MA Investment Sales Ends 2010 With a Bang as Deals Close Across Region

BOSTON—A barrage of commercial property sales in the final two weeks of 2010 enabled what began as a difficult season to finish on a high note, with transactions ranging from the blockbuster $930 million takeover of the John Hancock Tower in the Hub’s Back Bay to the $1,000,000 trade of a 63,000-sf industrial building in Stoughton.

In between, Linear Retail Properties shelled out $4.1 million for a stylish Seven-Eleven on Beacon Hill; Farley White Interests played an on-line auction into the $4.4 million purchase of Boston Scientific’s former headquarters in Watertown (pictured); and an Irish group already active on Newbury Street has bought into a key property at the gateway to that famous shopping Mecca. Buyers Aidan Brooks and Paul O’Sullivan paid $15.2 million in securing 4-6 Newbury St. from a partnership led by local investor Nader Golestaneh.

Unanswered is whether Golestaneh has retained an ownership stake in the asset, primarily a garage that had been seen as a possible expansion opportunity by the prior owners. Reached last week, the president of Centremark Properties declined comment on industry rumors claiming he will remain involved in well-located development. As The Real Reporter relayed earlier this month, Centremark also recently purchased nearby 406-412 Boylston St. for $5.4 million.

Another downtown group making waves in the late going of 2010 is the Mount Vernon Co. Led by Bruce A. Percelay and James T. Garnache, the company closed on three separate assets in the past two weeks. That trio of buys follows up on the firm’s December 15th acquisition of a 100-unit residential project in bustling Allston, paying $4.65 million for the rights to develop 9-23 Griggs St.

Calls to Garnache and Percelay were not returned by press deadline. According to registry of deeds records, affiliates of the Mount Vernon Co. last week paid $1.25 million for 229-235 Charles St. in Cambridge, a three-story multifamily building acquired from Antonio Daluz Correia and Maria C. Correia. The investor spent $4.0 million for a five-story office building at 569-573 Columbus Ave. and 426-440 Massachusetts Ave. in Boston, and a collective $4.8 million for 86 and 120 Charles St. in Boston. The former is a five-story multifamily asset, while the latter has 3,300-sf of mixed-use space in its four stories. Both were constructed in 1899 and were acquired from longtime owner Susan E. Fine.

Financing for the Mount Vernon Co. deals came from First Republic Bank, which provided $938,250 for the Cambridge asset. A $1.93 million loan was used to back the firm’s purchase of 86 and 120 Charles St., and First Republic delivered $3.0 million for the office building at Columbus and Massachusetts Avenues.

Also on Charles Street, Linear Retail scooped up the 7-Eleven store at 62-66 Charles St. from Southland Corp. Unlike others of its ilk, there are no garish signs adorning the Beacon Hill 7-Eleven, and the brick exterior fits in with others along the historic Beacon Hill thoroughfare. Linear, which now owns more than 50 so-called convenient-oriented retail properties in New England, last month paid $6.7 million for Chelmsford Plaza in Chelmsford, as previously relayed in The Real Reporter. Calls to principals of the Burlington-based firm to discuss the Boston deal were not returned.

Outside of the Hub, Farley White Interests nailed down 480 Pleasant St. and several other Watertown properties that encompassed 203,000 sf formerly serving as the home of Boston Scientific Corp. Principal John F. Power says his firm is “excited” about the latest acquisition to a portfolio now at 2.3 million sf in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

“We’re thrilled to be able to take on a terrific piece of real estate at a very good basis,” Power says in assessing the acquisition that came as part of an on-line auction process, with site assistance from broker Scott Jamieson of Jones Lang LaSalle. Having closed just before Christmas, Power says Farley White is still analyzing its options for reinvigorating the empty property, one which has such features as 40,000 sf of clean-room space and facilities that were maintained expertly by the former owners. “It’s in great shape,” Power says of 480 Pleasant St. Another bonus is parking for 800 vehicles, plus a six-acre parcel that could support some future development. What it might be is too early to determine, says Power, pledging the firm will work with Watertown officials and residents to gauge potential uses that might enhance an emerging section of Watertown that has seen substantial new construction of retail and residential properties in the past decade.

Farley White’s plan at this point is to offer up the existing space for tenants seeking rent relief from nearby Cambridge and downtown Boston, itself a quick ride down the Massachusetts Turnpike Extension from Newton Corner. Fueled by redevelopment of a former army arsenal, Watertown has become a viable option from Cambridge in the past decade, and Power predicts the Boston Scientific complex can feed off that expansion. Impressed by its work on brokering the Watertown property and by prior dealings with JLL, Farley White Interests has retained the Boston real estate services team to repopulate 480 Pleasant St., an assignment led by VP Daniel R. Kollar and also involving the JLL’s Life Sciences team.

Although the deal was originally announced months ago by The Real Reporter, purchase of the John Hancock Tower by Boston Properties garnered much of the investment sales attention this past week. Negotiated by Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Group, the sale of the iconic tower gives hometown giant Boston Properties another 1.7 million sf in the Back Bay district where the firm already owns the Prudential Center. The purchase from Normandy Real Estate Partners included $289.5 million in cash and assumption of $640.5 million in debt placed by erstwhile owner Broadway Real Estate Partners in Dec. 2006.

Among dozens of other property sales occurring to finish out 2010 was a $5.5 million deal for 30-38 Harvard Ave. in Brookline, a three-story multifamily building whose purchase by 30-38 Harvard Ave LLC was backed by a $5.5 million loan from Peoples Federal Savings Bank of Brighton. In Chelsea, Ann M. Busnach and Joseph J. Dovidio acquired a 24-unit apartment building at 43 Eleanor St. for $2.2 million, while Paul Derba purchased another multifamily building at 1748 Beacon St. in Brookline, a 110-year-old property sporting five residential units that traded for $2.12 million.

Industrial properties were also hot items in the waning days of 2010, including 50 Industrial Dr. in East Longmeadow, bought for $1.28 million by Shafii Real Estate LLC. That same price secured 1167 Main St. in Walpole for David John Realty LLC, an entity managed by John Orfanides that acquired the single-story, 39,000-sf building from Stergis Commercial Realty Trust. The deal was backed by $1.15 million in financing from RBS Citizens NA. Meanwhile, $1.0 million took 1551 Central St. in Stoughton, a 63,000-sf industrial property acquired from Q/C Stoughton Realty Trust by 1551 Central Street Realty LLC, managed by Matthew L. Fink.

Retail action included the $14.6 million sale of 50 Cambridge St. in Worcester from First Niagara Realty Inc. to PC Worcester LP. CVS Caremark paid $1.07 million for 92, 94 and 96 Tremont St. in Lawrence as part of a plan to develop a new pharmacy on that and several adjacent sites. On the Millbury/Worcester border, auto magnate Herb Chambers paid $2.66 million for a parcel at 2 Latti Farm Rd. as part of an expansion plan.