Related Buys 111K SF Charlestown Portfolio For $74.5M
The Related Cos. is expanding its Boston-area holdings into Charlestown, acquiring a three-building commercial portfolio with redevelopment opportunities spanning 111K SF for $74.5M.
Related purchased the portfolio from New York-based Center Court Partners, according to CBRE, which brokered the deal, and Suffolk County land records filed last week.
The buildings Related acquired include 6 Bunker Hill, an industrial property occupied by The Broad Institute, an MIT- and Harvard-affiliated genomic research organization; 420 Rutherford Ave., a self-storage facility run by CubeSmart; and 440 Rutherford Ave., a research and development facility whose tenants were undisclosed, according to CBRE.
“We are excited with all the possibilities available to the new ownership of this excellent portfolio of buildings consisting of industrial, flex and R&D space,” CBRE Executive Vice President of Capital Markets Scott Dragos said in a statement.
The purchase is the latest eight-figure investment in Boston’s commercial real estate market, which has been the most liquid CRE market in the nation for two consecutive quarters, surpassing Manhattan, according to a Real Capital Analytics analysis.
Center Court purchased 6 Bunker Hill in 2019 from a private seller for $7.2M, and the 22K SF building has since housed a research center for The Broad Institute, according to CBRE. The brokerage touted the building’s 28-foot clear ceiling heights suitable for an industrial tenant.
Related paid $25.9M for 440 Rutherford Ave. after Center Court paid $14.7M for the building in 2015. The CubeSmart self-storage facility, which has 617 interior storage units and 28 exterior storage containers, traded for $36M.
The Rutherford buildings sit on a 3.84-acre parcel and offer an urban infill location for future redevelopment, Dragos said in a statement. The site is just over 2 miles away from Cambridge’s Kendall Square life sciences cluster and is a few minutes’ drive from Interstate 93, I-90 and Route 1.
Related’s biggest project in Boston sits across town in Fenway, where it is building a 326K SF mixed-used development in Kenmore Square. The project, which will sit under the iconic Citgo sign, will include a 198K SF lab and research facility and recently secured a 121K SF full-building lease from wearable technology maker Whoop.
