"It's a beautiful spot and we want to continue to stay there,"ACA chairman William Ghormley tells GlobeSt.com in explaining whythe sale/leaseback model is being employed. "We're very comfortablewith it."

Besides being among New England's longest-held privateproperties, 14 Beacon St. also holds a bit of television nostalgiaas the perceived office of television character Ally McBeal. RBJinvestment sales broker Richard Herlihy is not surprised theeight-story property was singled out for that purpose givenaccoutrements such as large arched windows and a grand façadesporting intricate reliefs. "It photographs like nobody'sbusiness," Herlihy says of the 73,000-sf building.

Inside, the two-level library on the second and third floorsoverlooks Boston's famous Granary Burial Ground, creating apastoral setting that the ACA wants to preserve. But Ghormleystresses that the building's attributes are more than skin deep,having been constructed to support printing presses on the topfloor. "It's heavy duty," he says, adding that the ACA has alsospent money upgrading 14 Beacon St., including roof replacement andinstallation of a fire suppression system.