LaSalle Investment Unveils New Look, Tenants at Boston High-Rise

110 High St. lobby

LaSalle Investment Management and its architect and design teams have transformed the 110 High St. lobby of the 50 Post Office Square building, with Boston’s first and largest indoor-outdoor digital media installation as part of the capital improvement plan.

The interactive installation at the historic Art Deco downtown office building may have helped LaSalle finish leasing up the 20-story, 782,000-square-foot building. At the same time the global real estate investment management firm unveiled its lobby renovations, it also announced it had signed a lease with Medidata Solutions to take 117,000 square feet for its newly acquired SHYFT Analytics division. The life sciences technology company with products for the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industry, will be moving from its current office in Waltham, Mass., and intends to eventually have 600 to 800 employees there, according to the Boston Globe. The building is now fully occupied.

Dave Martel and Gil Dailey of Newmark Knight Frank worked on behalf of LaSalle, while Lisa Kiell and Kelly Lockberg of JLL represented Medidata Solutions in the lease agreement.

“We are … excited to welcome our new tenant, Medidata and SHYFT, to 110 High Street as well, as they will bring a vibrant presence and energy that will complement the building’s marquee location in the Financial District,” said Kristy Heuberger, head of U.S. asset management at LaSalle, in prepared remarks.

LaSalle acquired the building in December 2015. The firm undertook an innovative renovation to attract new, large tenants and focused on the second lobby on the building’s east side with a plan designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects. Mark Sardegna, principal at Elkus Manfredi Architects, noted in a statement the project “embraces history while stepping with confidence into the future of the city.”

The 100-foot digital Boston Media Band Experience was created by ESI Design and is programmed with three digital art modes to interact with traffic in the lobby. The media band extends into the street to extend the experience of the building into the street. “By breaking the barrier between inside and outside, the installation broadcasts the building’s new identity to the street and draws people in,” Edwin Scholossberg, president & principal designer at ESI Design, added.

Renovating properties

LaSalle owns several other Boston assets, including 399 Washington St., a 77,000-square-foot mixed-use property in the Downtown Crossing submarket it acquired in June 2017 through a joint venture with L3. Rebranded as DTX 399, LaSalle and L3 planned a major facelift at that building as well.

Also in 2017, the firm, through one of its funds, acquired an interest in 10 Post Office, a 14-story office building in the CBD, by recapitalizing a joint venture with Synergy Investments. Extensive capital improvements were also planned at that location.

On the West Coast, the 22-story 525 B Street office building in San Diego that is owned by LaSalle and managed by Hines, was recently renovated by Ware Malcomb. The project included an upgraded lobby and improvements to the exterior and amenities. Ware Malcomb was responsible for the architecture, interior design and branding of the project, while Bycor served as general contractor.

Image courtesy of LaSalle Investment Management