Downtown Boston Asset Trades for $63M

By Mihaela Coste

DTX399, 399 Washington St., Boston

LaSalle Investment Management acquired, in a joint venture with L3 Capital, 399 Washington St., a 77,000-square-foot mixed-use property located in the Downtown Crossing submarket of Boston’s CBD, for $63.3 million. Colliers International has been retained as the leasing agent for the property, which has been vacant for 10 years.

Evan Papanastasiou, director of Eastern Consolidated, represented the seller, while Adelaide Polsinelli, senior managing director & principal, procured the buyer for the off-market transaction. LaSalle acquired a majority equity interest in the property through its U.S. value-add fund LaSalle Income & Growth Fund VII.

The Colliers International team led by senior vice presidents Peter Montesanto and Dan Collins and supported by associates Ted Lyons and Chris Janelle works to identify and secure suitable retail and office tenants for the space.

Rebranding and Renovation Program

Located along the heavily trafficked Washington Street corridor, the building—now rebranded as DTX 399—is often referred to as the “Barnes & Noble building”. The six-story asset offering prime retail and creative office space benefits from pedestrian traffic from the Downtown Crossing T station. Directly across the street from 399 Washington St. is the Millennium Tower, a luxury residential skyscraper with a retail component, including tenants such as Primark, Old Navy, Roche Bros and Michelin star chef Michael Mina.

DTX 399 will undergo a major facelift, expected to commence in the summer of 2017. The redevelopment will maintain several existing attributes while juxtaposing a sleek, contemporary flare to the street and second levels of the building, and implementing a complete overhaul of both interior and exterior building systems.

“Given its proximity to the Millennium Tower and the exciting tenants who accompanied that ‘game-changing’ project, we anticipate tremendous interest from flagship retailers and innovative companies drawn to the vibrancy and accessibility of DTX,” said Montesanto in a prepared statement.

 “Boston’s DTX 399 has long been on our radar as an incredible repositioning opportunity and we are eager to begin working with our partners at LaSalle Investment Management to bring our vision for the building to life,” added Tim Phair, principal of L3 Capital.

Image courtesy of Colliers International