The multifaceted deal included reaching terms on the sale, a new lease for a major tenant and a construction loan for renovations. “A lot of these layers were hitting at the same time,” said the broker.
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The $33.8 million sale of a 195,000-square-foot class A office property at 100 Middle St. in Portland is the state’s largest office building deal and the second-largest deal for all commercial categories so far this year.
CF 100 Middle LLC bought the property, built in 1987 and renovated in 2023, from Albany Road-Partners LLC.
The same day as the sale, a major tenant — law firm Bernstein Shur — signed a new long-term lease on its 52,000 square feet of office space and closed a construction loan to fund its plan to renovate the space as a state-of-the-art headquarters.
Joseph Porta of Porta & Co. represented both sides in the off-market sale as well as Bernstein Shur in its lease transaction with CF 100 Middle LLC.
The property
The property consists of an east and a west tower, seven stories each, and 245 spaces of structured parking on 1.59 acres. In addition to Bernstein Shur in the west tower, anchor tenants include a U.S. Attorney’s Office, Medical Mutual Insurance Co. and wealth management firm Morgan Stanley in the eastern tower.
The seller
The seller’s limited liability corporation is owned by Albany Road Real Estate Partners, a Boston-based real estate investment and management firm that bought 100 Middle St. in 2015 for $35.3 million.
The sale came about through discussions between Porta and Jeffrey Foresman, Albany’s managing director in asset management. The two met in April 2025 to discuss Bernstein Shur’s upcoming lease expiration, with the goal of identifying the amount of financing needed for “the future programming demands of the super class A occupier, as well as systems upgrades that would integrate with this level of capital improvement,” said Porta, who has represented Bernstein Shur for over nine years.
“Our property was a single-purpose investment vehicle entity and faced capital constraints in terms of providing Bernstein with a market high-end refurbishment of their premises, which would be expected for a tenant of their caliber seeking a long-term lease,” Foresman said in a written statement to Mainebiz.
Porta said that he and Foresman agreed the building would need to be recapitalized to deliver the level of investment needed for the deal and the facility. The two arrived at a plan for an off-market sale to a buyer who would share their investment plan, with mutual benefit for the buyer, seller and tenant.
Long-time tenant
Bernstein Shur was one of the building’s original tenants, but the firm’s space had been largely untouched over the years, said Porta.
“Programmatically, it needed work and the whole building had a capital expense schedule that needed to be accelerated to match the level of investment undertaken with the Bernstein upgrades,” Porta said.
The goal for Bernstein Shur, he said, is to take their space from Class A to “super Class A,” including layout efficiencies and optimization, technology and systems upgrades, and vertical integration of client activities for an investment of about $17.5 million, he said.
Among the overall capital improvements needed are investments to the lobby, elevators and exterior building envelope.
“A lot of these layers were hitting at the same time,” Porta said.
To come up with an ideal space plan and design for current and future operations of Bernstein Shur’s headquarters, Sherry Niazmand and her team at Boston architectural firm Visnick & Caulfield Associates Inc. were brought onboard. Visnick & Caulfield had previously worked on designs for 100 Middle St.
The architecture team engineered a needs assessment and a custom plan for attorney and client-facing functions, adding amenities, technology upgrades and a program to facilitate how practice groups and support staff work together today.
The buyer
Achieving all of the objectives meant finding a buyer willing to invest in multi-million-dollar building upgrades, and work creatively on a rent structure for Bernstein said Porta.
The acquiring limited liability corporation, CF 100 Middle LLC, is owned by the Cianchette family, owners of portfolio of businesses and real estate including the Regency Hotel in Portland as well as the parking lots and office buildings adjacent to 100 Middle St. to the west, said Porta.
Year-long negotiations
Porta navigated year-long negotiations between buyer CF 100 Middle LLC, seller Albany and tenant Bernstein Shur. The complex transaction included an initial in-depth underwriting exercise for the buyer to establish a range of outcomes that could simultaneously solve for the budgetary and program outcomes of Bernstein Shur and disposition for Albany Road.
The negotiation of a purchase-and-sale contract, a negotiation of a new 22-year lease between the buyer and Bernstein, an origination of a construction loan for Bernstein to cover additional tenant improvements costs and concurrently serving as the escrow company were all Porta’s responsibilities.
Foresman credited Porta for his real estate acumen and the trust he inspired in all parties.
All together, Porta said, “the deal delivers a solution for the seller that did not contemplate a major vacancy. The tenant achieves an investment partner to access a new standard of Class A office at an attenuated rent, while the new landlord acquires a marquee office asset with a stabilized rent roll at a risk-adjusted cost basis and ample room to appreciate.”
Stephanie Meagher, head of research for Mainebiz parent company New England Business Media, contributed to this report.
