Governor leases pricey office at top of Hancock Tower
Governor Mitt Romney has leased office space near the top of the 60-floor John Hancock Tower, one of the most prestigious addresses in Boston, which aides say he will use in part to raise political funds as he mulls a run for president.
The unusual step will allow Romney, whose national political activities have intensified this year, to receive and entertain national political figures, GOP fund-raisers, and would-be donors to his presidential campaign in private, luxurious surroundings. Visitors to the office will have a spectacular view of Boston and beyond.
''Wow," said Michael Goldman, a longtime Massachusetts Democratic political consultant now working for Bloomberg Radio in New York City. ''That is fabulous property. This is really unique. I have never seen a governor do something like this. But for someone considering running for president, that kind of space is very impressive to those who he is seeking support from."
Raising political funds is illegal in government buildings, including the State House, so the office will provide a location from which Romney can raise money. And with its location in a high-rise building with tight security, the space will also allow Romney to conduct political activities outside the scrutiny of the State House press corps, which the governor has described as ''hyperventilating" over his possible presidential run.
Romney has already installed political consultant Spencer Zwick, who is handling national issues for the governor, in the 59th-floor office. Zwick, who until this summer was Romney's State House deputy chief of staff, is being paid in part through Romney's federal political action committee, Commonwealth PAC.
Romney's director of communications, Eric Fehrnstrom, said that politics is only a part of what Romney will be doing in his new quarters.
''The governor has rented office space in the Hancock Tower for personal and family use, and from this office he manages family financial affairs and the activities of his charitable foundation," said Fehrnstrom. ''He also from time to time may conduct political fund-raising that he is prohibited by law from conducting on state property."
As governor, Romney has not had an office to conduct his personal business in the past.
Romney signed a tenant at-will lease with
Fehrnstrom said Romney will not make public what he is paying to rent the 1,354-square-foot space from the insurance company, which has regular business before the state. The governor will pay for it with personal funds, the aide said.
''The lease is at-will, with a 30-day termination clause, which not many renters are willing to accept," Fehrnstrom said in an e-mail to the Globe. He said the lease prohibits any significant modification of the space. Fehrnstrom also said a real estate company hired by the building owner issued an opinion that, based on these conditions, the rent was fair.
Those familiar with rates in the Hancock Tower said that the sort of space Romney is renting typically costs more than $50 per square foot. At that rate, Romney, unless he received a discount, would be paying more than $75,000 a year in rent. Most leases for such spaces are long-term agreements, specialists in the field said yesterday.
The rental was disclosed as Romney ponders whether to seek reelection, a decision that has the state's political world on edge. If he does not run, Romney is expected to seek the 2008 GOP nomination for president.
He will announce his decision this fall, but his moving into one of the priciest buildings in Boston can be viewed as a sign that he is leaning strongly toward seeking the presidency. Other governors have used sites outside the State House to raise money, but mostly in low-rent downtown buildings, often with views of a back alley out their windows.
With its reflecting glass skin, the Hancock Tower, which was completed in 1976, looms over Copley Square and the Back Bay and offers sweeping views of the city, from Boston Harbor, up the Charles River, and out into the surrounding cities and towns.
The space Romney is renting was part of the huge office complex that was previously occupied by 