Teradyne Building Sold

Boston Business Journal - March 13, 2006
http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2006/03/13/story7.html



Millennium to buy former Teradyne bldg. in Boston
Boston Business Journal - March 10, 2006
by Michelle Hillman
Journal Staff
Millennium Partners is negotiating a deal to buy 179 Lincoln St., one of two buildings owner Teradyne Inc. is selling.
A purchase-and-sale agreement is being negotiated for the 240,000-square-foot office building with the price estimated to be about $100 per square foot, according to sources.
The sale of the Lincoln Street building, along with Teradyne's headquarters building at 321 Harrison Ave., are being brokered by David Pergola Sr., executive vice president of Meredith & Grew Inc., who declined to comment on the buyer or sale price.
Teradyne (NYSE: TER) put its Lincoln Street offices up for sale last year after announcing the company would be leaving the city for the suburbs.
The Lincoln Street property -- located on the edge of the Financial District and bordering Chinatown -- was marketed for sale as a residential conversion site, but developers who looked at the building said the floor space is too large for condos. It is unclear whether Millennium will convert the property for other uses, such as a hotel, or operate it as an office building. Teradyne employees will remain in the Lincoln Street building until this October.
Executives in the Boston office of the New York-based developer could not be reached by press time, but sources confirmed Millennium won the bidding. Others who bid on the property included Griffith Properties LLC, but as of last week the company was thought to be out of the running, said Keith Wallace, director of finance at the Boston-based real estate investment firm.
Last year Millennium sold the two office buildings it developed at 10 St. James and 75 Arlington St. to Boston's Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. for nearly $500 million. In addition to renovating the Ritz-Carlton Boston, Millennium developed the Ritz-Carlton Hotel & Towers, Boston Common, which opened in 2001. Millennium is also the developer of the luxury condominium project called One Charles in Boston's Back Bay.
As of last December, Teradyne had about 470,000 square feet of vacant commercial space in properties the company owns in North Reading. Last year, Teradyne said it would move 800 Boston employees and its headquarters by next year.
The technology company is also selling 321 Harrison Ave. in the South End, with the property officially hitting the market in the last week, said Pergola. The Harrison Avenue building would likely remain office since it is not suited for conversion, said sources. Teradyne could sell the Harrison Avenue building for as much as $60 million, according to a report by Banc of America Securities LLC last September.
Michelle Hillman can be reached at mhillman@bizjournals.com.
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