Brickman Pays $37M for 12-Story Office

BOSTON-Providing a substantial return for its seven-year hold, the Carlyle Group is trading 40 Court St. to a New York real estate investor. Located in the heart of the city’s Financial District, the 110,000-sf building will fetch more than $37 million, sources have told GlobeSt.com, adding they believe Brickman Associates out-maneuvered a planned marketing initiative to grab control of the asset.

CBRE/New England principal Gary Lemire referred questions regarding the pricing and process to Brickman, but did acknowledge that his firm has been peddling 40 Court St. on behalf of Carlye, a private opportunity firm based in Washington, DC Carlyle has been active in Massachusetts for nearly 10 years, previously owning such well-known buildings as 99 Summer St. in Boston and 955 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge. The firm paid $21 million in September 2000 to buy 40 Court St. from Citizen’s Bank along with erstwhile partner Paradigm Properties. That deal amounted to about $187 per sf.

If the $37-million figure is accurate for the Brickman deal, that would equate to a per-sf price of around $335, nearly double the rate paid by Carlyle. One source claims Carlyle was “dazzled” sufficiently by Brickman’s proposal to forego a broader marketing program that CBRE/New England had been hired to conduct. Lemire deflected inquiries on how Brickman was identified, but says he was joined in representing Carlyle by CBRE/New England investment sales specialists William Moylan and Chris Angelone, as well as Timothy Lyne and William Crean, leasing brokers who represent 40 Court St. on those matters.