David Ross, a senior director with the Boston office of Tremont Realty Capital, arranged the loan for the historic property with a Wall Street conduit lender. Tremont says that due to its volume with the lender, it was able to structure the loan to accommodate some "unique issues" relating to the long-term ground lease as well as the present softness in the Cambridge office market.

The five-year loan closed with a 5.68% fixed interest rate. According to Ross, "The attractiveness of the property and its proximity to the directly adjacent Cambridge Courthouse and Cambridge Registry of Deeds has contributed to the property's historically high occupancy rates, even during economic downturns and periods of weakness for other Cambridge office properties."

According to Grubb & Ellis's fourth quarter 2003 market statistics, Cambridge's vacancy rate is at 24% and asking lease rates increased slightly to $31 per sf.