BOSTON — Shorenstein Properties has completed its purchase of Seaport Center, a nine-story office building on the South Boston waterfront. The company did not disclose financial terms, but industry sources have cited the sales price of 451 D St. at $115 million.
San Francisco-based Shorenstein made the purchase on behalf of Shorenstein Realty Investors Ten LP, a commingled fund formed in 2010 with $1.2 billion of committed capital. The seller was a partnership between The Beal Cos. and Rockpoint Group.
Built as a wool warehouse in 1909 and used as an induction center by the Army during the World War II, the 461,046-square-foot property underwent extensive renovations in the 1990s. Today it features fiber-optic cable, modern heating and air-conditioning systems, a two-story atrium lobby, new windows and on-site parking.
Douglas Shorenstein, chairman and CEO of Shorenstein, noted that the building's “modern infrastructure, flexible floor plates and great views” will help the property appeal to a broad range of Boston office users.
Currently, the property is 88 percent occupied and major tenants include Monster Worldwide and Verizon. Both companies signed leases for 28,000 square feet in 2010. Seaport Center is also the headquarters of Herald Media, which publishes the Boston Herald.
A former industrial area, the Seaport District is evolving into a 24/7 neighborhood as the result of transportation infrastructure improvements and a host of mixed-use developments. There continue to be extensive plans for residential and commercial development over the next few years. Developers recently broke ground on the 1.1 million-square-foot headquarters building for Vertex Pharmaceuticals along Fan Pier, which is expected to be complete by 2013. The area is also home to the $800 million Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, which opened on Summer Street in 2004.
Seaport Center is located less than three miles from Logan International Airport and has close access to I-93. A new Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Silver Line stop is a five-minute walk from the property.
The Seaport Center transaction comes five years after Shorenstein acquired 399 Boylston St. in the Back Bay submarket. Seaport Center is the company's second asset in Boston.
— Liz Burlingame