Mass Ave building changes hands

An iconic flatiron building on Massachusetts Avenue downtown has a new owner nearly three years after the property first went on the market, IBJ’s Chip Cutter reports in this week’s Real Estate Weekly. Larry Browning of Shelbyville-based Evergreen Investment Corp. paid $3.2 million for the historic three-story Argyle on Mass Ave building at the corner of East Street and Massachusetts Avenue. He plans to spend between $200,000 and $300,000 over the next five years to upgrade the mixed-use property, which contains 17,787 square feet of retail space on the basement and first floors and 36 mostly one-bedroom apartments on the upper levels. “It won’t be dramatic,” he said, “but there will be lots of little areas where we’re going to spend some money on just gradually improving the property.” The ground-floor retail space is home to Mediterranean restaurant Aesop’s Tables, caterer Boun Gusto Unique Events, hair salon Michael’s on Mass and local retailers Interior Life and The Stamp Shop. The upstairs apartment units, which rent from $550 to $700 a month, rarely have vacancies, Browning said. Key priorities will be sprucing up the apartment units and finding a tenant or two to occupy the 6,000 square feet of vacant space in the building’s basement. See the full story here.