"This is probably the highest mortgage per square foot of any commercial property in Boston," Stanley Sidel, an executive at Legg Mason Real Estate Services/Spectrum Financial, tells GlobeSt.com. "There may be higher loans, but I don't know of any." Sidel, who along with Legg Mason executive Joseph Hegenbart put the deal together, points out that the mortgage at $480 per sf is a "very large financing for a very small property." The mortgage financing was arranged with John Hancock Life Insurance Company, which Legg Mason represents as a mortgage loan correspondent.

The property is owned by Prince School Retail, LLC and managed by the Abbey Group. The building was originally the home of the Prince School--named after a Boston 19th century mayor, Frederick Prince--and was redeveloped in 1987 and converted to 36 luxury residential condominiums on the upper floors with retail stores on the lower two levels. It is currently fully leased to tenants including The Gap, Gap Kids, Baby Gap, American Eagle Outfitters, Jessica McKlintock, and Betsy Johnson.

Sidel attributes the large financing to the building's location and the quality of its tenants. He notes that he and Hegenbart went straight to John Hancock rather than shopping around because "they knew the location well. All the valuation turns out to be location, especially in retail."

Sidel declined to reveal the asking rents at this location, but Newbury Street retail rents range from $60 per sf all the way up to $125 per sf. Sidel points out that this location is able to command those rents even in the current economy. Top end retail space in downtown Boston goes for $30 to $60 per sf while comparable retail space in the suburbs is about $20 per sf.