PGIM Real Estate Lands New Tenant in Boston

April 27, 2026

Brokerage Boston News Northeast More Office

A law firm is relocating to a downtown trophy tower in 2027.

Exterior shot of 1 International Place, an office building in downtown Boston — The 1.8 million-square-foot International Place office complex sits on Boston’s downtown waterfront. *Image by Ed Wonsek.*

National law firm McCarter & English has signed an 11-year lease for 47,466 square feet at One International Place in downtown Boston.

The building is part of the International Place office complex comprising One International Place and Two International Place. Rising 46 and 35 stories, the two towers total 1.8 million square feet of office and retail space.

McCarter & English joins a sizable number of other tenants at International Place, including financial services, law, life science, technology, insurance and energy companies. The firm will be relocating from its office space at 265 Franklin St. to International Place in May 2027.

Newmark’s Vice Chairman Debra Gould and Senior Managing Director Alison Cavanaugh brokered the deal. McCarter & English Partner Cynthia Keliher managed lease negotiations on behalf of the firm, while Partner Geoffrey Howell from DLA Piper represented the Chiofaro Co., which oversees leasing for the property.

PGIM Real Estate has owned International Place since 2005. The property is currently associated with a $118.6 million permanent mortgage originated by Northwestern Mutual in 2025, according to Yardi Matrix.

Located along the Rose Kennedy Greenway on the city’s downtown waterfront, the towers were developed in the mid-1980s by the Chiofaro Co., and designed by renowned architect Philip Johnson. In 2024, PGIM Real Estate and the Chiofaro Co. embarked on a repositioning of International Place with global architecture firm Gensler.

The focus of the repositioning is the Aries Club. Available only to tenants, the club offers spaces for meetings, collaboration, and social engagement. Also part of the project are the updated IP Commons and Fort Hill Plaza, with new finishes, landscaping and a redesigned central waterfall.

Boston’s large office deals

As of March 2026, Boston had the most office space under development among major U.S. markets, according to a recent Yardi Matrix report, both in raw square footage (3.9 million square feet) and as a percentage of the existing market (1.5 percent). The office vacancy rate in the metro clocked in at 14.4 percent, down 270 basis points over a 12-month period and also lower than the 17.6 percent national average.

Leasing activity in the city was up as well. In March, JP Morgan Chase committed to 250,000 square feet at Hines’ new South Station Tower in downtown Boston, with the bank scheduled to relocate in early 2028. The deal is one of the largest office leases in the city since the pandemic.

On the suburban side, TransMedics Group signed a deal to occupy a 498,000-square-foot, life science building at Assembly Innovation Park in Somerville, Mass., one of the biggest construction projects in Boston. The company will move its headquarters from Andover, Mass.