The Home for Little Wanderers (The Home), the nation's oldest and one of New England's largest child welfare agencies, has signed a lease to move its headquarters to 10 Guest St. Owned by WGBH, Boston's leading public television and radio broadcaster and the nation's top content producer for PBS, 10 Guest St. is part of WGBH's studios and foundation headquarters, a two-building, 330,000 s/f complex within the Boston Landing mixed-use development. The Home will relocate 75 staff from its executive and administrative offices at its Huntington Ave. location next to Symphony Hall to the 18,000 s/f space at Guest St. during the summer of 2014.
Colliers International executive vice president James Elcock represented The Home in this transaction. WGBH was represented by Avison Young Principal Kevin Malloy.
"As an organization with strong roots in the community, we are thrilled to have found a new and innovative location for our headquarters. Boston Landing offers convenience to downtown Boston and accessibility to the clients who our more than 600 agency-wide staff serves across the city and Eastern Massachusetts every day," said Joan Wallace-Benjamin, president and CEO, The Home for LittleWanderers.
In recent years, WGBH has redesigned its space to create more open work environments that foster collaboration across departments. The public broadcaster's strategic design decisions have opened additional space in its Brighton headquarters for corporate leases. Upgrades include building Boston's first fully integrated local newsroom that shares resources across all electronic media platforms (radio, television and digital) and developing an open floor plan similar to those championed by Silicon Valley startups for WGBH's digital department.
"We are excited to welcome The Home for Little Wanderers to our neighborhood. WGBH supports TheHome's mission, and we are pleased to provide an innovative, professional space that fosters their work in our local community," said Ben Godley, chief operating officer, WGBH. "This lease is part of a strategic business plan that will generate additional income for WGBH to invest in substantive, educational local and national programming that millions of people count on in Boston and across the country."
"Boston Landing is an outstanding location because it offers an affordable rental rate and ample parking. The Home will remain accessible to its client base while keeping operational costs at a minimum," said Elcock.
Situated along the Mass Pike, Boston Landing is a 1.4 million s/f mixed-use development that will include class A office space including New Balance's future world headquarters (scheduled completion in 2015), retail and restaurant space, a 175-room boutique hotel and the recently announced Boston Bruin's practice facility.