Lennar Partners, which is selling the North Andover Mills campus, has hired CBRE/New England to handle that assignment.
As with many real estate investors involved in Greater Boston, Everest Partners cannot seem to sit still these days.
Fresh off its acquisition of four more properties, including 225 Friend St. in Boston’s North Station district, the New York-based company is putting a pair of office buildings in North Andover up for sale, confirmed Scott J. Jamieson of Spaulding & Slye, whose investment sales team has been retained to peddle the Jefferson Office Park on Route 114. Everest has owned the assets since 2000, paying $8.8 million for 790 and 800 Turnpike St. and two smaller buildings that were subsequently sold to users.
Encompassing 94,000 square feet, the offering is the second significant commercial complex in North Andover being put up for sale as the second half of 2006 kicks into gear, with Lennar Partners also opting to trade the North Andover Mills campus, hiring CBRE/New England to handle that assignment. Officials at Miami-based Lennar did not respond to inquiries by Banker & Tradesman’s press deadline, but CBRE/New England principal Gary J. Lemire confirmed the decision by his client to divest the property. The campus-like setting, mill motif and location near Interstate 495 are among the park’s attributes, he explained.
“It’s a beautiful site,” said Lemire. “People like the big windows, the natural light and the brick-and-beam [architecture] Â… We think there’s going to be a lot of interest.”
The North Andover Mills does have just a 30 percent occupancy for its 235,000 square feet, but Lemire noted that the improving office market is increasingly leading real estate buyers to covet properties sporting a measure of vacancy, space that can be made available to take advantage of rising rental rates. An asking price has not been established for the park, but one observer familiar with the asset predicted it will trade in the $10 million range.
Everest also will let the competition determine the pricing for the Jefferson Office Park, said Jamieson, although sources maintained the relative stability of that park will likely lure interest even greater than that anticipated for North Andover Mills, or at least higher pricing, perhaps running closer to the $15 million range. While Jamieson declined comment on such speculation, he predicted the solid long-term performance of the park and a series of upgrades made by Everest will bring investors to the table.
“It has a strong local presence with firms that tend to stay for a long time,” said Jamieson, evidenced by several tenants who were at the park prior to Everest’s acquisition. “The properties are in very good condition,” Jamieson said, adding that the proximity to Merrimack College is another bonus.
Jamieson will oversee the marketing campaign along with Spaulding & Slye colleagues Cappy F. Daume, Michael G. Smith and Gail McDonough. Along with financial analyst Sean Keaney, the team also brokered the sale of 225 Friend St. to Everest from Essex River Ventures and the Praedium Group, having represented the sellers and secured the buyer. That $12.3 million agreement was previously reported by Banker & Tradesman, citing industry sources, but confidentiality mandates heretofore have kept the parties directly involved from acknowledging the transaction.
Efforts to contact the sellers were unsuccessful, but Jamieson described the outcome as a “win-win” for both sides. “I think it was a great deal for everyone,” he said. “Essex River and Praedium were able to harvest some gains more quickly than they [originally] thought they would, and [Everest] has an opportunity to take it to the next level Â… I think they will do very well with it.” Essex River and Praedium acquired 225 Friend St. in June 2004 for $8.6 million. The partnership simultaneously purchased 186 Lincoln St. across town near South Station, and is now under way with a campaign to sell that property as well. CBRE/New England is broker for that sale.
A Second Helping
Sporting 60,000 square feet in the heart of the emerging North Station market, 225 Friend St. is the second Boston office building purchased by Everest, with the firm last year acquiring 31 Milk St. in the Financial District. Calls to company officials to discuss the latest purchase were not returned by press deadline, but the firm did issue a press release to Banker & Tradesman acknowledging the collective acquisitions of 225 Friend St. and a portfolio of suburban office/flex properties secured in another deal.
Also previously reported by Banker & Tradesman without a response, Everest officials confirmed in the release the company’s acquisition of 3 Riverside Drive in Andover, 115/117 Flanders Road in Westborough and 1881 Worcester Road in Framingham. That portfolio, acquired from Berkeley Investments of Boston, totals 270,000 square feet.
Commenting in the release, Everest Partners Regional Manager Steve McDonnell praised the Berkeley properties for being “premier destinations, with easy access to major highways,” while Robert Macnamara, director of asset management, described the package and 225 Friend St. as being “entirely complementary with the existing 50 buildings in the Everest portfolio.”
“It will bring economies to the urban operations and leasing efforts, as well as enhance our ability in the suburban markets to meet the current and future needs of our tenants,” Macnamara continued. The Berkeley deal was priced at $25.5 million.
The Berkeley transaction was brokered by Trammell Crow Co. and its investment sales team of James F. McCaffrey, Peter Joseph and Christopher Phaneuf. As with the prospects for North Andover Mills, Joseph said he believes the Berkeley portfolio gives the new ownership an opportunity to take advantage of the regional recovery. “From Everest’s perspective, I think they feel this is a very good value-added opportunity,” he said. “The MetroWest is doing much better now, and there has been some good leasing activity in Andover that they should be able to take advantage of.”
