"It's a really nice building," broker Thomas Brennan of C. Talanian Realty says of the five-story structure. The building was acquired by an Irish investment group, Newbury RB LLC, for $6.8 million. It is the last of five properties that members of the Hall family have sold on Newbury Street in the past year after ownership that dates to the 1930s. Brennan handled all of those transactions and sold 11 Newbury St. buildings last year overall for a value of nearly $65 million, his best season ever in nearly a quarter-century covering the market. "It's never been hotter," he says, having witnessed close to 30 assets on the street sell during the year, many to Irish capital being represented by Boston-based Taurus Investments. A Spanish group paid close to $50 million for a retail condominium at 360 Newbury St.

Similar to the foreign shoppers seeking bargains in the stores, commercial property sales on Newbury Street are being fueled partly by the weak dollar, says Brennan. "It's like getting a 30% discount," he says in citing that element as one reason for the increased activity among cross-border capital. The global cache of Newbury Street is also attractive, he says, and having the tightest retail vacancy rate in his tenure has further emboldened buyers to pay hefty figures to acquire a piece of the action. "There are bidding wars right now," Brennan says of the leasing environment, adding that 125 Summer St. has always leased well, with an efficient layout and its own elevator among the 6,500-sf building's attributes.

The principals of Newbury RB LLC are Richard and Gregory Byrne. Calls to a representative were not returned by press deadline, but Brennan says he believes 125 Newbury St. is their inaugural investment in Greater Boston. Besides 125 Newbury St., members of the Hall family also harvested 111-115 and 127-129 Newbury St. last year. Those buildings fetched a total of more than $25 million in two separate transactions to a pair of New York companies, with Kimco Realty Corp. the winning bidder for 127-129 Newbury St.