Westwood Station Mortgage Holder to Sell Portfolio

Anglo Irish Bank, the mortgage holder for Westwood Station, recently announced that it was to sell its portfolio of U.S. assets, Westwood's Economic Development Officer Chris McKeown confirmed last week. 

"They have actively put their whole $10 billion portfolio out to market," McKeown said. "Essentially, they are finally moving forward to sell all these notes and allow new ownership to come in and pursue foreclosures."

Eastern Real Estate and New England Development, he added, are still in the hunt to ultimately end up with Westwood Station. 

Eastern Real Estate for the property last fall. But a purchase never took place, as a number of conditions that needed to be satisfied in the agreement were never met. 

One of the conditions was for Commonfund Realty Investors, LLC to transfer the deed of the property to Eastern.

The company's failure to comply forced the hand of Westwood officials in November, when the town , as it sought outstanding taxes and demands on escrowed cash, as well as cash guarantees for the restoration of the slow-evolving University Avenue. 

While Anglo Irish Bank's move to sell its portfolio could help move things along, McKeown said nothing is concrete. 

"In the greater scheme of things, Westwood Station is a very small piece of this portfolio," he said.

However, he added, the bank is looking for bids by the end of August. 

"Theoretically, the desire is to get it moving quickly," McKeown said. "But time will tell how that goes."