Design software maker Autodesk ($ADSK) opened a new East Coast office in Waltham in 2009, announcing a LEED-certified building that would be the headquarters for its Architecture Engineering and Construction business. It’s one of the landmark office buildings along Route 128. Now, just five years later, Autodesk is already exploring a move to a more urban address, BostInno has learned.
Spokesman Paul Sullivan confirmed Autodesk is looking at sites in Boston and Cambridge. Two Boston commercial real estate sources told BostInno that 333 Summer St., a vacant building in Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood, is high on the CAD software maker’s real estate shopping list--but that LogMeIn ($LOGM) also has a fervent desire to occupy the building. That’s a move that could more than double the size of LogMeIn’s HQ, a plan that also hasn’t been reported until now.
LogMeIn is reportedly eyeing a move that could more than double the size of its Boston HQ.
LogMeIn, a maker of remote log-in software, moved its global headquarters to Fort Point just last year. Its 102,000-square-foot headquarters is at 320 Summer St., just across the street from 333. The space at 320 is plush: BostInno’s Gillis Bernard took some of you on an "Office Envy" tour of it back in May.
Growing across the street must be attractive--but LogMeIn’s interest in 333 could be a little bit awkward. For their recent moves, LogMeIn and Autodesk both used the same real estate agent, Boston-based T3 Advisors. T3 prides itself on being “conflict-free”: It only represents tenants. What happens when it represents two clients vying for the same address?
According to two real estate sources, LogMeIn has decided to avoid that potential source of friction by asking Lincoln Property Co., which represents its landlord at 320 Summer, to help it secure the lease at 333. A source at Lincoln Property Co. confirmed LPC is working with a large client on a possible lease at 333, but declined to name the company.
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http://t.co/WVA4b75qof— Boston Fire Dept. (@BostonFire) December 3, 2013
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| A fire gutted 333 Summer St. in 2013. |
T3's chief executive, Roy Hirshland, declined to comment for this story.
At 118,000 square feet, expansion into 333 Summer would more than double LogMeIn’s existing space in Boston. It’s entirely vacant right now, after an eight-alarm fire gutted it back in December, 2013. A listing agent confirmed for me they’re still marketing the entire building. Synergy Investments and DivcoWest bought the building for $53 million in 2013.
LogMeIn has 450 employees in Massachusetts and another 250 in Hungary, where it was founded. Although he declined to discuss specific addresses, spokesman Craig VerColen confirmed the company is looking for expansion space in Boston. He said it expects to hit 1,000 employees in the next 12 to 18 months.
What might that look like? Internet of Things is a hot topic at LogMeIn right now. The company has made a name for itself enabling remote IT support ranging from dad’s desktop to enterprise customer service. Now it’s doing the same for Internet-enabled devices. Imagine your toaster--or your truck fleet--is vulnerable to something like Shellshock and I think you get the picture of how they construe this opportunity. The Boston Globe's Scott Kirsner reported on an executive shakeup in LogMeIn's IoT division, earlier this month.
At Autodesk, meanwhile, the big buzzword is software for 3D printing. The company has about 170 people in Massachusetts, where AEC--bringing in nearly a third of the company’s overall revenue in fiscal 2014--takes up most of the resources. Occupying 333 Summer would be a big jump over the 65,000 square feet they have out on Trapelo Road. It’s worth noting such an expansion would bring many of its workers close to MIT, Somerville 3D-printing startup Formlabs, Dragon Innovate, the Bolt hardware accelerator (where Apple is said to have been snooping around for an acquisition).
It seems neither company has yet made a deal. Of course, it’s possible neither will end up taking space at 333 Summer. Whatever happens, it looks like big moves for two of Boston's marquee tech companies.
Greg Gomer contributed to this report.
