The 30,000-sf office/retail asset will be converted into a mixed-use facility in a plan that will include 12 luxury condominium units, a convenience store and possibly some office space. "It's another classic case of a lower-tier office building being converted into condominiums," Bill Cleary, president of the Codman Co., tells GlobeSt.com. "Once a building gets put into that B and C category, it's the only place it can go. With the mayor's focus on housing, this kind of conversion is accepted at all levels."

Cleary says that the conversion is "similar to 441 Stuart St.," the 11-story, 177,000-sf office/retail building that was purchased by Gold Associates in June 2004, for conversion into residential and retail space. The deal also closely resembles the recent Center Street Realty purchase of 110-112 Beach St., a 37,500-sf office in the Leather District, which the firm is converting to luxury condominiums.

Daniel R. Safar, president of BBS Realty and trustee of the Safar Family Realty Trust, says that the project will take nearly three years to complete. "We're going to renovate the building, add three floors and have a mixed-use site," he tells Globest.com. The first floor will have a 7-11 convenience store, which will replace the Souper Salad restaurant currently occupying the space. The remainder of the building will house the 12 condominium units and may have office space as well, depending on the advice of the engineering firm they have contracted. The units will be 1,400 sf to 2,500 sf in size and will carry an asking price of $850 per sf.

The condominium complex will the second residential/retail asset for the Safar Family Trust, which also owns a luxury condo at 118 Newbury St. The building, purchased in the early 80's, features high-end shops City Salon, Guido's Frame Studio and Daniel Rene, a clothier, on the first floor. Robert A. Tito, David Ross, and Carl Christie, executive VPs/principals at NAI Hunneman Commercial, represented the seller and procured the buyer.