Skanska Sells 121 Seaport Office Tower for $455M to American Realty/Norges JV

BOSTON—Skanska has sold the newly built 121 Seaport office tower here to a joint venture of American Realty Advisors and Norges Bank Real Estate Management for a reported purchase price of $455 million.

The sale, reported on Thursday, marks Skanska’s final disposition of four adjacent Seaport properties it developed, which also include 101 Seaport, Harbor Way and Watermark Seaport. On behalf of Skanska, vice chairman Edward Maher, executive managing director Matthew Pullen, and managing director James Tribble of Newmark Knight Frank’s Boston Capital Markets team, which is led by co-head of U.S. Capital Markets Robert Griffin, oversaw the transaction.

Skanska USA is headquartered in New York City. American Realty Advisors maintains its headquarters in Los Angeles. Norges Bank is based in Oslo, Norway.

The 17-story, 400,000-square-foot, LEED Platinum office tower sits atop two stories of 50,000 square-feet of retail. The sale comes a year after the building achieved 100% leased with the signing of tenants PTC and Alexion Pharmaceuticals. The mixed-use tower was developed for approximately $281 million. The Boston Globe reports the property sold to the American Realty-Norges joint venture for $455 million, citing public documents filed in Suffolk County.

“121 Seaport’s unique and sustainable design and its lease-up to two pioneering companies, PTC and Alexion served as a model for what we can achieve by pushing the traditional boundaries of development in Boston,” says Charley Leatherbee, EVP of commercial development operations for Skanska in Boston. “It’s bittersweet to come full circle on the delivery and divestment of Boston’s most sustainable block, but we’re proud of the green, architecturally stunning legacy we’ve left on Boston’s skyline with 121 Seaport.”

121 Seaport is located across from District Hall and Seaport Square Green. The tower’s three-story lobby faces Boston Harbor and opens onto Harbor Way with a 70-foot-wide pedestrian retail promenade located between 101 and 121 Seaport with 20,000 square feet of tree-lined open space and retail, and an AR-enabled interactive walking museum recounting the Seaport’s history.

The building features elevated 10-foot ceilings; waterfront views and access to Boston Harbor and the Financial District; outdoor terraces; a private, tenant-only fitness center; direct access to neighboring parks and amenities and a 24/7 hotel-style concierge.

“Partnering with Norges Bank to acquire an asset of this caliber in a key urban market will allow us to drive increased cash-flow and returns for both Norges Bank stakeholders and ARA investors,” says Austin Maddux, EVP, deputy portfolio manager at American Realty Advisors. “121 Seaport is a top-tier office asset with long-term leases in an irreplaceable location, which we view as a generational investment and the foundation for our new relationship and future joint efforts with Norges Bank.”

The deal for 121 Seaport closely mirrors its 2016 sale of its 101 Seaport office tower. Skanska USA sold 101 Seaport Blvd. for $452 million to German real estate investment management firm Union Investment Real Estate GmbH.

Skanska broke ground on the a 17-story, 440,000-square-foot LEED Platinum office building on Sept.19, 2013 and delivered the property on Oct.1, 2015.