PRAEDIUM GROUP, GRIFFITH PROPERTIES ACQUIRE TWO BOSTON AREA OFFICE PROPERTIES FOR $19 MILLION
August 3, 2004-New York and Boston--The Praedium Group LLC, a New York City-based national real estate investment firm, announced today a joint venture acquisition with Boston-based Griffith Properties LLC to purchase the buildings and 16 acres of developable land located at 200 Ballardvale Street in Wilmington, MA for $19.25 million, or $56 per square foot.
Built in two phases in 1980 and 1984, the 344,863 square foot, three and four-story office buildings are joined by a one-story connector and are 100 percent occupied by the seller, Belgium-based Agfa-Gevaert. The property also includes a 37.6 acre development parcel.
Philip Tager, Director in Praedium's acquisition group stated, "Praedium and Griffith plan a major renovation and upgrade of this property. With Agfa continuing on as a long-term tenant for a portion of the space, we're in a great position to execute new leases as improvements are made to the rest of the property."
J. Brad Griffith, Principal at Griffith Properties, said, "We're excited to be partnering with Praedium on what we expect to be a successful venture. 200 Ballardvale is being redeveloped to accommodate large users of office and R&D space that require a state-of-the-art headquarters in the I-93 corridor with great amenities. We have 200,000 square feet to lease in the near term and we believe that new tenants will be attracted to the 'new' buildings, campus environment as well as the ability to expand onto the adjacent 16-acre land parcel that can accommodate an additional 250,000-300,000 square feet of new construction. We plan to redevelop the property immediately and dramatically improve its quality and profile in the market."
Griffith Properties LLC was founded in 2002 by J. Brad Griffith. The company invests in enhanced core and value-added office and R&D assets in the markets between Boston and Washington, DC. Founded in the end of 2002, Griffith Properties raised a blind-pool, commingled fund to pursue real estate investments. In the last six months, Griffith Properties has made three acquisitions valued at over $50 million.
Prior to founding Griffith Properties, Brad was the founding partner, Chief Investment Officer and Co-CEO of Leggat McCall Properties. Since its beginning in 1978, Leggat McCall Properties acquired or developed 52 buildings containing 7.4 million square feet. They consisted of 14 ground-up developments containing 2.4 million square feet and 38 existing buildings containing 5.0 million square feet. The overall value of those investments is over $1.5 billion.
The Praedium Group is a real estate investor focusing on under-performing and under-valued assets throughout North America, with $4 billion in total investments to date in 1,200 assets comprised of 33 million square feet of commercial space and 28,000 multi-family units. Praedium was formed in 1991 with a leading international investment bank as its sole investor.
Building on the experience and exposure gained through this original investment program, Praedium has been a sponsor of commingled real estate private equity funds since 1994. The funds sponsored by Praedium have attracted investors that include public and corporate pension funds, financial institutions, insurance companies and endowments.
Praedium is currently investing in its most recent $465 million real estate private equity fund, Praedium Fund V. This equity will be leveraged to acquire $1.5 billion in properties. The fund will invest in mid-cap assets throughout the United States and Canada in the $10 to $70 million range, targeting multi-family, office, retail and industrial property types. For more information, please see www.praediumgroup.com.
