Webster Bank Finances Historic Boston Office Building for $25 Million

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BOSTON, June 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Webster Bank, a leading New England financial institution announced today that it has provided $25 million in bridge financing to P6/Saracen Two Oliver Real Estate LLC, a joint venture between Saracen Properties, LLC and AEW Capital Management.  

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110602/NY13322 )

"Two Oliver Street is an historic 11-story office building located in the center of Boston's desirable Financial District, with frontage on Oliver, Milk and Batterymarch Streets, just one block from Post Office Square," said Claudia Piper, Senior Vice President, Commercial Real Estate for Webster Bank. "The four-year loan will provide our clients with additional funding for capital improvements, leasehold improvements and leasing commissions needed in order to reposition the property."

Proposed capital improvements include upgrades to the HVAC system, elevator cabs, and main entrance; increased ceiling heights; and the creation of a second office lobby on Batterymarch Street.  

"AEW and Saracen recently completed a similar repositioning effort at One Washington in the Financial District and we view this as a follow-on opportunity to that successful repositioning," said Marc Davidson, Managing Director at AEW.  "Since acquisition, occupancy at One Washington Mall has increased from 60 percent to almost 90 percent."

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to implement a multi-faceted improvement program to bring this building back to prominence," said Ted Saraceno, President of Saracen Properties. "We are very pleased that Webster Bank shared our vision and sees the opportunity to dramatically upgrade this well-located landmark building."

About Two Oliver Street:

Originally built in 1903 and renovated in 1980, Two Oliver Street is an 11-story, 223,445-square-foot office building located in the center of Boston's Financial District, within two blocks of over five million square feet of first class office space.  The property features a modern entrance lobby on Oliver Street, energy efficient windows, five passenger elevators, and 19,500-square-foot floor plates.  Two Oliver offers on-site dining and Tenant Service shops and enjoys very close proximity to area amenities including numerous restaurants, The Hilton and Langham hotels, banks and health clubs.

Saracen Properties, LLC

Saracen Properties is a commercial real estate company providing development, construction and property management services. The Waltham, Massachusetts based firm is operated by a core group of real estate professionals who each have over twenty years of experience. Since 1982, Saracen has developed and acquired over 4,000,000 square feet of office and technology-related facilities in the Boston market. In addition, the firm manages over 2.5 million square feet of space.

About AEW:

Founded in 1981, AEW Capital Management, L.P. (AEW) provides real estate investment management services to investors worldwide.   One of the world's leading real estate investment advisors, AEW and its affiliates manage over $32 billion of capital invested in $47 billion of property and securities in North America, Europe and Asia (as of March 31, 2011).   Grounded in research and experienced in the complexities of the real estate and capital markets, AEW actively manages portfolios in both the public and private property markets and across the risk/return spectrum.  AEW and its affiliates have offices in Boston, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as additional offices in nine European cities.  For more information please visit www.aew.com.  

About Webster Bank:

Webster Financial Corporation is the holding company for Webster Bank, National Association. With $18.0 billion in assets, Webster provides business and consumer banking, mortgage, financial planning, trust and investment services through 176 banking offices, 492 ATMs, telephone banking and the Internet. Webster Bank owns the asset-based lending firm Webster Business Credit Corporation; the equipment finance firm Webster Capital Finance; and provides health savings account trustee and administrative services through HSA Bank, a division of Webster Bank. Member FDIC and equal housing lender. For more information about Webster, including past press releases and the latest annual report, visit the Webster website at www.websterbank.com.

SOURCE Webster Bank