ANDOVER, Mass. — The four-building Brickstone Square office complex in Andover is headed to auction on April 1, the latest sign of mounting distress in the Greater Boston office market, according to reporting by the Boston Business Journal.
As reported by BBJ, the 39-acre campus totals more than 1 million square feet and appears to be nearly half vacant, with more than 470,000 square feet available for lease. The property is being auctioned at a time when roughly one-quarter of Greater Boston’s office space sits empty, reflecting persistent challenges tied to remote and hybrid work trends.
The auction has been scheduled by Paul E. Saperstein Co., BBJ said.
Ownership and Financing History
According to BBJ, Woburn-based KS Partners purchased Brickstone Square in 2014 for nearly $60 million. Property records cited by BBJ show the firm received a $55 million mortgage at the time of acquisition, followed by a $68 million mortgage in 2017 and a $71 million mortgage in 2021.
The most recent financing came from Los Angeles-based PCCP, according to BBJ. The lender did not respond to a request for comment, the publication reported.
KS Partners also did not respond to messages seeking comment, BBJ said. The privately held firm reports a portfolio totaling 5 million square feet across Massachusetts and Connecticut, including properties in Boston, Cambridge, Newton and Watertown.
A Market Under Pressure
Brickstone Square is the latest in a string of office properties across the region to head to auction or trade at steep discounts. According to BBJ, recent examples include a vacant office complex in Bedford that sold for $5.6 million and a downtown Boston office building that traded for $19 million in December — transactions that underscore how far valuations have fallen.
Despite high vacancy, Brickstone Square still houses several tenants, including staffing agency ALKU and the North American offices of Italian renewable energy firm Enel Green Power. BBJ reported that the most recent recorded leases at the property were signed in 2022 with building products company Brosco and youth sports organization 3STEP Sports.
With vacancy rates hovering at historic highs and questions lingering about long-term demand for traditional office space, the upcoming auction of Brickstone Square reflects broader uncertainty across the Greater Boston commercial real estate market, as detailed in BBJ’s reporting.
