"It's a good, stable investment," Richards Barry Joyce & Partners EVP Richard Herlihy says in describing the 82,000-sf property that is expected to draw bids around $250 per sf, or in the mid-$20 million range. RBJ is anticipating a solid response for a number of reasons, says Herlihy, including Newton Corner's reputation as an established business address. Besides 313 Washington St., the exit features Two Newton Place, a three-story, 108,000-sf building known for years as the headquarters of Cahner's Publishing. Newton Corner is between Downtown Boston and the core Route 128 Central beltway, notes Herlihy, who is working with RBJ colleague Richard Bradbury on the sale. The business district also has a Sheraton Hotel and several prime restaurants.

Transwestern's Newton Corner asset has benefited from a substantial capital improvement program, Herlihy relays, an initiative that upgraded 313 Washington St.'s exterior and the parking garage. That has helped boost occupancy of the office space to 95% barely two years after Transwestern acquired 313 Washington St. from Paradigm Properties for $12.6 million, a deal also orchestrated by RBJ's investment sales team. The property was among several buildings Transwestern purchased locally in a spurt, first scooping up the nearby University Office Park in Waltham in 2004 followed by Brickstone Square in Andover and 40 Broad St. in Boston's Financial District. The firm has purchased more than $10 billion of industrial, multifamily, office and retail space since its launch in 1996.

In choosing to trade 313 Washington St., Transwestern joins a growing list of Massachusetts owners willing to test the investment sales waters despite the lingering market turmoil that swept over the industry last summer. "We're busy," reports Herlihy, with RBJ earlier this week bringing out a seven-building, 500,000-sf portfolio of suburban Boston flex and office space on behalf of KS Partners. That undertaking, which is projected to yield between $65 million and $70 million, was reported by GlobeSt.com in its February 5th edition.