BOSTON – After 21 years of growing commercial and residential business from its offices on Boylston Street in the Back Bay, Boston Realty Advisors closed on purchase of a prominent Newbury Street building and will move its divisions’ headquarters to the new location, with the firm’s Advisors Living residential sales offices in prominent retail space on street level.
Boston Realty Advisors and Advisors Living will own and occupy 136 Newbury St., between Clarendon and Dartmouth streets, a four-story 1877 brick building on a street that is undergoing dramatic renaissance, with new tenants including financial firms and new luxury retail store arrivals. Boston Realty Advisors purchased the 8,530-square-foot building for $7.6 million.
The new headquarter offices for Boston Realty Advisors and Advisors Living, which for all of the company’s two-decade existence has been on Boylston Street between Exeter and Fairfield streets, will undergo a thoughtful interior renovation and added amenities,
Boston Realty Advisors and Advisors Living in particular have experienced record growth this year. “Every division in our company has seen growth,” said Wil Catlin, Managing Director and Senior Partner of Boston Realty Advisors.
Catlin noted that Advisors Living is becoming one of the most active residential real estate brokers in the state and needed prominent retail space to showcase the luxury properties its growing number of agents are marketing.
Built in 1877, 136 Newbury St. formerly housed the School of Fashion Design and was designed by architects H.B. Allen and Peabody and Stearns. It was built in 1877 and according to the MACRIS database was known as the Charles Freeland House, after a developer of Back Bay properties. It was initially a single-family dwelling with commercial space.
The Back Bay, with Newbury Street at its heart, is one of the strongest real estate neighborhoods in the country, Weissman noted. Both before the pandemic and during a significant commercial comeback over the last year or so, real estate professionals have seen tenants seek space in the handsome and historic brick offices and storefronts of Newbury Street.
Many financial services firms and advisors, including private equity and family offices, have relocated to Newbury Street, often from high-priced floors of the city’s tower buildings.
“Companies are moving here because of the true experience of tremendous retail, excellent food and cafes, high quality coffee shops a glance away – a real live-work-play environment,” said Joe Wagner, Associate Director of Boston Realty Advisors, who specializes in retail. “There’s luxury retail and high-end office space throughout.”
New on the street includes Faccia Brutta, Levain Bakery and Eva. New luxury or leisure retailers and accessories include Vuori Clothing, Zegna, Patek Philippe, and Rolex.
