Related Beal Lands ex-Fidelity HQ in Boston's Hub

BOSTON-Related Beal on New Year's Eve said the Related Real Estate Recovery Fund had acquired the Block on Congress, five contiguous properties in Boston's Financial District, from Fidelity Investments. The company did not disclose terms of the deal; citing municipal records, the Boston Herald reported that Related Beal paid $59.2 million for the 343,000-square-foot office and retail complex, which formerly served as Fidelity's downtown headquarters.

The properties, which number a vacant parcel among them, include 82 Devonshire St./35 Congress St., 68 Devonshire St., 19 Congress St., 15 Congress St. and 54 Devonshire St. Related Beal will lead the repositioning and serve as property manager for the Block.

“Rarely do you have the opportunity to reposition and reinvent an entire city block, especially one in the heart of downtown Boston,” says Stephen Faber, EVP of Related Beal. As part of the company's plans for 82 Devonshire and 35 Congress, “we will extensively renovate and reposition these buildings, creating dynamic office space with 38,000 square feet of marquee, desirable retail space available for delivery in late 2015 or early 2016.”

CBRE/New England was tapped last spring to sell the complex on behalf of Fidelity. The CBRE capital markets sales team was led by Chris Angelone, Andy Hoar and Carlos Febres-Mazzei. Febres-Mazzei notes that getting the deal done “was a complex execution with a multitude of potential business plans.”

CBRE's Jeremy Grossman, who is spearheadeding the retail leasing for Related Beal, cites”a great number of storefronts lining the streets around the entire block” and notes that his client has “an unprecedented opportunity to create an exciting and distinctive destination that will be unique in the city of Boston, not just downtown. There is a compelling opportunity to bring traditional and non-traditional dining and retail opportunities to this very active part of the city.”

The Block sale to the Related fund, which closed in 2012 at $825 million, was one of a flurry of significant Boston deals that were finalized just before the turn of the year. GlobeSt.com will report on some of these other transactions over the next few days.