NEWTON, MA—Closing the loop on a first-refusal arrangement the two REITs have had in place since 1999, CommonWealth REIT said on Wednesday it has agreed to sell 13 suburban medical office properties for $167 million to Senior Housing Properties Trust. Both REITs are headquartered here. The sales are expected to be completed before year’s end, and represent the last of the properties under Senior Housing’s right of first refusal to buy from Commonwealth.

A CommonWealth spokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com the sale is in line with its strategy, announced in 2008, of divesting older suburban properties and reinvesting sale proceeds into core CBD assets. That has entailed selling more than $1 billion worth of medical office to Senior Housing since 2008; Senior Housing was formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of CommonWealth until it was spun off in ’99.

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The 13-asset portfolio totals 1.3 million square feet across eight states. According to a release from Senior Housing, three of the properties are in California; two are in Illinois; two are in New York State; two are in Pennsylvania; and there are one each in Arizona, Minnesota, Ohio and South Carolina.

Before Wednesday’s deal was announced, Senior Housing had bought a total of 75 assets from CommonWealth. These included a $470-million, 27-asset portfolio totaling 2.8 million square feet that was announced this past November; and a $565-million deal in May 2008 deal for 48 medical office, clinic and biotech laboratory buildings totaling 2.2 million square feet. At that time, CommonWealth was known as HRPT Properties Trust; the name change took effect in July 2010. Both CommonWealth and Senior Housing are managed by Reit Management & Research LLC, also headquartered in Newton, MA.

Earlier this month, Senior Housing agreed to buy nine senior living rental communities for $478 million, including $164 million of assumed mortgage debt, from Chicago-based Vi. The communities are currently operated by Vi as Classic Residence, and were formerly known as Classic Residence by Hyatt.