BOSTON-Proving plenty of life remains in the commercial realestate sales sector–especially for core product–Spanish investorPonte Gadea Group is acquiring 50 Milk St. for close to $170million. Sources say the price far exceeds the $123 million the21-story, 275,000-sf office building fetched barely two years ago.It also beats the prognostications made when the asset was put upfor sale in August.

“It's a shot of good news,” one source tells GlobeSt.com,particularly given the dour mindset among industry participants.Eastdil Secured was retained to sell 50 Milk St. just as thesubprime mortgage morass was seeping across to the commercial side.Talk of discounts and rampant re-trading led some experts to warnthat even well-regarded deals were facing a price correction. Manyare still predicting a 10% to 15% discount from peak levels and saythe depressed climate could linger into 2008.

Cities such as Boston, however, appear to be bucking any suchtrend. Property continues to move through the sales pipeline, oftenaccompanied by hefty price accretion. The ongoing wave of overseascapital is one reason. Irish funds are particularly active locally,but cross-border funds are hardly unilateral. The Middle East andGermany are well-represented, Australian investors are returning,and 50 Milk St.'s Spanish suitor is poised to make its secondhigh-profile deal in the city in a matter of months.