Boston Properties Arrives in L.A.

Raymond Ritchey is the senior EVP at Boston Properties, and spoke at Allen Matkins recent View from the Top.

LOS ANGELES—East Coast developer Boston Properties is setting roots down in Los Angeles. Raymond Ritchey, senior EVP at the firm, spoke at the recent Allen Matkins View from the Top conference in Los Angeles to share its development vision and plans for the city. “Money is coming back to the West Coast, and we are being out performed by the West Coast,” he said in his speech. “If you can’t beat them; join them.”

The firm is focused on ultra amenitized projects, and plans to bring the same concept to Los Angeles. Ritchey was clear that fitness centers and a few retail shops were not the firm’s idea of amenities, but rather they want to create a community feel with a true live-work-play environment. He pointed to a recent project in Washington DC that the firm redeveloped. In the surrounding market, properties have an average 18% vacancy with $28 to $32 per square foot rents. In Boston Properties’ building, there is a 1% vacancy rate with $47 to $55 per square foot rents. “When we created a live-work-play environment and brought in amenities, people came,” said Ritchey.