One of the most notable landmarks in Boston's Fenway area is aptly dubbed the Landmark Center, a late-1920s building constructed for Sears most recognizable by its 200-foot tower. This relic of Boston yore will soon be used to launch some of the Hub's most pioneering companies of tomorrow. The eighth floor is now known as Hatch Fenway, where up to 12 startups will be able to take refuge and foster their respective business.
Expected to open in August, Hatch Fenway won't be a traditional co-working space. The 100,000-square foot floor plan will be dexterous enough to allow 10 to 12 tenants, all signed to short-term leases of 12 to 24 months, to rearrange walls and office infrastructure to accommodate various rates of scaling.
Essentially Hatch Fenway is a more accommodating means for bootstrapped startups to work out of a space without the heavy burden of expensive, multi-year leases. It also helps that the Landmark Center is situated in the midst of a burgeoning neighborhood where amenities abound and vista views are bountiful.
Like the startups housed within, Hatch is something of an experiment by Landmark Center owner Samuels & Associates. Peter Sougarides, principal at S&A, said that Hatch could offer up its abundance of square footage for possibly two years or even more depending on its success.
"Like a lot of these businesses, we're looking at a shorter-term horizon," said Sougarides. "We'll figure out if it's permanent."
If the conversations and feedback S&A has had with prospective companies is any indication, though, Hatch Fenway could anchor the area's tech community.
"We saw with these companies that they're young, growing and at this critical juncture have strong business plans, have raised money from venture capital and really need a place to grow," said Sougarides. "There's this void in the marketplace where companies are in that sort of arena and on a growth spurt, but don't know how fast they'll grow or not."
One such company, Toast, currently located in Cambridge, signed the inaugural lease with Hatch where the restaurant management software company will take advantage of the space's flexibility.
Hatch will also offer inter-mutual features intended to spur creative ideas, conversations between companies and an overall sense of community – most notably, a swing set where people can sway and oscillate while innovation marinates.
This allows Hatch's congregation of startups to bond and work in tandem, which S&A expects will spill over into the Fenway and bolster the neighborhood feel. Similarly, the neighborhood gives back to these startups by enticing them to a more affordable haven for cultivating their business with fresh retail, restaurants, entertainment, speaking engagements, networking events and public transit access all in close proximity.
"We're trying to create a community here, to spur ideas and cross-pollinate on the idea front," said Sougarides.
For Toast, the surrounding luxuries Fenway offers are great. But Hatch's adaptability is paramount and is difficult, if at all possible, to find in Kendall Square in Cambridge or the Innovation District on the South Boston Seaport.
"Hatch solves a critical problem for very scaling fast growing companies. Toast was at 15 team members (Toasters) 14 months ago and is over 100 today," Steve Papa, a Toast board member, told BostInno in an email. "They don’t want to keep moving but their cost of capital is still very high so sitting on a lot of empty space doesn’t make sense. Second, the overall development going in the Fenway is very exciting and energizing with the mix of commercial, residential and retail."
Toast will lease 40,000-square feet to start "for as long as we need until we need more," said Papa, but he added that Toast's time at Hatch will expire around the two year mark. That's the beauty of Hatch – a company doesn't really need a timeline to move on from the space. Rather, they just need a solid business plan with sound knowledge of their immediate needs and they can change things up on the fly.
Adding to the appeal of Hatch Fenway is the efforts of the Army Corps of Engineers to daylight the Muddy River, a separate project in its own right but one that S&A will take full advantage of.
Upon its completion, the river will basically flow through the front yard of the Landmark Center, prompting S&A to devise plans to revamp its existing parking lot into ample green space for park goers to enjoy and Hatch entrepreneurs to visit for a breath of fresh air.
Though Toast is currently the sole tenant of Hatch, prospective companies can fill out an application on its website here.
