Recent commercial real estate transactions

Senior Housing Property Trust completed its acquisition of two office buildings located in Boston’s premier Seaport District for a purchase price of $1.125 billion. The sellers were joint venture partners The Fallon Co. and Massachusetts Mutual Life.

The two waterfront towers on Fan Pier are the headquarters for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a global biopharmaceutical company. HFF marketed the asset exclusively on behalf of the seller and an institutional investor advised by Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, an indirect subsidiary of Mass Mutual.

In the bid process to acquire the Fan Pier site, Cornerstone and Fallon competed against two other substantial contenders. After winning the bid, a plan was developed that divided the site into eight development parcels that will ultimately accommodate office and retail space, condominiums, a hotel and a marina. Cornerstone was directly involved in the Vertex lease negotiations and involved with all aspects of the ensuing development.

“The successful completion of the Vertex buildings and the subsequent sale validates the confidence that Cornerstone had in the site, the developer and the Boston market,” says Graham Bond, managing director at Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers.

In prospect, is the development of two condominium buildings, one of which is already being built. A 515,000-square-foot office building will open in 2017, which will be home to law firm Goodwin Proctor. Additional future development will likely include a 400,000-square-foot office building and a 225-room hotel.

Bond adds, “As with several other major, far-sighted, development projects in other leading major U.S. cities, this development has been the catalyst for additional development that is beneficial to the overall Boston market and economy.”