Irish Investors Pay Nearly $5M for Retail Asset

BOSTON-A small but well-located retail building has been scooped up by an Irish real estate investment firm, as Clarendon Group USA pays $4.5 million for 330-332 Washington St. in Boston’s Downtown Crossing shopping district. The multi-level building contains just over 7,000 sf and was 100% occupied at the time of its sale.

“The location is great,” broker Joseph Levanto tells GlobeSt.com in describing the allure that led Clarendon Group to pay an impressive $628 per sf to gain control of the building. A principal at Schaeffer & Associates and veteran retail broker in the Downtown Crossing market, Levanto is especially familiar with 330-332 Washington St., having negotiated two previous sales. The seller in the latest agreement, Staffordshire Associates, had acquired the property in 2004.

While declining to discuss specifics of the building’s financial performance, Levanto says rental rates in the immediate area can fetch from $120 to $150 per sf. Besides a salon on the upper levels, 330-332 Washington St. features a Kid’s Footlocker on the ground floor, whose tenancy provides a slight connection to Clarendon Group principal Patrick McKillen. The prolific Irish developer is a past shareholder of a UK sportswear chain that ultimately sold to USA-based Footlocker.