Photo by Steve Adams |Banker & Tradesman Staff
The owner of property highlighted by Gov. Maura Healey as model for office-to-residential conversions in Boston has placed the South End property on the market.
CIM Group is seeking a buyer for 95 Berkeley St., a 92,708-square-foot office building that is 12 percent leased.
In April, the Los Angeles developer submitted an application through Boston’s downtown conversion tax abatement program for a $75 million conversion and expansion project to create 91 apartments. CIM Group said it would require public subsidies to complete its financing, because traditional financing sources would be too costly.
A CIM Group spokesperson declined to comment. A CBRE listing states the property “offers multiple paths to value creation through the lease up of vacancy and/or the repositioning of the asset.”
In June, Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu toured the building just south of the Massachusetts Turnpike to highlight Healey’s allocation of $15 million for Boston office-to-residential conversions.
The state program gives developers $215,000 for each income-restricted housing unit created through an office conversion, up to a maximum of $4 million per project.
A separate program established in 2023 by the city of Boston offers 29-year, 75 percent property tax reductions and fast-track permitting review for office-to-residential conversions in the downtown area, South End and Fort Point. In June, the deadline to apply to participate was extended through the end of 2025.
The city has received applications for 15 building conversions totaling more than 507 housing units, mainly in the Downtown Crossing and Financial District neighborhoods. Participation in the program has been constrained by high construction costs and new sustainable building regulations, according to real estate industry sources.
CIM acquired the South End property, originally a warehouse converted into office space, in 2016 for $43 million. CIM is offering the property for sale clear of debt, according to a CBRE flier.
