"We are very happy about it," Aegean founder Costas Alexakostells GlobeSt.com after his firm cemented a deal that has beenunderway for several months. Alexakos acquired 285 Summer St. froma group of Payette principals who had leased the space back to thefirm until 2011. Signed in 1991, the lease rate is substantiallybelow market, Alexakos acknowledges, but he explains Aegean isbuying for the building's future, a bet based on the quality of thestructure and presence in one of the Boston's most vibrantdistricts. "We are comfortable with it," he says of the patiencemandated.

The per-sf price of about $267 is one reason Alexakos can takesuch a long-range view, he says. The figure likely would have beenhigher were the Payette lease shorter or closer to the marketaverage, with Fort Point Channel space now fetching more than $40per sf. In its just-released first quarter survey, Jones LangLaSalle puts the average asking rate for the district at $47.71 persf. While valuable in its own right, a level of parking in 285Summer St. also impacted the per-sf pricing, according to observersfamiliar with the building.

Whatever the figure, Payette principal Thomas Payette wasebullient over the outcome, praising the Richards Barry Joyce &Partners investment sales team of Richard Bradbury and RichardHerlihy. "We were very happy with the job they did," he says. "Theydefinitely served us well." Herlihy tells GlobeSt.com that 285Summer St. received considerable attention from investors bearing asimilar affinity for the district as Aegean Capital. "There was alot of activity and a lot of bidders," he says.