Beacon Capital Reports 28% Increase in Revenues

The magic that is Beacon Capital Partners continues virtually unabated, with the company reporting second quarter 2000 figures that show increases in both funds from operations and revenues. A private real estate investment company, Beacon reported FFO reached $4.52 million, or 22 cents per share, for the second quarter, while revenues were at $12.38 million.

FFO was up 1.1% over the second quarter of 1999, whereas revenues jumped 28.8% compared to that period in 1999. The weighted average number of common shares outstanding totaled 20.97 million, exactly 1,000 shares less than that registered one year earlier.

For the first half of 2000, Beacon registered a 54.7% increase in FFO, from $8.43 million at mid-year 1999 to $13.04 million this year. At $31.9 million, revenues were up 67.6% compared to the first half of 1999.

Founded in 1998 by Beacon Properties Corp. executives Alan M. Leventhal and Lionel P. Fortin after their company was bought by Equity Properties, Beacon Capital now has 2.7 million sf of office and industrial space spread throughout the country. Comprising 41 buildings, the portfolio is 91% occupied, while Beacon also has another 840,000 sf of space under construction.

Beacon offered no analysis of its performance, but the firm had several impressive transactions that mixed good timing with a bit of luck, perhaps the most notable being its $72.5 million sale of the Draper Lab in Cambridge to the user. Beacon acquired the property two years ago as part of its purchase of the Technology Square portfolio, but got a major boost when Draper failed to mail an annual option renewing one of the lowest lease rates to be found anywhere. The faux pas, which reportedly cost a Draper employee his job, yielded Beacon net proceeds of $40 million after repayment of debt when Draper opted to acquire the building.

Beacon also netted $16 million from the $68 million sale of 215 First St., also in Cambridge. The 300,000-sf building was on the market for barely a week before Capital Properties of New York placed it under agreement in hopes of taking advantage of Cambridge’s white-hot office market. Beacon is also in a strong position at Technology Square, with firms reportedly fighting over the last remaining space at its 175,000 sf 300 Technology Square building now under construction.