Image courtesy of LaSalle Investment Management
Nearly two decades after Barnes & Noble exited Boston’s Downtown Crossing, a new ownership team is seeking to reactivate the office-retail property with new tenants.
Boston-based Hudson Group acquired 401 Washington St. for $13 million from a lender in a joint venture with Assembly Investments and New York-based Time Equities.
The 76,000-square-foot building includes two levels of retail space and offices on the upper three stories, all of which is available. The property underwent a series of renovations under the previous owners, including a new facade, roof and elevator replacements and new building systems, said Noam Ron, a partner with Hudson Group.
“We are excited to get it lit up this year with a new tenant. They did a lot of work, and they were a really good steward to a historic asset here,” Ron said.
The price represents an 80 percent discount from 2017, when the 76,000-square-foot property traded for $63.5 million. Developers said the low acquisition price will enable them to offer lower rents to potential tenants.
The new ownership team is focusing on recruiting a single retail tenant for the lower two floors and potentially basement level. Developers have met with the Downtown Boston Alliance to discuss its efforts to revitalize Downtown Crossing and generate more foot traffic, Ron said.
The previous owners, L3 Capital and LaSalle Investment Management, rebranded the property as DTX 399, and hired local brokerages to recruit retail tenants without success. An affiliate of Wells Fargo Bank acquired the property in 2023 for $1.
Assembly Investments is led by Managing Partner Evan Papanastasiou, who brokered the 2017 transaction on behalf of the seller, and now focuses on acquisitions of historic properties in Boston and New York.
Completed in 1925, the property was designed by Boston architect Nathaniel J. Bradlee. It was home to a variety of retail anchors over the years including B.W. Currier and W.T. Grant.
Boston Realty Advisors represented the ownership in the latest transaction.