481,189 SF Starts $250M Buying Spree

The buyer isn't discussing the final prices. According to the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds, the 108,085-sf building at 60 Columbian in Braintree has sold for $13 million. Meanwhile, $56 million was financed through Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP to close on the 376,104-sf Farmers Market I, II and III near the 30th Street-Alhambra Boulevard intersection in Sacramento.

The Braintree property, developed in 1985, was sold by New York City-based iStar Financial. It is fully occupied by the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, which has a lease through 2010.

The Farmers Market buildings were sold by FG Farmers Market in Sacramento. They are practically 100% leased to the California Transportation Department, which has a long-term lease as well. The trio was built between 1989 and 1995.

"We felt the agencies were vital pieces of state organizations," says Ernest Johnson, executive vice president of PM Realty Group in Houston, "and we liked the residual real estate values of the properties. We liked the quality."

Johnson says the transactions have nearly exhausted the fund. "We're very close to closing this fund out," he says. He's expecting to place another contract before the end of this month, with a proposed closing in September. Letters of intent have gone out on several properties, he adds.

"This has all gone faster than we'd anticipated," Johnson tells GlobeSt.com. "Originally we had an 18-month to two-year timetable for placement. Now, we're anticipating close-out in about nine months." PM Realty and Americus Real Estate Investments launched the fund in January.

Jeff Knowles with Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP's Houston office arranged financing for the Farmers Market buildings acquisition, which was a direct deal. Patrick Cavanagh of CB Richard Ellis Investors in Boston represented iStar. PM Realty represented Americus Fund II, which targets office and industrial properties that are at least 50% leased to state, county and city governments.