“There are a lot of cool young companies in the area that have great backers and are enjoying great success,’’ said Chris Menard, Brightcove’s chief financial officer. “We’re excited to be part of that.’’
(The New York Times Co., owner of The Boston Globe, is an investor in privately held Brightcove.)
The 82,000-square-foot lease is a boost for Boston Properties Inc., the real estate firm that developed the Atlantic Wharf complex at the corner of Congress Street and Atlantic Avenue. The development includes a 31-story office tower surrounded by low-rise buildings with additional offices, residences, and restaurants.
The complex, already anchored by financial services giant Wellington Management Co., is nearly full now, and is preparing for its first restaurants to open later this year. The steakhouse Smith & Wollensky will open out of the Fort Point Channel side, while chef Jody Adams is planning a new restaurant, Trade, along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.
While Wellington keeps the complex anchored to the city’s mainstay financial sector, the Brightcove lease helps link it to the emerging innovation district across the channel in South Boston’s Seaport District, which is attracting a growing roster of medical and technology companies. Another new tenant at Atlantic Wharf is Communispace Corp., a social media branding firm that plans to bring 350 employees from current offices in Watertown.
“I think these [leases] speak to a new fluidity in the way companies are thinking about their locations,’’ said Bryan Koop, regional manager for Boston Properties.
“There used to be hard and fast rules that certain companies were supposed to be in certain locations. But the key driver for companies now is seeking talent and having a location that is going to be a magnet to attract and retain employees.’’
