Blackstone Corners Financial District Market

BOSTON-The Blackstone Group’s $36-billion acquisition of Equity Office Properties Trust will give the New York City-based private equity firm 26% of all the class A space in Boston’s Financial District. This Boston portfolio includes several trophy buildings and will give it the most dominant commercial market share in the city, industry experts tell GlobeSt.com.

“Never in Boston’s history has a single group come in and become such a towering presence overnight,” Robert Richards, president of Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, tells GlobeSt.com. “That’s monumental in our market.”

The proposed merger will give Blackstone 6.5 million sf of class A space in the city’s 25.3-million-sf Financial District class A market, including development gems such as Russia Wharf and trophy properties like One Post Office Square. It also gives Blackstone 12% of Greater Boston’s 90.3-million-sf class A office market.

According to EOP’s website, the company owns 13 properties in the Financial District. Beyond the above mentioned properties, Blackstone would add 28 and 60 State St., 75-101, 150 and 175 Federal St., 100 and 125 Summer St., 225 Franklin St., Center Plaza, Rowes Wharf and South Station. Outside the financial district, EOP owns two properties in the Back Bay (222 Berkeley St. and 500 Boylston St.), four in Cambridge (One Canal Park, Ten Canal Park, 245 First St. and One Memorial Dr.), as well as a handful of other properties outside the CBD.

“Clearly, this is an overnight sensation when you think of someone who didn’t have a major presence in Boston suddenly coming in to become a major landlord,” David Begelfer, head of the Boston chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, tells GlobeSt.com. “This was a great opportunity to take over a portfolio like this; a AAA portfolio that is clearly in one of the top markets in the country.”

Industry experts say it is unclear what Blackstone has planned for the properties but the impact the acquisition will have on the region’s office market is going to be watched in the months after the merger closes.

“They will set the market,” Jeffrey Becker, senior vice president with NAI Hunneman Commercial, tells GlobeSt.com. “They will have the luxury of being competitive or not being competitive because they own about 20% of the city.”

“We don’t know if their approach will be different than Equity’s,” adds Richards, “but its certainly going to be a trend the financial markets in Boston will be watching very closely.”