The 28-story tower at 100 High St. in Boston’s Financial District is one of five properties that Blackstone Group plans to sell to a Canadian real estate firm.
Thomas Grillo
Real Estate Editor- Boston Business Journal
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Blackstone Group’s local real estate portfolio is down to eight properties.
The private equity firm, which acquired its Greater Boston property portfolio in 2007 when it bought Equity Office Properties Trust for $39 billion, has reached an agreement to sell five office properties in Greater Boston to a Canadian real estate investment firm. The deal is the latest move by New York-based Blackstone as it disposes of the local real estate portfolio it bought before the financial crisis.
News of the sale was reported first by the Wall Street Journal.
The potential buyers, led by Oxford Properties Group, have signed an agreement to buy 100 High St. and 125 Summer St., a pair of office building n downtown Boston, and they plan to partner with J.P. Morgan Chase to buy 60 State St., 225 Franklin St. and One Memorial Dr. in Cambridge. In addition, Blackstone is selling its stake in Rowes Wharf to its existing partner in the property, Morgan Stanley. Blackstone is also selling its ownership stake in Rowes Wharf to Morgan Stanley, which is its partner in the building.
That leaves just eight office properties in Blackstone’s Greater Boston portfolio: 100 Summer St., 175 Federal St., 222 Berkeley St., 500 Boylston St., South Station and three Cambridge properties including 125 and 150 Cambridgepark Drive and Ten Canal Park.
In April, Blackstone sold 28 State St. in Boston’s Financial District for $345 million. At the time, there were reports that the 40-story tower could be the last property Blackstone sells as a one-off.
Sources say the company was consulting with Boston-based Eastdil Secured on whether it should market its remaining Greater Boston offices totaling more than 7 million square feet in bulk, a transaction that could bring as much as $3 billion.
James McCaffrey, Eastdil’s senior managing director in Boston, could not be reached for comment.
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