Photo courtesy of btcRE

What: 50 Hunt St.
Where: Watertown
Owner: btcRE
Built: 1890 

Renovation and repositioning of 50 Hunt St. in Watertown has transformed the property into 25,000 square feet of creative office space and attracted a crop of new tenants ranging from a nonprofit to digital marketing firm. 

btcRE acquired the property in 2018 for $3.85 million, when it was 70 percent occupied, and upgraded the property with a new elevator, lobby, showers and bicycle storage and build-to-suit tenant fitouts. 

Occupancy remained over 60 percent during the renovations. New tenants recently leasing space in the building include nonprofit Families First Parenting, Crytur USA, Mindmarker, InvivoEx and WDB Agency. 

Middlesex Savings Bank financed the acquisition, base building and tenant improvements and Pidgeon & Co. was the design-build contractor. The leasing agent is 128 CRE. 

They Said It: 

“Our comprehensive renovation program completely turned around market perceptions of the building, allowing us to significantly increase occupancy, rents and NOI. And we would not have been able to complete such extensive renovations in a partially occupied building without our hands-on, local ownership approach and collaborative tenant relationships. As long-term investors, we are excited about being part of the dynamic Watertown/Waltham/Newton ecosystem for years to come.” 

— Brian Iammartino, co-founder and managing partner, btcRE LLC