CIM Looks To Sell Mostly Vacant Boston Office Building After Proposing Conversion
One of the largest buildings proposed for an office-to-residential conversion under a new Boston program has now been put up for sale.
Los Angeles-based CIM Group has listed the 93K SF 95 Berkeley St. for sale with CBRE marketing the property, Banker & Tradesman first reported. The office building is 12% leased.
The building's owner submitted plans in April for a conversion as part of the city's payment in lieu of taxes program. The developer filed plans to convert the six-story, 107K SF office building into 91 housing units in the Back Bay neighborhood.
CIM acquired the property in 2016 for $43M from the Community Builders.
The firm said it would need an additional 20K SF of new development for the conversion, and the project was estimated to cost $75M. The proposal was planned to be financed through debt, equity, public grants and subsidies.
A new owner might still pursue the conversion, but the CBRE listing markets it as either an office building that can be leased up or an opportunity to redevelop into residential.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Gov. Maura Healey launched the conversion program in October and extended it in June while adding $15M in state funding. The June announcement took place at 95 Berkeley St., and a CIM executive spoke about the building's potential for housing, but its application hasn't yet been approved, the Boston Business Journal reported Thursday.
Overall, the city has received more than 11 conversion applications totaling more than 500 housing units across the city. The city extended the program until the end of 2025.
