12 Farnsworth St., Boston. Photo courtesy of Google Maps
A pair of Fort Point office buildings have been moved into Boston’s life science pipeline after one was sold and conversion plans for another were filed with city officials.
San Diego-based Phase 3 Real Estate Partners paid New York City-based investment manager BentallGreenOak $49.61 million for a 6-story boutique office building at 12 Farnsworth St. and an adjoining 0.2-acre parking lot, according to public records. The 59,146-square-foot office building was built in 1917 and renovated in 2016 and hosts a Flour Baker & Cafe location in its ground-floor retail space.
CBRE”s Scott Dragos, Chris Skeffington, Doug Jacoby, Anthony Hayes, Tim Mulhall, Roy Sandeman and Dan Hines marketed the property for BGO and arranged the sale, while the real estate brokerage’s Heather Brown and Rob Borden secured financing for the deal. Phase 3 plans to convert the property into life sciences space and has engaged CBRE’s Kevin Kennedy and Jonathan Freni to lease the property.
The deal was announced as a San Francisco real estate investment firm proposed to turn a nearby former warehouse into yet more lab space.
GI Partners wants to convert the 110,000-square-foot 51-61 Melcher St. from offices into life science space according to a letter of intent filed with Boston Planning & Development Agency officials last week.
An affiliate of the company bought the property on Aug. 31 for $74.6 million, public records show. The 1913 building has 13.5-foot clear heights.
The conversion would not change the building’s exterior envelope, the letter states, and would involve around 97,000 square feet of the property.
If approved, the conversion would join several other life science projects underway or seeking approvals in the area, including Nan Fung Life Sciences’ 51 Sleeper St. project and the former GE headquarters building at 15 Necco St.
