BOSTON — Oxford Properties Group has provided a $180 million loan for the refinancing of One Congress Street and the Government Center Garage in Boston. The 11-story, mixed-use asset includes a 1,960-space parking garage with 202,854 square feet of office space and 23,212 square feet of retail space.
The borrower was a joint venture between National Real Estate Advisors LLC and its Boston-based development partner, The HYM Investment Group LLC. HFF worked on behalf of the borrower to arrange the short-term, floating-rate loan.
The property is centered among many of Boston’s most popular neighborhoods and destinations, including the Financial District, TD Garden, Faneuil Hall Market District, the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, North End, West End and Beacon Hill. The development draws a diverse set of parkers, ranging from commuters to event attendees to residents seeking overnight parking.
This location also offers immediate access to entrance ramps for Interstate 93, as well as two on-site subway lines (MBTA Green Line and Orange Line), providing connectivity to greater Boston.
The property is also the site of Bulfinch Crossing, a 2.9 million-square-foot mixed-use development project that will consist of residential, office, hotel and retail uses.
Led by the borrower, the Bulfinch Crossing project is expected to contribute to a transformation of the neighborhood and provide an additional long-term source of demand for the Government Center Garage. Construction on Bulfinch Crossing’s first phase, a 46-story luxury residential tower, began earlier this year.
The HFF debt placement team for the refinancing transaction was led by executive managing director John Fowler; senior managing director Riaz Cassum; director Jennifer Keller; and associates Xave Jacoby and Chris Thomas.
“Over the next 10 years, the property will be the location of one of the largest and most exciting mixed-use developments in Boston, while providing unprecedented demand for parking,” says Cassum. “This financing represents the first step in a long-term development plan and the formation of a strategic lending relationship.”
The legal team working on the financing, restructuring and land use matters consisted of four firms. Difede Ramsdell Bender PLLC and Goulston & Storrs represented the borrower; and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP and DLA Piper represented the lender.
National Real Estate Advisors is an investment manager specializing in developing and owning large-scale, urban commercial and multifamily projects for its institutional client accounts. The firm is a subsidiary of the National Electrical Benefit Fund.
The HYM Investment Group is a real estate company focused on the acquisition, development and management of urban mixed-use projects.
HYM is currently leading the development of more than 9 million square feet of mixed-use development in Greater Boston, including several notable and complex projects: the Suffolk Downs redevelopment, Boston Landing and NorthPoint. For more than 35 years, HYM’s principals have been working on real estate ventures in the Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., markets.
— Nellie Day