27-29 Isabella St. in Bay Village
Longtime fixtures in Beacon Hill and Bay Village are selling their real estate to take advantage of Boston’s hot investment climate for multifamily properties.
The Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) sold its 22,000-square-foot headquarters at 3-5 Joy St. in Beacon Hill on Friday for $15 million. The new owners are a joint venture of Insight Partners and LandWorks with capital partner Eastern Real Estate of Woburn.
And the Marist Fathers of Boston have placed their priest housing at 27-29 Isabella St. in Bay Village on the market. The property has already attracted interest from more than 70 potential buyers, most of them condominium or apartment developers, said Chris Sower, senior vice president at Colliers International in Boston.
“The market is being driven by a lot of these nonprofit and religious groups trying to improve their prospects through real estate,” Sower said.
The freestanding 5-story brownstone on Isabella Street contains 23,136 square feet of existing residential space and eight parking spaces.
Appalachian Mountain Club decided to sell its Beacon Hill headquarters after a multi-year study of its space needs, CEO John Judge said. AMC acquired 5 Joy St. in 1923 and added 3-4 Joy St. in 1975 in a $120,000 fire sale transaction. The buildings include office space for 70 staff and basement storage space for equipment that it lends to youth and community groups.
AMC has hired Boston-based McCall & Almy to assist in the search for a new headquarters. The club will remain in the Beacon Hill location for up to a year under the new ownership.
Judge said the outdoors advocacy group is looking for office space on the outskirts of the city of Boston, with a preference for buying a property and potentially leasing additional space to similar groups.
“We’re thinking about creating a new world-class hub here, and the aspiration is to think about the building in that regard,” he said. “It could be a facility where we join with other outdoors organizations.”
The group has 92,000 paid members and is expanding outreach such as its Youth Opportunities Program that provides wilderness experiences for urban and lower-income communities.
“Hopefully by virtue of getting this announcement out, there may be somebody thinking about selling or interested in helping AMC,” Judge said.
