Oasis Opting to Sell 100 Franklin St.

BOSTON-A prime Financial District office building is among the first Downtown assets hitting the sales block this year, the owners of 100 Franklin St. have confirmed. Oasis Development Enterprises acquired the nine-story, 117,000-sf building for $19.5 million in August 2004.

“We are excited about the possibilities,” Oasis managing director Ivan Chow tells GlobeSt.com in acknowledging the firm has retained Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Group to package 100 Franklin St. Observers say the robust office market could lead to a substantial gain for Oasis, with Boston enjoying single digit vacancies and a run-up in rents to near-record levels. Chow declined to discuss pricing targets, but one industry professional claims 100 Franklin St. could fetch upwards of $300 per sf, or around $35 million.

Chow notes that the uncertain capital climate has led to “a fairly unpredictable market” as 2008 commences, making prognostications of how buyers will respond difficult to gauge. At the same time, he concurs that 100 Franklin St is in a stronger position than when SSR Realty Advisors was forced to sell the building to Oasis at a deep discount during the regional recession that hit barely two years after acquiring it for $27.5 million. Not only was the Boston Stock Exchange recently bought by Nasdaq, occupancy has risen from 61% to nearly 90% during Oasis’ tenure of the 100-year-old structure. “The building has done extremely well,” says Chow, adding he believes the offering could serve as a “litmus test” for investor appetite of other Boston product.