BILLERICA and MARLBOROUGH, MASS. — Colliers International has secured acquisition financing for a two-building portfolio purchase consisting of 734 Forest St. in Marlborough and 35 Dunham Road in Billerica. The 120,000-square-foot flex/industrial portfolio sold to a New England-based real estate investment firm. Colliers secured the acquisition financing from Belmont Savings. Adam Coppola, Tom Welch, John Poole and Tonia Jenkins of Colliers arranged financing.
Retail vacancy levels declined in 2012 and 2013 in Eastern Massachusetts following several years of rising vacancy rates during the Great Recession. But since 2013, vacancy rates have been on the rise as shopping habits continue to tilt toward online options. In 2016, retail inventory gained modestly, reaching 194.2 million square feet, an increase of 0.5 percent, although no major center opened during the year. The region added 488,800 square feet of vacant retail space, and the vacancy rate increased to 9 percent. Big box closings — notably Sam’s Club, JCPenney, and Kmart — and the departures of Citibank and City Sports, were the primary cause of increasing vacancy. Nonetheless, the region experienced positive absorption, netting 573,600 square feet. As reported in The KeyPoint Report: Eastern Massachusetts/Greater Boston, Boston and Cambridge ranked one and two in the list of top 10 towns by retail square footage. Abington tops the rankings for lowest vacancy rate. Eight of the top 10 towns with the highest vacancy rates are repeats from the previous year; new additions include Wrentham, site of the 135,000-square-foot Wrentham Crossing, which is vacant and currently for sale. The under-2,500-square-foot size classification remains the largest segment of the market, and …
QUINCY, MASS. — Hines is nearing completion of Meriel Marina Bay, a mixed-use development in the Boston suburb of Quincy. Located on a seaside peninsula, the property is situated near I-93 and offers a complimentary shuttle to the Red Line North Quincy MBTA station and a water ferry to downtown Boston. Meriel Marina Bay is a mixed-use development comprising two five-story buildings featuring 352 apartments with garage parking, plus 20,000 square feet of ground-level retail space. Layout options include studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom homes offering views of the Boston skyline, Boston Harbor and the Marina Bay boardwalk. Hines is now leasing the property, with rents ranging from approximately $2,100 to $4,600 per month. The Bozzuto Group will manage Meriel Marina Bay.
BOSTON — Following a long-term ground lease with the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), The Davis Companies (TDC) plans to significantly update 88 Black Falcon Avenue in Boston’s Seaport District. The property, which consists of two three-story interconnected buildings totaling 376,000 square feet, is located within the Raymond L. Flynn Marine Park, which is also home to Cruiseport Boston and the 1.4 million-square-foot Innovation and Design Building. The location offers views of the Boston Harbor as well as direct access to Route 93 and the Massachusetts Turnpike, 550 onsite parking spaces, and its own Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Silver Line Stop. The buildings at 88 Black Falcon Ave. feature ceiling heights ranging from 14 to 20 feet, as well as efficient office and industrial/R&D infrastructure. Optimus Ride Inc., which develops autonomous vehicle technologies, occupies 19,000 square feet on the building’s first floor. As part of the property’s redevelopment, TDC will improve a portion of the Boston Harborwalk, a public promenade that follows the edge of piers, wharves, beaches, and the shoreline around the Harbor. Completion is scheduled for second quarter 2018. “We are undertaking a thorough re-envisioning of this highly flexible, high-quality historic asset as a premier mixed-use development that …
LOWELL, MASS. — Novaya in a joint venture with Hawk Properties entered into a $13.25 million recapitalization of 10 Technology Drive and 55 Technology Drive located in Lowell. The two assets total 146,696 square of office/R&D space. The portfolio, which was initially acquired in 2012, is 84 percent occupied. Tenants include Evoqua Water Technologies, Borrego Solar and Lowell General Hospital.
SOMERVILLE, MASS. — NGKF Capital Markets has completed the recapitalization of 200 Inner Belt Road, a four-story office asset in Somerville. The NGKF Capital Markets Boston team of Robert Griffin, Edward Maher and Matthew Pullen oversaw the recapitalization of the property with North Colony Asset Management on behalf of North River Co. Totaling 190,096 square feet, 200 Inner Belt Road is 97 percent leased to tenants including Harvard University’s Somerville research facility, which includes the Harvard Art Museums Archives, the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis and the museum’s communications division.
BOSTON — Wheelock Street Capital and The Seyon Group have formed a joint venture to acquire industrial real estate assets in prime Northeast markets. The joint venture commenced with the acquisition of three assets totaling $32 million along the Route 128 corridor in Greater Boston. The Seyon Group, recently formed by Bryan Blake, Andrew Iglowski and John Meador, pursues real estate investment opportunities varying in size and scope. The Wheelock/Seyon partnership was formed to take advantage of market forces increasing the demand for flex/industrial assets located in close-in suburban markets. Wheelock is targeting an allocation of $100 million from its current investment vehicle, Wheelock Street Real Estate Fund V, for equity investments in the industrial sector. The partnership has been active in the investment market since the start of 2017.
E-commerce and the growth of the digital age have become important factors in the tightening industrial real estate market. With single-digit vacancy rates becoming the norm in nearly all of the Greater Boston submarkets, existing product cannot supply the space necessary to meet current market demand. Consumers’ shopping attitudes have changed, and retailers are having to adjust their strategies to meet their needs. In 2016, the Greater Boston industrial market recorded vacancies averaging 6.8 percent, the lowest in more than 15 years. The thriving e-commerce industry has been a large factor in the spike in demand. Last year, major e-commerce tenants like Amazon, FedEx and Wayfair expanded their presence in the Boston market with new leases on distribution centers, pushing 2016 absorption to almost 6 million square feet, an all-time record. Retailers are now looking to expand their coverage with multiple warehousing locations, pushing for facilities proximate to their specified consumer base. Instead of having one regional warehouse/distribution center, retail giants have zeroed in on infill submarkets surrounding cities to locate multiple warehouses close to the population center. Just last year, Amazon leased a 96,600-square-foot warehouse in Everett, minutes from Downtown Boston, which would become a base for grocery and …
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. — Matt Halprin of New England Retail Properties has brokered a 24,000-square-foot lease to Liquors 44 at 1755 Boston Road in Springfield. Liquors 44 is locally owned and operated.
BOSTON — Senior Housing Properties Trust (NASDAQ: SNH) has formed a joint venture with a sovereign institutional investor to own 11 Fan Pier and 50 Northern Ave. in Boston. The investor will contribute $261 million for a 45 percent equity interest in the new venture, and SNH will own the remaining 55 percent. The investment amount is based on a property valuation of $1.2 billion, less $620 million of existing secured debt on the property. Senior Housing Properties Trust acquired the property included in the joint venture in May 2014 for $1.1 billion. It consists of two 15-story, LEED Gold-certified life science buildings with structured parking located in Boston’s Seaport District. The two buildings are 95 percent leased to Vertex Pharmaceuticals through 2028 and include 1.1 million square feet of lab, office and retail space. Senior Housing Properties Trust expects to use the cash proceeds from the transaction to repay a portion of the amounts outstanding under its revolving credit facility. Eastdil Secured acted as Senior Housing Properties Trust’s advisor and Sullivan & Worcester LLP provided legal counsel to the company in the transaction. SNH is a publicly traded REIT that invests in seniors housing, medical office buildings, wellness centers and …