Sale of Watertown Arsenal to Athenahealth Finalized

The sale of the Arsenal on the Charles complex by Harvard University to athenahealth has been finalized.

The 760,000 square foot, 11-building complex was purchased for $168.5 million, according to a report on Market Watch.  

News of the sale first came out in December 2012. Harvard purchased the former U.S. Army complex in 2001 for $162.6 million. It used to be known as the Watertown Arsenal and served as a military munitions manufacturing facility.

Athenahealth, which specializies in cloud-based health care services, already uses 330,000 square feet of the site. 

The tech company moved to the Arsenal on the Charles in 2005 when it moved into 133,000 square feet of space, and it reportedly sought 500,000 for its new headquarters, according to Market Watch.

"We are excited to deepen our roots in Massachusetts; Watertown is our home," said Jonathan Bush, Chair and CEO of athenahealth. "The Arsenal on the Charles offers athenahealth everything we could ask for in a headquarters; its open and expansive architecture, outdoor campus feel, strong community, and proximity to Boston fit with our culture, strengthen our standing as a top employer, and provide an inspirational backdrop as we work to be medical caregivers' most trusted service"

Other locations were considered, but athenahealth chose to stay in town.

"While there were a number of viable options we considered, none of them provided the unique backdrop or a stronger link to our culture, growth needs and vision for health care as did the Arsenal and the local Watertown community, which for years we've considered our team to be a part of," said Carolyn Reckman, vice president of athenaEnvironment.

The company said it would honor the leases of the current tenants at the site when the sale was first announced. 

Currently more than 90 percent of the Arsenal on the Charles is leased. Along with athenahealth, other major tenants include Harvard Business School Publishing (100,000 sf), Bright Horizons (90,000 sf) and Boston Sports Club (50,000 sf).