Hilco Real Estate Acquires CenterPoint Office Complex for $86M
The property formerly served as an R&D and manufacturing hub for Raytheon, but has been transformed into a modern multi-tenant campus via substantial capital investment throughout the past 10 years.
WALTHAM, MA—Philadelphia-based Rubenstein Partners has sold the 440,000-square-foot CenterPoint office complex in this Boston suburb for $86 million to Hilco Real Estate of Northbrook, IL.
The sale transaction was reported by NKF Capital Markets, which represented Rubenstein in the transaction.
Totaling more than 440,000 square feet, CenterPoint comprises two buildings – 41 Seyon St. and 43 Foundry Ave. The property formerly served as an R&D and manufacturing hub for Raytheon, but has been transformed into a modern multi-tenant campus via substantial capital investment throughout the past 10 years. The property is presently anchored by Repligen, EDC (Education Development Center) and Simpson Gumpertz & Heger.
After acquiring the complex in 2013 as a “uniquely positioned creative class office asset in an emerging urban infill mixed-use neighborhood,” Deke Schultze, principal and regional director of New England at Rubenstein Partners, notes that the firm’s initial investment strategy was to add value via property renovations in the hopes of sparking future office demand.
“That is exactly what has happened at CenterPoint during our ownership and we believe this successful exit supports our initial investment thesis,” he says. “We are also pleased that our valued joint venture partner, Saracen Properties, will be able to continue to be a part of the new ownership group and the asset’s success in the future.”
NKF Capital Markets vice chairman Edward Maher and executive managing director Matthew Pullen of the firm’s Boston office, which is led by co-head of U.S. Capital Markets Robert Griffin, oversaw the transaction on behalf of Rubenstein in conjunction with Newmark Knight Frank executive managing director Mark Roth.
CenterPoint is situated within the Charles River Mill District, which comprises 2.6 million square feet of synergistic office, technology, manufacturing and industrial space in addition to a wealth of amenities and approximately 1,000 newly-constructed residential units at the convergence of Newton, Watertown and Waltham. The property also benefits from swift connections to Interstates 95 (Route 128) and 90 (Massachusetts Turnpike).
“CenterPoint represents an exceptional creative office retrofit with first-class tenant buildouts, state-of-the-art building systems, high ceilings and efficient floor plates,” said NKF’s Pullen. “The complex also boasts an attractive infill location within a thriving suburban Boston innovation cluster.”
In other sale/disposition activity, Rubenstein Partners reports it has acquired the 227,000-square-foot Research Plaza office complex here for $38 million, increasing its office portfolio in the Washington, DC market.