With a focus on expansion to the US in Washington, DC, New York City and Boston, and after establishing a strong presence in the first two, we secured an opportunity to enter the Boston market at scale.
In 2014, we entered the fast-growing innovation and education hub, acquiring a 2.7 million square foot, four-property portfolio of highly-recognized office towers. Since then, we have acquired an additional four office towers, one residential tower and two major development sites. We have also sold one office tower, undertaken major capital improvement projects and submitted a development application to build a state-of-the-art office tower.
Our conviction for the market is clear to see. Less than two years after our first transaction we were already the second largest landlord in the market.
Our broad and talented local team has deep experience and has transformed the portfolio dramatically. We attracted sophisticated institutional co-investors to several of the assets, with Oxford performing the role of general partner in all cases. We created value for our customers and partners by reimagining the modern workplace and elevating at-grade experiences. We redeveloped lobbies into vibrant experiences, repositioned underutilized spaces into first-class wellness-focused amenities, and curated highly desirable retail and food and beverage offerings.
We have built strong connections with our city, customers and community members. We actively engage them whether we’re remerchandising amenities, developing new programming or planning a new development. Their input and feedback are vital.
Boston continues to be an area of focus for Oxford. And with two major development projects on the horizon, we’re excited by what’s to come.