Rubenstein buys Boston-area office park

Rubenstein Partners has purchased CenterPoint, a 500,000-square-foot office complex in Waltham, Massachusetts, through a joint venture with local developer and operator Saracen Properties. The acquisition represents Rubenstein’s first investment on behalf of Rubenstein Properties Fund II, its second value-added office fund. The Philadelphia-based private equity real estate firm did not indicate in its announcement how large a stake it purchased in the property or how much it paid for its ownership interest. Both Rubenstein and Saracen could not be reached for comment at press time.

Saracen has owned CenterPoint since 2007, when it formed a joint venture with a Trammel Crow acquisition vehicle to purchase and redevelop the former Raytheon headquarters site at 41 Seyon Street and 43 Foundry Avenue into so-called creative office space. The parties paid $37.5 million for the 24-acre property and spent about $72.5 million to redevelop the site, according to data provider Real Capital Analytics.

“The closing of this transaction represents the continued successful execution of our firm's ‘value-added’ strategy,” said David Rubenstein, senior managing principal, in a statement. “It was made possible by our continued commitment to penetrate markets throughout a broad geographic area, including gateway markets such as Boston, by leveraging our in-house regional directors in conjunction with local operating partners.”

Ted Saraceno, president of Saracen Properties, added: “We are extremely excited about the prospects for the future with Rubenstein Partners as we continue to expand the repositioning efforts at CenterPoint. It has been a dramatic transformation to date and, with all that is happening in the neighborhood in regards to retail and residential development, we are poised to see this transformation continue into the future.”

Rubenstein, which was founded in September 2005, focuses on value-added office investments primarily in the eastern US. In May, the firm held a first close on $113 million in equity commitments for Rubenstein Properties Fund II, which is targeting $750 million, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Rubenstein raised $475 million for its first value-added office fund, Rubenstein Properties Fund, in 2006.