The company put the buildings on the market this past December, saying it wanted to take advantage of the current investment market, which is looking to put money in real estate in prime locations with creditworthy tenants.
As part of the transaction, Hancock also provided Beacon Capital, a locally based real estate investment company, with a long-term sub-lease of the John Hancock Garage. John Hancock has signed a long-term lease on the space it now occupies in those buildings and will continue to use them as its corporate headquarters. In addition to its 60-story tower at 200 Clarendon Street, the sale includes 197 Clarendon Street and 200 Berkeley Street. All together, these buildings are known as the Tower Complex and approach three million square feet of office space.
"With this agreement with Beacon Capital Partners, we achieve two key goals. First, we unlock a substantial amount of capital that will be redeployed in ways that strengthen the company and create value for our stakeholders," John Hancock Chairman and CEO David F. D'Alessandro says. "Second, the long-term lease we've signed keeps our corporate headquarters here in Boston and demonstrates our commitment to remain a robust and active corporate citizen in this community."
Hancock says the sale of the property will generate a pre-tax gain of about $570 million. Under the terms of the agreement, all three buildings will maintain their current names and Hancock will retain the right to lease its current space for 10-15 years depending on the building, with market extension options for up to an additional 25 years.
Hancock expects the transition to the new owner to be seamless. Under the terms of the sale, Hancock will manage the property for a 120-day transition period. During that time, Hancock employees who operate, maintain and secure the buildings will continue in their normal roles. When the transition period ends, some of these employees will keep their positions with Hancock and it is anticipated that many of the others will be hired by Beacon Capital.
The results of the transaction will be finalized during the first quarter once all of the final calculations are completed.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
