BOSTON — Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT) and its real estate advisor, Bentall Kennedy (U.S.) Limited Partnership (Bentall Kennedy), have acquired $250 million of property in Boston’s South End and Seaport District submarkets.
MEPT is a $7 billion real estate equity fund that invests in a portfolio of institutional-quality real estate assets in 25 metropolitan markets across the United States.
In three separate transactions, the Washington-based fund acquired nine buildings totaling more than 650,000 square feet.
One portfolio purchased by the fund is adjacent to the Boston Medical Center and is comprised of two fully leased medical office buildings, three properties intended for redevelopment, and two acres of land for potential multifamily development. The buildings are located at 660 and 720 Harrison Ave., 575 Albany St., 100 East Canton St., and 123 East Dedham St. This portfolio was acquired as part of a joint venture with Boston-based Leggat McCall Properties.
A second portfolio contains three operating office buildings (313 Congress St., 330 Congress St. and 300 A St.) totaling 220,993 square feet in Boston’s Fort Point Channel submarket of the Seaport District. Additionally, in the Fort Point Channel submarket, MEPT acquired the Necco Street Garage, a six-level, 588-space parking garage.
Bentall Kennedy plans to vet several options for the fund’s development and redevelopment opportunities, including new apartment construction. The neighborhood near the Boston Medical Center offers access to public transportation (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority “T” Silver Line and bus), major thoroughfares (interstates 93 and 90), restaurants, entertainment and proximity to major employment centers in the city.
With the Fort Point Channel portfolio, MEPT acquires properties that are desirable to technology and creative tenants such as software, digital media, architecture and marketing firms. Additionally, the neighborhood is a mix of historic warehouse buildings renovated into office, residential and hotel uses.
The Necco Street Garage at 10 Necco St. is located at the gateway to the Seaport District and is only one-quarter mile from interstates 93 and 95. The parking facility is located next to 300 A Street, one of the three buildings in the Fort Point Channel portfolio.
Founded in 1982, MEPT is owned by more than 320 institutional investors, including 14 multi-employer and public employee plans in the Boston area.
Bentall Kennedy is a real estate investment advisor serving the interests of nearly 500 investors and their 134 million square feet of office, retail, industrial and multi-residential properties in the United States and Canada. The properties are valued at more than $32 billion.
— Scott Reid