Related Beal, developer of the One Lovejoy Wharf, has sold the building to Union Investment. One Lovejoy Wharf in Boston is the current Converse headquarters and formerly known as the Hoffman Building. More information in the news release below.
RELATED AND UNION INVESTMENT ANNOUNCE SALE OF ONE LOVEJOY WHARF
Formerly Dilapidated Building Transformed into Highly Sought-After Waterfront Office in Boston
Related and Union Investment Real Estate GmbH, on behalf of its open-ended real estate fund Unilmmo: Global, today jointly announced the completion of the sale of One Lovejoy Wharf in Boston. The 235,000-square-foot waterfront office building, formerly known as the Hoffman Building, sat vacant and dilapidated prior to its recent renovation. The site was acquired by Related Fund Management in 2012 and redeveloped by Related Beal into a 21st century office building that now serves as Converse’s headquarters. The property is situated on the waterfront directly adjacent to Boston’s Freedom Trail. The location in the North Station neighborhood borders on Boston’s central business district and is one of the city’s most dynamic sub-markets for young companies.
The sale comes just three years after Related Beal announced plans to redevelop Lovejoy Wharf, which formerly consisted of dilapidated waterfront parcels in Boston’s North End area, into approximately three-quarters of an acre of new publicly accessible waterfront with offices, residences, and retail. Constructed in 1909, the battered wharf had never been open for public use and was used as surface parking for events at the TD Garden.
Established in 1908, Converse is famous above all for its legendary basketball shoe, the Chuck Taylor All Star sneaker. The company’s headquarters, with its distinctive brick façade, is a Class A office building. Awarded LEED® Gold certification, One Lovejoy Wharf features office and retail space extending over 11 floors. The office is fully occupied under long-term leases with wharf-level retail space available. While the building currently serves as a corporate headquarters, it is flexible for multi-tenant use in the future.
Kimberly Sherman Stamler, President of Related Beal, said, “We are proud to have helped revitalize this section of the waterfront, transforming it into a lively destination and economic engine. This significant redevelopment reflects our strategic repositioning strategy. We identified a neglected property on a prime piece of land in Boston, attracted one of the world’s most successful brands as a tenant, and sold to a preeminent global real estate investor.”
This transaction continues Union’s strategy of accelerated investment in US markets with strong growth prospects. Union Investment has completed six transactions within the last 24 months on behalf of Unilmmo: Global and sister fund Unilmmo: Europa, in markets including Austin, Houston, Menlo Park, and Minneapolis and Seattle, with a total value of approximately $1.3 billion (€1.2 billion).
“Our entry into the Boston office market with cult and lifestyle brand Converse as a strong main tenant is ideal,” said Tal Peri, Head of Investment Management U.S. East Coast & Latin America at Union Investment Real Estate GmbH. “With its stable returns and attractive rental growth prospects, Boston offers potential for further investments.” In December 2015 Union Investment had entered the US hotel market by acquiring the 242-room Godfrey Hotel in Boston.
“We received a great amount of interest in this reimagined asset and its successful sale speaks to Related’s ability to utilize our unique integrated platform to identify opportunities and reimagine them in innovative ways coupled with Boston’s appeal to investors and growing companies,” said Justin Metz, Managing Principal of Related Fund Management, an investment platform capitalized by outside investors that creates core assets utilizing Related’s vertically integrated, in-house platform.
Related Beal’s redevelopment of Lovejoy Wharf also includes 131 Beverly, a 260,000-square-foot luxury residential building with ground floor retail that is currently under construction; a waterfront park; and, a portion of the Harbor Walk that links with Paul Revere Park to the north and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway to the south, completing a string of open spaces stretching from Charlestown to Chinatown.
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About Related Beal
Related Beal is a fully integrated real estate firm focused on development and investment opportunities in Boston and the surrounding region. Related Beal leverages a national real estate platform with expertise across all asset classes and storied local experience in life sciences, commercial and residential development, property management and investment. Related Beal has developed, and is undertaking the development of, some of the most recognized buildings in the area including The Clarendon and One Back Bay, Congress Square and the Quinzani’s Bakery site in the South End. Related Beal also recently commenced construction of Parcel 1B in Boston’s Bulfinch Triangle. Slated for completion in 2018, Parcel 1B will be home to a mixed-use development that includes a 239-unit, 100 percent affordable and workforce residential building in downtown Boston. For more information on Related Beal, please visit www.relatedbeal.com
About Related Companies
Related Companies is the most prominent privately owned real estate firm in the United States. Formed over 40 years ago, Related is a fully integrated, highly diversified industry leader with experience in virtually every aspect of development, acquisitions, management, finance, marketing and sales. Headquartered in New York City, Related has offices and major developments in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, South Florida, Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi, London, São Paulo and Shanghai and boasts a team of approximately 3,000 professionals. The Company’s existing portfolio of real estate assets, valued at over $20 billion, is made up of best-in-class mixed-use, residential, retail, office and affordable properties in premier high-barrier-to-entry markets. Related Fund Management, a subsidiary of Related also manages approximately $3 billion of equity capital on behalf of sovereign wealth funds, public pension plans, multi-managers, endowments, and family offices. For more information on Related Companies please visit www.related.com.
About Union Investment Real Estate GmbH
Union Investment is a leading international investment manager specializing in open-ended real estate funds for private and institutional investors. Union Investment has assets under management of some 27.8 billion EUR in nine retail and special funds. The portfolio of Union Investment´s open-ended real estate funds comprise some 390 properties and projects in Germany and other European Countries, the Americas and Asia. Investments in city-centre office space are the mainstay of the company’s investment strategy. In addition, Union Investment is investing in logistics properties, shopping centres and business hotels in selected locations that offer the prospect of attractive returns over the medium and long term. In 2015, the company realized transactions totaling some $5.4 billion (€5 billion). For more information on Union Investment please visit www.union-investment.com/realestate
