BOSTON — A downtown Boston office and retail building has sold at auction for $19 million, marking a steep discount from its pre-pandemic valuation and underscoring continued pricing pressure in the city’s office market.
According to reporting by the Boston Business Journal, Boston-based development and investment firm Chevron Partners emerged as the top bidder for 99 Bedford Street, a five-story, approximately 98,000-square-foot property located near South Station. The building last traded in 2019 for $51 million, placing the recent sale roughly 63% below its prior purchase price, the BBJ reported.
The transaction closed on December 8, and reflects one of the latest examples of downtown Boston office assets selling at a significant markdown from peak market values. The property was previously owned by Credit Suisse Asset Management, which acquired the building from Plymouth Rock Assurance in 2019 for approximately $50.5 million, according to the BBJ. The building was most recently assessed at $22 million.
The largely vacant property currently has a limited number of ground-floor tenants, including an English-language institute called Talk and Forefront Eye Care, the BBJ reported. Chevron Partners plans to invest in upgrades aimed at repositioning the asset, including a renovated lobby, new tenant amenities such as a lounge, conference space, and fitness center, as well as a 9,600-square-foot move-in-ready speculative suite designed to attract future tenants.
Chevron Partners acquired the building in partnership with Capital Hall Partners, whose portfolio includes the Anthem apartment building in Everett and planned life sciences developments in Somerville. The firm also has several active projects underway in Boston’s Back Bay, including renovations and mixed-use developments on Newbury Street, Commonwealth Avenue, and Boylston Street, according to the BBJ.
The sale of 99 Bedford Street follows other deeply discounted office transactions in Boston. Earlier this month, real estate investor Synergy acquired an office building in the Bulfinch Triangle for $22.5 million, a price significantly below its most recent assessed value, the Boston Business Journal reported.
As office leasing demand continues to adjust post-pandemic, transactions like this highlight the ongoing repricing of Boston’s downtown office market.
