This Week's Boston Deal Sheet

Beacon Capital Partners bought an office and retail building in Harvard Square for $81M, a rare example of a large office sale as the industry grapples with uncertain demand and rising interest rates. 

The firm acquired the 97K SF One Brattle Square building from Atlanta-based Piedmont Office Realty Trust, the Boston Business Journal first reported. The property doesn't appear to have many tenants in its 15K SF retail space, according to BBJ, but its office tenants include Harvard University's Property Information Resource Center.

Boston's office market has continued to struggle with rising vacancies and thousands of square feet of negative net absorption. This has forced some landlords to launch major renovations to stay competitive or to convert some office space into labs.

Beacon has been active in office-to-lab conversions with part of its Southline Boston project being converted into lab, including a partnership with MassBio to bring a life sciences workforce training center.

The company is also in the process of converting office space in its 93 Worcester St. building in Wellesley. Beacon also has an active portfolio of office buildings including 53 State St.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust still owns multiple properties in Boston's suburbs including 1414 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge.

SALES

Linchris Hotel Corp. acquired the Cape Codder Resort & Spa in Hyannis for $74M, according to public records. The buyer secured financing through HarborOne Bank. The 266-room hotel was renovated in 2008 and includes 18K SF of meeting and event space, a waterpark, an on-site spa and a pickleball court. JLL's Alan Suzuki and Matthew Enright represented the seller, Catania Hospitality Group, in the deal. 

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Benderson Development purchased a 53K SF retail property anchored by Whole Foods Market in Cambridge, it announced last week. It didn't disclose the seller or the price, but property records show Acadia Realty Trust sold the property in two separate transactions totaling $26M.  

The property at 340 River St. incudes a 40K SF Whole Foods Market and a 13K SF Walgreens with a drive-thru pharmacy.

FINANCING

MassDevelopment helped City Fresh Foods, a minority-led and employee-owned food service company, secure a $4M loan to buy and renovate an 18K SF facility in Roxbury. The building, located at 94 Shirley St., will expand the company's capacity from 20,000 meals a day to 40,000 and create 85 new full-time jobs.

LEASES

Coworking operator Workbar plans to expand its footprint with a new location in Framingham set to open in June. The 21K SF space will be located at 111 Speen St. This space marks the coworking operator's eighth location in Greater Boston and its 11th overall. Last month, Workbar partnered with Synergy Investments to bring short-term-lease space to 11 of its downtown Boston office buildings. 

EXECS

The Procopio Cos. promoted Bryan Vitale from vice president of development to senior vice president of strategy & investments. In his new role, Vitale will oversee the acquisition team and take on new responsibilities involving the brand's vision, investment strategy and growth. 

Vitale began his commercial real estate career at Procopio in 2018 as project manager and was promoted to vice president of development in 2021. Prior to Procopio, Vitale worked as a member of the sales and design team at Halco Kitchen and Bath Showroom.

CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT

Pennrose celebrated the opening of its Julia Bancroft Apartments in Auburn at a ceremony with local officials. The project was a rehabilitation of a 1920s school building into 60 mixed-income apartment units for senior citizens. The property is located at 3 Vinal St.

Of the new apartments, 45 will be for residents making 60% of the area median income and 15 will be at market-rate. Four of the affordable units have been set aside for community-based housing with another seven designated as accessible units.

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Accordia Partners and Ares Management filed revised plans for their 6M SF Dorchester Bay City development with the Boston Planning & Development Agency. The developers scrapped one 350K SF building, and the $5B project now features more open space and affordable units.

The removed building will be replaced with a 6,300 SF pavilion and new open spaces, named the Dorchester Bay Esplanade and the Dorchester Green. It will also move two other buildings from the shoreline by 15 to 30 feet.