Tufts Health Plan will be swapping its Watertown headquarters for a location in Canton after it merges with Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and the building on Mt. Auburn Street will be acquired by a real estate investor.
The health insurer has called the former Western Electric Co. headquarters home since 1997. The two non-profit health insurers will move to the former Reebok headquarters in Canton after the merge later this year, the Boston Globe reported.
Meanwhile, the 540,000-sq.-ft. property at 705 Mt. Auburn St. will be taken over by San Francisco-based Spear Street Capital. The company has office properties around the world, including Wellesley and Burlington in Massachusetts.
“The San Francisco fund operator has arranged an off-market trade with Tufts Health Plan to take over the insurer’s approximately 600,000-square-foot headquarters building in Watertown, Mass.,” reported Real Estate Alert.
Watertown has become a draw for biotech companies, including new space at Arsenal Yards (the former Arsenal Mall) and at the Arsenal on the Charles. The later property was purchased recently by Alexandria Real Estate Equities from Athenahealth, and according to the Boston Business Journal “sees 153,000 square feet of life-sciences redevelopment potential there.”
Tax ramifications???????
Tufts is a nonprofit. Presumably they don’t pay taxes. The real estate developer will pay taxes.
As a life-long resident of the area, what are the plans for the property?
No clear plans have been announced, but according to the Boston Business Journal they plan to turn it into space for biotech companies.
Mount Auburn Hospital employees have been parking there for a long time. I wonder if that will still be an option. They really need a lot of parking for staff.