BOSTON—Columbia Property Trust, Inc. has closed on the $152-million purchase of 116 Huntington Ave., a 274,218-square-foot office building located in Boston's Back Bay submarket here.
The Atlanta-based company announced it was buying the office building from Broadway Partners earlier this month. In a separate transaction, Columbia also acquired a two-property portfolio from Spear Street Capital in an off-market transaction for a total purchase price of approximately $436 million. That deal included 315 Park Ave. South, a newly-renovated, 341,330-square-foot, historic Class-A office building in New York City's Gramercy Park neighborhood and 1881 Campus Commons Drive, a 244,565-square-foot, Class-A office building in Reston, VA.
HFF, which marketed the Boston property, announced the closing of the 116 Huntington building. Soundport Capital LLC acted as an advisor to the seller. The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by senior managing director Coleman Benedict, director Ben Sayles and real estate analyst Patrick McAneny.
Originally constructed in 1991 and continually renovated and upgraded since then, 116 Huntington is a 15-story boutique office building within walking distance to the Shops at the Prudential, Copley Place and the MBTA's Back Bay Station, which provides access to subway, bus, commuter rail and Amtrak services.
“Back Bay is one of the tightest markets in the country,” HFF's Benedict says. “Given the concentrated, institutional ownership in the area, the opportunity to acquire such a trophy rarely comes along. Columbia is going to do very well with this asset.”
The Boston, New York City and Reston office building acquisitions were funded with a $300-million bridge loan, a $140-million draw under Columbia's unsecured credit facility, and $148 million of cash on hand, primarily generated by 2014 disposition activity, Columbia reports. The borrowings are expected to increase the company's leverage to approximately 37% of gross real estate assets. Columbia expects to repay the borrowings with future disposition proceeds and other financings.
First-year projected net operating income is expected to be a combined $17 million for 315 Park Ave. South and 1881 Campus Commons Drive and approximately $5.5 million for 116 Huntington Ave. Current occupancy at 315 Park Avenue South is 95%, at 116 Huntington Avenue is 78%, and at 1881 Campus Commons Drive is 78%.
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John Jordan
John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.
