Boston-based Winthrop Realty Trust has agreed to sell the 92-unit Highgrove luxury apartment tower in Stamford for $90 million as it winds down operations.
Shareholders in August 2014 approved the plan to liquidate the publicly-traded REIT’s assets. Winthrop Realty said its liquidation plan will pay investors approximately $15.23 per common share, after paying a $1.25 per share liquidating distribution on June 16.
“Every day, you’re either a buyer or seller of your assets,” CEO Michael Ashner commented during a conference call Thursday. “In this market, we have still decided to be a seller.”
The company’s trustees recommended liquidation in 2014. Shifting from value to a spread investing strategy was too risky given current asset prices, executives said, and no merger or acquisition options were considered attractive.
Winthrop owns an 83.7 percent share of the 18-story Highgrove complex, which is located at 70 Forest St. The transaction is expected to close by Sept. 30. The company also has entered a contract to sell an office building in Cerritos, Calif. for $30.5 million and a 588,000-square-foot warehouse in Jacksonville, Fla. leased to Fanatics Inc. That purchase price was not disclosed.
During the second quarter, Winthrop Realty sold its 44 Monroe apartment complex in Phoenix for $49.1 million, a $20.2-million interest in the MSREF luxury hotel venture’s assets and an $82.5 million interest in Vintage Housing Holdings.
Winthrop owned or had a joint venture interest in various offices, retail buildings, apartments and warehouses across the U.S. totaling approximately $600 million at the end of the second quarter. The Stamford apartment complex was its only New England property.