The Davis Cos. is buying 1210-1230 Washington St., a three-building complex in Newton, from an affiliate of Philadelphia-based Berwind Property Group.
The pace of commercial real estate investment sales continues to remain brisk as the final month of 2005 approaches, with a mix of opportunities either working through the pipeline or just now entering the market.
In the latest go-round, the Davis Cos. has agreed to buy 1210-1230 Washington St. in Newton, as well as an office building in Connecticut, while Trammell Crow Co. is marketing two properties in the western suburban submarket.
Boston developer Jonathan Davis acknowledged last week that his firm is buying the Newton development on Washington Street from an affiliate of Philadelphia-based Berwind Property Group. While Davis would not discuss details of the sale, one source pegged the price at just under $16 million million, or about $175 per square foot.
“Berwind is a very good operator, and we’re really pleased with what they’ve done with the property,” Davis said of 1210-1230 Washington St., a three-building complex totaling just under 90,000 square feet. Davis said he had previously looked at the asset when it was for sale prior to Berwind’s purchase, and was always interested in the complex. Besides visibility along the Massachusetts Turnpike Extension and a location close to Newton Corner, 1210-1230 Washington St. features a solid rent roster and structured parking, said Davis, attributes which promise a stable asset for his company during the foreseeable future.
“We’re delighted we were able to purchase it,” said Davis, who has an even closer relationship with Berwind in the Connecticut property. The Davis Cos. actually owned that 130,000-square-foot building at 187 Danbury Road prior to selling it to Berwind a few years ago, and now the firm is headed for a second ownership stint. Even though both sales are under way at the same time, and involve the same buyer and seller, Davis said the Newton and Connecticut properties are being traded separately. Efforts to contact Berwind officials by press deadline to discuss their activities were unsuccessful.
Popular Product
Suburban office buildings have been among the most popular product types thus far in 2005, ending a 24-month period in which the difficult office market had many investors shying away from all but the most secure of opportunities. Several trophy buildings have already changed hands in 2005, including the Bay Colony Corporate Center in Waltham for $272 million and 25 Mall Road in Burlington, which fetched $55 million this summer. An improving office market has been a major factor in helping to turn investor attitude around towards such buildings, according to observers, with the suburban office market headed for another year of positive absorption and declining vacancies.
The Davis Cos. is always pursuing opportunities to enhance its real estate portfolio, said Davis, whose firm owns several properties in the Greater Boston area (see related story on Page 2). As for 1210-1230 Washington St., Davis praised Berwind for having brought the complex up to nearly full occupancy over such a short period, with the firm employing McFarland & Finch of Boston as its leasing agent to accomplish that feat.
Berwind is probably best known locally in real estate circles for its successful repositioning of the 3Com corporate campus in Marlborough into a multi-tenanted office complex, but the firm has holdings throughout Greater Boston. Just this summer, Berwind purchased the Highwood Office Park in Tewksbury for $24 million, and also has been active owning commercial space in such communities as Middleton and Wilmington. Davis said he expects to have the Newton and Connecticut deals closed by year’s end.
As for other properties in play, Trammell Crow Co. is about to accept final bids for 400 Fifth Ave. in Waltham, company principal Peter Joseph said last week. Encouraged partly by the improved market, several investors are pursuing the 115,000-square-foot office building, one which overlooks Route 128 and is adjacent to several prime office assets, including Prospect Place. “It has been well received,” Joseph said of the building, which is owned by the Value Enhancement Fund.
Also in suburban Boston, Trammell Crow Co. is marketing One Technology Drive in Westborough on behalf of the RREEF Funds. Investors focused on core real estate may be lured to that 58,000-square-foot building, which Joseph noted has such prime tenants as Arbella Insurance, John Hancock Financial Services and Morgan Stanley. Trammell Crow has been among the more active firms this year in trading suburban buildings, having also sold Two Technology Drive in the same Westborough office park earlier this year, a building purchased by the New Boston Fund. The team of Joseph, James McCaffrey and Chris Phaneuf also sold the Highwood property to Berwind.
