Irish
Irish developers pay $170 million for Boston property
By Finfacts Team
Sep 20, 2006, 11:11

265 Franklin- Located in the heart of Boston's Financial District, on the full city block bordered by Franklin, High, Oliver, and Batterymarch Streets, one block from the Post Office Square Park, with convenient access to Interstate 93, the Massachusetts Turnpike, and the transportation hub at South Station, with bus, MBTA Red Line, and commuter rail service.

Anglo Irish Bank North America has bought a Boston property on behalf of Clarendon Properties LLC of Dublin, the investment vehicle of developers Paddy McKillen and Tony Leonard. They paid $170m (€132m) for the 21-storey skyscraper.

Anglo Irish Bank North America occupies offices on the 19th floor of the commercial building on 265 Franklin Street and its acquisition is  the third major downtown that the bank has been involved in within the past year or so.

The seller was Boston Properties Inc., which bought the 350,000-square-foot tower in 2000, jointly with the New York Common Retirement Fund, for $97 million. The building underwent an $11 million renovation and limited expansion in the interval.

Clarendon's purchase is its third in Boston.

The Boston Globe reports that Anglo Irish Bank was also involved with Clarendon's acquisition of 200 State St., with a partner, in 2005, and of the Borders Boston bookstore building in the Downtown Crossing area this year.

Tony Campbell, chief executive of the bank's North American operations, said the purchase is part of the Irish investors' plan to diversify their holdings.

They own property in Dublin and London, markets where buildings are going for $1,000 and $2,000 per square foot, respectively, Campbell said.

The price for 265 Franklin worked out to about $485 per square foot, a strong price for a building that, at 21 floors, ranks as a medium-size tower in Boston.

``What appealed to the investor community is the size," Campbell said. ``It's a touch Goldilocks -- neither too hot or too cold."

In 1986, the building was sold to a Japanese corporation for $107 million, or $332 per square foot -- reported to be a record price in Boston at the time.

It is nearly fully leased and has 29 tenants, the largest of which is the regional headquarters of Eastern Bank Corp. The law firm McCarter & English LLP has signed up to take four floors and next year will become 265 Franklin's largest tenant.

The block-size building opened in 1985 and was originally known as the Paine Webber building.