Members of CBRE/New England’s investment sales team will be marketing a number of properties south of Boston this summer, including 690 Canton St. in Westwood.
It appears CBRE/New England investment sales team members will be spending plenty of time on the South Shore this summer.
Besides marketing other properties throughout Greater Boston in what may be the most charged investment climate ever seen in Massachusetts, the firm has picked up a block of properties to peddle in the southern tier, including 100 Hancock St. in Quincy and 690 Canton St. in Westwood. CBRE/New England also has begun marketing a portfolio of three office buildings in North Dartmouth.
Currently occupied by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, 100 Hancock St. will be empty in 18 months when the health care insurer departs for another facility on the South Shore as part of a consolidation program. While a bit long in the tooth, having opened in 1983, the 10-story, 205,000-square-foot structure “is in great shape,” said CBRE/New England principal Gary J. Lemire, who is handling the sales effort along with CBRE/New England principals Philip Giunta and Andrew Majewski.
Also known as Harboursouth, 100 Hancock St. should attract significant attention from investors, said Lemire, both due to the hyperactive sales environment and various attributes of the asset. “It has a great presence,” said Lemire, with 100 Hancock’s owner, Allston-based Hamilton Co., having invested a substantial sum into capital improvements such as new elevators, state-of-the-art internal systems and a new roof. In addition, “the views of the Boston skyline and the harbor are spectacular,” Lemire said, also pointing out that the property is accessible to downtown Boston via a short trip on the Red Line subway.
The pending departure of BCBS could actually prove a positive for a buyer, said Lemire, noting that the office market already has begun to see rental appreciation that many industry observers maintain will be even more pronounced in the coming months. “It would be an ideal building for a corporate headquarters,” said Lemire, adding that there is no asking price being placed on the property.
The owners of 690 Canton St. also will let the market establish pricing levels, said Lemire, who said he anticipates competition will be robust for that 3-story, 165,000-square-foot office building, as well. Lemire, Giunta and Majewski will oversee that assignment for owner BPG Ltd., and not Trammell Crow Co., as was incorrectly reported in last week’s Banker & Tradesman.
‘Quite Attractive’
BPG “did a terrific job repositioning the building,” said Lemire, both on the capital end and in repopulating the property with what BPG Ltd. principal Al Corr terms “a who’s who of credit tenants.” Besides such companies as Merck Pharmaceuticals, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. and McDonald’s Corp., BPG last year brought in New York Life Insurance, which occupies half of the space on a long-term lease.
“If you were in that building, you’d think you were downtown,” Corr told Banker & Tradesman last week. “It’s really quite attractive.” Not only was there a $60-per-square-foot allowance to build out the New York Life space, BPG redid 690 Canton St.’s lobby area and provided extensive landscaping to further enhance the building’s image. Purchased three years ago for $18.5 million, 690 Canton St. was a typical BPG Ltd. value-added play, similar to efforts already taken or under way at other Massachusetts buildings owned by the Pennsylvania-based real estate investment company, assets such as the Ferncroft Corporate Center in Danvers and Highwood Office Park in Tewksbury.
Perhaps one of BPG’s greatest accomplishments locally has been the repositioning of the former 3Com corporate campus in Marlborough into a multi-tenanted office park. Purchased in 2002 for $57.5 million, the 530,000-square-foot property is now fully occupied by 3Com and such tenants as Cytyc Corp. and Exact Science Corp. According to Corr, however, recently published reports that the company is trying to sell that asset are inaccurate in that BPG is actually trying to bring in an equity partner rather than divesting the 126-acre property, which can support another 650,000 square feet of new commercial space.
“We still want to own and control it,” said Corr, whose firm has retained Cushman & Wakefield of Massachusetts to help recapitalize the park, now known as the Campus at Marlborough. While the Interstate 495 office market has lagged behind the recovery of communities closer in to Boston, the region is on the mend, insisted Corr, and BPG is seeking office requirements that could help launch construction of the expansion space. “If people are getting forced out of Route 128, the next logical [destination] is the MetroWest,” he said, where the Campus at Marlborough is situated.
As for CBRE/New England, the trio of Lemire, Giunta and Majewski also is beginning the marketing of the three North Dartmouth buildings, which total 75,000 square feet. Lemire said he believes the quality of those properties also will attract investor attention, especially given the strong leasing performance stemming from the focus on medical office users. “They are [supported] by a lot of long-term leases,” said Lemire of the properties, anticipating that investors seeking stability in their assets will be especially drawn to the offering.
