President Michael Grill tells GlobeSt.com that Fairlane iseyeing similar assets as part of a plan to accommodate office andindustrial tenants seeking to escape rising rental rates.

"We're out buying again," stresses Grill, who relays that thepath has not been easy, particularly because the crush ofinstitutional capital has abandoned its core-centric mantra in adesperate quest for yield. That has driven pricing for the sort ofbuildings Fairlane specialized in buying during earlier cycles tounreasonable levels, he explains, requiring the pursuit ofproperties way off the institutional radar screen. "My options inBoston are extremely limited," says Grill, who secured the Newtonproperty in an off-market deal orchestrated by John Nealon of W.J.Nealon Commercial for the buyer and Warren Brown of BostonCommercial Realty on behalf of Fairlane.

Value-add was a consistent component of previous Fairlaneinvestments such as 98 North Washington St. in Boston's NorthStation and buildings on Broad and Water streets that wereharvested earlier this decade, hut the latest campaign essentiallytakes that challenge up a notch. "Properties with serious duediligence issues are the ones I want to look at," says Grill,anticipating those lacking fatal flaws can be repositioned giventhe proper attention. Grill says likely prospects may have beenowned indefinitely by a user who has deferred maintenance and wouldentertain a buyout, as in the case of the Newton property at 59-83Chapel St.