CRG’s Gardner Brokers 10,000-SF Brighton Sale

BOSTON—First American Mortgage Trust has acquired a 10,000-SF office building in a transforming Brighton neighborhood, picking up the two-story property for $1.8 million. Broker Dan Gardner of CRG Commercial negotiated the deal, procuring the buyer on behalf of seller O &W Realty Trust. The 24-year-old property at 70 Leo M. Birmingham Parkway and Centola Street is just blocks from the New Balance Corp. headquarters on Guest Street where owner Jim Davis is proposing an ambitious redevelopment.

“We had a lot of interest in this building—about 20 offers,” says Gardner, whose firm represents CRE in the Allston-Brighton, Brookline and Newton markets, as well as suburban Needham and Norwood. “We did very well last year,” reports Gardner, with the Brighton transaction among more than 50 leasing and sales assignments handled by his firm in 2011.
First American will use the entire building to support its operations and will move from their Brookline location at 56 Harvard St. “in a few months, probably by March,” according to a company spokesperson. The new destination has ample parking and is zoned for vertical development.

The sale was very close to the $1.9 million asking price, and may prove a bargain due to the improving neighborhood. Besides the aforementioned Guest Street development on the horizon, Phase One has begun on the 260-unit Charlesview Residences being built by Harvard University within walking distance. Phase Two of the project (designed by CBT Architects) will have 80 home-ownership units.

The activity is also good news for Gardner, listing agent for a second property with office or apartment potential (the Black & Decker building) a few lots down from O&W’s asset. The 4,000-SF building at 12 Market St. sits on 16,000 sf at Western Avenue and Leo M. Birmingham Parkway, with direct access to Soldiers Field Road. “The value of that corner is going to increase dramatically,” predicts Gardner. “If someone came along and made us an offer we’d entertain it, but we’re quietly marketing it now.”