Blackstone seeking US$1.5b for Boston Office buildings

[SEATTLE] Blackstone Group LP is seeking about US$1.5 billion for two Boston office buildings acquired in the 2007 buyout of Equity Office Properties Trust, said two people with knowledge of the marketing.

The buildings, at 500 Boylston St. and 222 Berkeley St, occupy the same block and share a garage. The Boylston tower has 758,320 square feet (70,448 square meters), and the other property has 553,321 square feet, according to Equity Office's website. The marketing began this week, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the effort is private.

Christine Anderson, a Blackstone spokeswoman, declined to comment on the plans, which were reported late Tuesday by newsletter Real Estate Alert.

Blackstone has said it's likely to seek buyers by the end of the year for the roughly 10 million square feet of buildings it still holds from the Equity Office purchase. The company has been selling assets amid a recovery in office occupancies and demand for prime real estate in coastal markets. Before being taken over, Equity Office owned stakes in 543 buildings with 103.1 million square feet.

In April, Blackstone sold 26 Northern California properties with 8.2 million square feet along with two development parcels to Hudson Pacific Properties Inc. The price was US$1.75 billion in cash and about 63.5 million Hudson Pacific shares currently valued at more than US$1.9 billion.

BLOOMBERG