NANTUCKET—Exclusive broker Boston Realty Advisors dubbed it “absolutely irreplaceable,” and that outlook five years ago has been validated in this week’s $25.1 million trade of a hospitality and retail portfolio taking up an entire downtown block, the four buildings with 60 rentals mixing old-world charm and new construction in the epicenter of all the island retreat offers the ultimate constituency of summertime tourists. The buyer is an affiliate of Boston-based Blue Flag Development, according to Registry of Deeds records.

Contacted by Real Reporter late Thursday, BRA founding principal Jason S. Weissman confirms sale of “The Nantucket Portfolio,” the deal evidenced in Registry records showing client Center St. ACKquisition LLC harvesting the properties that entity purchased back in 2005 for $10.8 million. Ownership has since improved their value sufficient to yield over $1,075 per sf for the 23,350 sf BRA was tabbed to market in summer 2014, an assignment initially detailed in Real Reporter. On another metric, the sale equates to nearly $420,000 per hospitality unit.

Beyond acknowledging closing of “The Nantucket Portfolio,” Weissman would not discuss the assignment further, citing client confidentiality reasons, but in the original Real Reporter article written right after the listing’s launch, BRA indicated the buildings had already generated over seven dozen inquiries “from across the globe,” with factors cited beyond the iconic cachet of Nantucket including potential operational efficiencies through new technology and pushing retail rents in a district where new inventory is difficult to permit.

Joining Weissman in orchestrating the agreement was Managing Director and partner Nicholas M. Herz and Associate Director Kevin Benzinger. Blue Flag Development is headquartered in Boston with a Nantucket office as well. Its founding principals are Brad Guidi and Terry Sanford. There was no indication whether the Nantucket purchase is being leveraged. Timothy D. White is manager of Center Street ACKquisition LLC; that group has financed their holdings through the years, most recently via a $14.5 million loan from HarborOne Bank in June 2015.

Besides a trio of buildings dating to the mid-1800s, the Nantucket Portfolio does have one structure built in 2013, 4 Chestnut St., that piece totaling just over 7,000 sf known as The Gate House featuring 21 units. The others are at 29 and 31 Center St. and 11 India St. Each has its own name, with Meeting House a blend of first-floor retail and eight rooms, Manor House featuring retail and 15 rooms and Roberts House, a 16-unit building.

For BRA, a Hub-based operation active in the urban centers of Boston and Cambridge, the Nantucket result adds to a growing list of hospitality and hotel trades completed this decade.

Read more at: https://therealreporter.com/article/boston_realty_advisors_completes_25.1m_sale_of_prized_downtown_nantucket_in