BOSTON — Azora has acquired an office and retail building located at 149 Newbury St. in Boston for $101 million. The property offers 45,495 rentable square feet across five floors.
Certified LEED Gold, the building is situated along the Newbury Street commercial corridor, surrounded by luxury shops and restaurants in the city’s Back Bay neighborhood.
The asset was 81 percent leased at the time of sale. The ground floor is fully occupied by two tenants: Google, which operates its first high-tech store in New England; and Alo, an athletic apparel retailer.
The third floor offers 9,586 square feet available for lease. Azora plans to convert this space into “ready to move in” offices, citing demand for this type of product in the area.
Ignacio Gil-Casares, managing partner of Azora Exan, says the acquisition aligns with a strategy that the company began implementing in the U.S. last year.
“We continue to believe in the value of trophy office assets in major U.S. cities, and 149 Newbury is the perfect example, combining an excellent location, high occupancy by top-tier tenants and the potential to achieve higher returns by leasing the remaining space through the creation of speculative spaces,” he says. “We are confident in the potential value generation for this asset in the short to medium term.”
Spain-based Azora entered the U.S. market through its partnership with Exan, establishing Azora Exan in December 2021. Currently, Azora Exan manages office, industrial, retail and residential assets in the U.S. valued at more than $1.7 billion. The acquisition of 149 Newbury marks the company’s third in the Boston market over the past 12 months.
— Kristin Harlow