is negotiating a lease for 430K SF at a WS Development Seaport Square office building, dubbed L4, with an option for a second building. Construction on the first building is scheduled to begin later this year and deliver in 2021.
WS secured city approval for the building last fall. The development is not related to the company’s search for a second headquarters, according to an Amazon spokeswoman.
“Amazon is considering additional options for expansion in the Boston area to meet the demand of our growing employee base and as part of our ongoing hiring efforts,” the spokeswoman said in a statement to Bisnow. “This is independent of the company’s search for HQ2, a second headquarters in North America.”
The L4 property is behind 121 Seaport, where Needham-based PTC and Alexion Pharmaceuticals are both moving. L4 is expected to house 2,000 Amazon employees. Amazon’s option for the neighboring L5 building would need to be exercised by the end of 2020 and include a commitment for at least an additional 2,000 jobs, according to the BPDA documents.
“Amazon’s new project is a tremendous vote of confidence in Boston’s economy, and we’ll be working with Amazon to make their plan for up to 2,000 new jobs a reality,” Boston Mayor Martin Walsh tweeted.
Amazon and WS Development are pursuing a $5M payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with the city of Boston, which would be tied to the initial 2,000 jobs being created within 25 miles of Boston in the state of Massachusetts by the start of 2025. It is unclear if Massachusetts is also providing financial incentives like the $46M it recently provided MassMutual in an agreement for the insurance company to bring 2,000 new jobs to the state over the next four years.
Amazon currently employs over 1,200 people in Greater Boston. The company announced plans last summer to grow its local presence with a 150K SF lease at 253 Summer St. in Fort Point, expected to open later in 2018. It was reported in January the Seattle-based company was looking in the surrounding area for up to 1M SF of offices.
“The Seaport has clearly emerged as a world-renowned hub of technology and innovation commerce,” Perry Brokerage Director of Intelligence Brendan Carroll said. “In 2011, when Amazon established their first major regional office, it was in Cambridge. That followed the logic of the time; now they will be betting for the second time on the Seaport.”
