HRPT Properties Buys Milford Place Corporate Center for $17M

MILFORD, CT-HRPT Properties Trust of Newtown, MA has acquired Milford Place Corporate Center here for $17 million. The property at 185 Plains Rd. totals 143,802 sf and was sold by Fairhaven Investors LP, an affiliate of BPG Properties Ltd. of Philadelphia.

Albert J. Corr, vice president and head of the New England portfolio for BPG Properties, says the Milford Place Corporate Center was part of BPG Properties LP No. 4. In July, BPG Properties LP No. 7, a $550-million discretionary real estate investment fund, closed on its first acquisition–a 230,000-sf office park in Jacksonville, FL.

Andrew Merin, executive vice president, Patrick Colwell, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield’s Capital Markets Group, along with Paul Kauffman, executive director of C&W’s brokerage services division represented the seller and procured the buyer. Joseph Nahas Jr. and Corr of BPG Properties also were involved in the deal.

Cushman & Wakefield officials say that the REIT bested more than a dozen bidders for the property that is currently 95.1% leased. The three-story office building was originally built in 1987 and is situated on more than 16 acres. The property’s largest tenants include Hubbel Inc., an electronics component company which leases about 45,000 sf, Fed Ex, which leases about 13,000 sf and Progressive Casualty Insurance, which leases about 11,000 sf.

“This offering attracted significant interest from regional and local investors ranging from institutions to individuals,” Merin says. Colwell adds that HRPT Properties “is looking to acquire more properties in Southern Connecticut and this was a step in that direction.”

While BPG Properties is in the midst of shedding some of its holdings in Southern Connecticut, the firm is actively looking to acquire properties in the New York metro area. Corr says that the firm is interested in office properties in New York, including Westchester County, Southern Connecticut and New Jersey that would be purchased by its BPG Properties LP No. 7 fund.