Milk Street Delivery Seen Topping $150M

BOSTON-Big money could again soon be flowing on Milk Street. Following the purchase of an older, smaller neighbor for nearly $500 per sf, 50 Milk St. is now being put on the market by its owners, a private trust that has only held the 275,000-sf office building since May 2005.

“It is out there,” one industry professional tells GlobeSt.com, with the source supporting other claims that Eastdil Secured has been hired to trade the 21-story property. Besides being in the heart of Boston’s Financial District, a long-term lease to Brown Brothers Harriman has observers anticipating a substantial price will be needed to nail down 50 Milk St., a figure that could exceed $150 million. The current ownership, a private trust from Hawaii, paid $123 million for the asset. Officials at Eastdil declined comment, while efforts to contact the owners by press deadline were unsuccessful. Nonetheless, sources insist 50 Milk St. is on the block.

The previous sale of the tower in 2005 created a financial buzz, with a foreign investment client of locally based Barrington Capital Partners reaping $447 per sf after another short-term hold. At the time, the $400-per-sf threshold was a lofty level locally for that type of asset, and well above the $109 million–$396 per sf–the Australian investor had paid for in 2002. If the $150-million mark is attained, the per sf price would be $545, and would approach three times the amount 50 Milk St. sold for in 1997 when it fetched $55.5 million.