Executives and gather for the first batch of workers from AOL to enter the renovated Burnham Building in Downtown Crossing.
David Harris
Tech Editor- Boston Business Journal
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The Greater Boston area ranks second in the nation in tech employment and fourth in tech-related venture capital funding among major U.S. markets, according to a report released Friday from commercial real estate firm Jones Lang Lasalle.
According to the firm’s annual technology outlook report, Boston with its more than 145,000 tech jobs trails only Silicon Valley in terms of total high-tech employment, noting that Greater Boston experienced a 4.3 percent growth in high-tech jobs over the year. Silicon Valley had year-over-year tech-related job growth of 5.2 percent and employed a little over 213,000 people in the industry, the report noted. But the results aren’t much of a change from last year’s report, which stated that the Boston area was No. 2 in terms of tech jobs and No. 4 in venture funding.
The Boston area also scored big in venture funding during the second quarter of this year, accumulating a total of $441.6 million in funding during the time period, according to the report. San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Manhattan all snagged more venture capital funding than the Boston area.
The success of the Boston area’s tech industry has also pushed average rent for office space in the area 7.9 percent higher over the last year to an average of $32.58 per square foot, the report noted. In Boston, commercial rents average about $51.52 per square foot, up 8.3 percent over the past year, according to Jones Lang Lasalle. The most significant increase in rent in the city of Boston has been in the Seaport District, which saw commercial rents rise by a little over 10 percent over the past year to an average of $47.57 per square foot.
Cambridge saw the most significant rise in average rent in the region over the past year, with East Cambridge, which features one of the most concentrated biotech and tech clusters in the region, witnessing a 14.7 percent increase in rent to an average of $57.50 per square foot.
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