Sears' Crescent Building Sold For $23.8M

A joint venture between Chevron Partners, a Boston-based private real estate firm, and Fulton, a Paris-based developer/operator, has purchased the Sears' Crescent building in Boston for for $23.8 million. The 50,000 square foot office and retail building was sold by Boston's Copley Investments, which purchased the property in 1996 for $4.25 million. The acquisition marks the joint venture’s third acquisition in Boston, along with the 10 Winthrop Square office building and the seven-unit Maison Vernon luxury condo building on Beacon Hill, according to a Banker & Tradesman report. Copley Investments was represented by Newmark Grubb Knight Frank in the deal; full terms were not disclosed, but Hingham Institution for Savings provided a $15.2 million mortgage for the acquisition.

Sears' Crescent at 100 City Hall Plaza (formerly 38-68 Cornhill) was first constructed in 1816 as a series of commercial rowhouses and is one of Boston's most historic office buildings. Around 1860 these were given a unified curving facade with Italianate styling. The Sears Block, built in 1848, is a rare surviving instance of granite post-and-lintel construction. Both buildings were developed by David Sears, a leading mid-19th-century developer of Boston who was responsible for the filling of Back Bay. They are the only buildings that remain on the original route of Cornhill Street, one of Boston's oldest streets.

The property was renovated in 2000 under Copley's ownership, with designs from Blackstone Block Architects, to include adding on a sixth floor to the building along with modernized HVAC and security equipment. The building was 100% leased at the time of sale with major tenants including Massachusetts Health Connector, Lubin & Meyer PC, and Communications Media Advisors, which their headquarters to 100 City Hall Plaza in 2012.

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