SOMERVILLE, MA-Bernard Chiu says he is not looking to own all the commercial buildings in Greater Boston, just a few of the better ones–and in buying 212 Elm St. here, the founder of Upland Capital maintains he has furthered that aim. “It's a great piece of property and a great location,” Chiu tells GlobeSt.com in detailing reasons for paying $20 million to secure the four-story, 65,000-sf asset in Davis Square, the city's core business district.
Upland is buying 212 Elm St. from a tenant-in-common investment group organized by Paradigm Properties, a Boston-based firm that had owned the asset before the TIC took control two years ago. Paradigm held a minor interest in that entity as well, says company principal John Caldwell, and despite the total departure now, the firm remains enamored with 212 Elm St. “We love it,” Caldwell says, and having been retained by Upland as property managers, Paradigm will be able to keep a close association to the structure going forward. Chiu also announced that Meredith & Grew VP Theodore Lee has been retained as leasing agent.
A well-rounded businessman whose other ventures have included a consumer appliance company and a musical instrument business, Chiu has been purchasing commercial real estate in Massachusetts for nearly four years. In March, Upland acquired One Mifflin Place in abutting Cambridge for $9.2 million, and also has suburban properties in Milford and Framingham. Among the company's better known addresses is 745 Boylston St. in Boston's Back Bay, an eight-story, 109,000-sf building that serves as Upland Capital's headquarters.
Despite a steady increase in assets, Upland is in no rush to expand its portfolio, says Chiu, typically picking up a handful of buildings each year. “We are very careful,” he explains, usually eschewing riskier assets such as those in off locations or needing to be repositioned. Upland is wary of getting caught up in bidding wars, he adds, but when an opportunity is identified, the company competes, he stresses. “If I bid on something, I am very serious,” he says.
According to Caldwell, 212 Elm St. was shopped around quietly to a few choice prospects, several of whom did submit offers. Brokers handling the process were Lee and M&G SVP Leigh Freudenheim. In beating out the remaining suitors, Chiu says Upland felt 212 Elm St. had the qualities he is looking for, including a stable rent roll anchored by Arrowstreet, a nationally known architectural firm. Citizen's Bank is a tenant for the retail, while a film production company helps fill out the office portion. “I think it is the best commercial building in Somerville,” says Chiu, a dramatic viewpoint given the thickly settled community is rife with such product. Rent rollover is at a minimum over the near term, says Chiu, who is further mollified by the proximity to Cambridge and Downtown Boston, both a quick ride on the Red Line subway that courses under Davis Square.
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