Converted mill in Gateway Park resold at 130% price increase after five years

Photo | Timothy Doyle 85 Prescott St., Worcester

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By Timothy Doyle

An 87,564-square-foot office building and associated parking lots in Worcester were sold for $18.3 million on Friday, according to the Worcester District Registry of Deeds.

The repurposed mill building at 85 Prescott St., along with lots at 85 and 89 Prescott St. were sold to three limited liability corporations in Northborough and Leominster, all registered to investor Karim Jouki.

The location is home to Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Massachusetts Academy of Math & Science and various medical offices. There is no indication that the sale will affect tenants of the building.

The properties were last sold for $8 million in 2016 to Prescott Street Family Properties LLC of Worcester, which sold them to Jouki on Friday.

In 2016, Prescott Street Family Properties LLC announced Worcester real estate brokerage NAI Glickman Kovago and Jacobs would take over leasing and development of the property. The property was partially leased at the time and previously owned by four parties including the Worcester Business Development Corp. and WPI.

Glickman renovated the remaining 40% of the building that was unfinished and eventually leased 100% of the building, according to the brokerage firm’s website.

The building was one of the first projects as part of Gateway Park, a redevelopment initiative begun by WPI and the WBDC.

In 2020, Jouki purchased a Milford office park at 113 Water St. for $4.3 million. Jouki also owns the Riverview Towers Apartments in Fall River, which he bought in 2018 for $15.9 million, according to the Fall River District Registry of Deeds.

The City of Worcester assesses three Prescott Street properties at $9.6 million.

Jouki fled Lebanon in 1970 with $46 in his pocket and currently owns several apartment complexes, according to a 2018 story in The Herald News in Fall River.