This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
Another Boston office building has traded hands at a considerable discount.
Florida-based Kayne Anderson acquired 147 Milk St. in the financial district for $36M from German investor KanAm Grund, the Banker & Tradesman reported. The seller bought the 52K SF building in 2021 for $48M.
The building is anchored by medical company Atrius Health and has other tenants including Beneski Chiropractic Health & Wellness Center and a midwife practitioner.
Boston's office sector continues to face pain as more properties are selling well below prior sales prices.
In the last year, several Class-B office buildings have traded hands at steep discounts, like Kendall Capital's acquisition of 33-41 West St. in October for $4.1M, a 74% discount from what Bay Management paid in 2016.
In January, Rhino Capital Advisors acquired a 56K SF office building on Canal Street for $14.6M, down from the $24M Alcion Ventures and Quaker Lane Capital purchased it for in 2021.
LEASES
Breakthrough Properties secured three biotech leases at its One Canal by Breakthrough development in East Cambridge. The three leases from Larkspur, Incendia and Deep Genomics combined take up 35K SF at the 112K SF lab development, the Boston Business Journal reported. Breakthrough acquired the properties in 2021 from Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. for $131M.
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Stapleton Floral Associates, Inc. signed a 12K SF lease at Combined Properties' 172-176 Williams St. industrial property in Chelsea. The 253K SF industrial complex is located near the Tobin Bridge and is close to Logan International Airport, Cambridge and Boston.
FINANCING
MassDevelopment issued a $12M tax-exempt bond on behalf of Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción. The bond will be used to build a 26K SF Latinx arts center at 85 West Newton St. in Boston. The company has already broken ground on the $33M community center, which will include galleries and spaces for arts education, performance and community gatherings.
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MassDevelopment issued a $22M tax-exempt bond on behalf of an affiliate of B’nai B’rith Housing of New England. The firm will use the proceeds to build a 63-unit affordable housing development in Hyde Park for Boston senior citizens. The building will replace an underutilized commercial building at 1201 River St.
The building amenities will include a community room, fitness center, library and courtyard. The units will all be one-bedroom units for households earning up to 20%, 50% and 60% of the area median income. Eastern Bank purchased the bond.
PERSONNEL
Former City Councilor Matt O’Malley was sworn in as a member of the Boston Planning & Development Agency Board of Directors on Thursday. O'Malley served six terms with the Boston City Council until he vacated the position in 2022. His most recent role has been as chief sustainability officer for Vicinity Energy. O'Malley's first board meeting will be on June 13.
CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Trinity Financial submitted its plans for the Austin Street parking lot site in Charlestown, which received designation to build from the BPDA in November. The firm plans to develop four buildings consisting of 900K SF and over 700 apartments, the Banker & Tradesman reported.
The company also plans to set aside 407 of the units as income-restricted for households earning between 30 to 80% area median income. Trinity estimated that the project would cost $495M to build. The project would also include a 45K SF gymnasium, 14K SF of commercial space, a 10K SF courtyard and a 2K SF art gallery.
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King Street Properties opened its new amenity center at its 700K SF Pathway Devens campus. The space dubbed the Canteen includes a Sterling Street Brewery taproom, a cafe and gathering space. The 7K SF also includes conference rooms, a gaming room and a wellness room for employees. The space adds to the area that already sees 10,000 employees daily.
