Long-Vacant DTX Property Hits Market

Image courtesy of Boston Realty Advisors

A Downtown Crossing building that was renovated by a developer following the departure of Barnes & Noble is back on the market as a potential value-added investment opportunity.

Boston Realty Advisors is listing the 76,000-square-foot property at 399 Washington St., which includes vacant office and retail space, on behalf of a lending institution.

Developers L3 Capital and LaSalle Investment Management paid $63 million in 2017 for the 5-story property across from Millennium Tower. The new owners restored the deteriorating Beaux Arts facade and installed a new metal facade on the lower floors, and hired a pair of retail brokerages to market the space which had been vacant since the bookseller’s departure in 2006.

The property also underwent a base building renovation project in 2021, according to Boston Realty Advisors.

Redus Properties, an affiliate of Wells Fargo Bank, acquired the property in December 2023 for $1, according to data compiled by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

The property is now being marketed by Boston Realty Advisors Managing Director Whitney Gallivan as a value-add opportunity, with retail space available on the lower two floors and below-grade, and office space available on the third through fifth floors.

To offset declining office occupancy, Boston officials are seeking to encourage redevelopment of properties in the Downtown Crossing area through proposed rezoning for taller building heights, and offering property tax incentives for office-to-residential conversions.