PEABODY, MASS. — Barton Associates has signed a lease for 50,500 square feet of medical office space at 300 Jubilee Dr. in Peabody. The firm plans to relocate its headquarters to the new space in April. With the relocation, the medical practice is doubling its existing office space at 10 Dearborn Road. Demetri Koutrouvelis and Nicole Miller of Savills Studley represented Barton Associates in the transaction.
MASHPEE, MASS. — Dividend Capital has acquired South Cape Village, a retail center in Mashpee, from Mashpee Investors LLC for $35.5 million. The 143,477-square-foot lifestyle center features a variety of tenants, including Roche Brothers, Marshalls, Walgreens, Olympia Sports and Santander Bank. Robert Griffin, Geoffrey Millerd and Justin Smith of Cushman & Wakefield negotiated the transaction on behalf of Mashpee Investors LLC.
WALTHAM, MASS. — Transwestern | RBJ has brokered the sale of two office buildings, located at 1432 and 1440 Main St. in Waltham. Charles River Realty Investors and Crosspoint Associates Inc. sold the properties to Ferris Development for $22.3 million. The two-building portfolio totals 134,839 square feet of office space and is 90 percent occupied. Ferris Development plans to upgrade the base infrastructure of the buildings and make cosmetic improvements to the lobbies, common areas and restrooms. Chris Skeffington, Ron Friedman and Roy Sandeman of Transwestern | RBJ represented the seller and procured the buyer in the transaction.
BOSTON — Boston Capital is investing in the construction of Patriot Homes, an affordable multifamily community in Boston. General partners for the 24-unit property are Braintree, Mass.-based Caritas Communities and Boston-based South Boston Neighborhood Development Corp. Located in the South Boston neighborhood, the property will feature 12 studios, two one-bedroom units and 10 two-bedroom units. Community amenities will include a community room with a kitchen and a common laundry facility room. Patriot Homes will be built with tax credit equity from the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, offering homes to veterans, individuals and families earning 60 percent or less of the area median income.
CAMBRIDGE, MASS. — Akamai Technologies, a provider of cloud services, has signed a 10-year lease for 67,000 square feet at 50 Hampshire in Cambridge. The company will occupy the entire sixth and seventh floors of the building and use the space to expand its Cambridge office, which serves as its U.S. headquarters. BioMed Realty owns the property, which will be 50 percent leased once Akamai takes occupancy. Terms of the transaction were not released.
HOPKINTON, MASS. — R.W. Holmes has negotiated the sale of a multi-tenanted flex building, located at 227-233 South St. in Hopkinton. 227-229 South Street LLC purchased the 43,000-square-foot property for $5.35 million from Mar S. Maple Realty Trust. Precision Digital Corp. will renovate and occupy 21,000 square feet of the property. Craig Johnston of R.W. Holmes procured and represented the buyer, while John Eysenbach, also of R.W. Holmes, represented the seller in the transaction.
BOSTON — An affiliate of The Grossman Companies Inc. has acquired a self-storage facility in Boston’s Roslindale neighborhood. Located at 34-44 Lochdale Road, the 44,000-square-foot facility features 366 storage units, as well as 17,000 square feet of commercial space that is leased to two tenants. The property was purchased for $8.8 million, including a $6.4 million acquisition loan provided by Brookline Bank. The name of the seller was not released.
WAKEFIELD, MASS. — Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has opened its third Four Points hotel in the metro Boston area. Located at 1 Audubon Road in Wakefield, newly converted Four Points by Sheraton Wakefield Boston Hotel & Conference features 280 guestrooms, an 18,000-square-foot conference center, full-service dining and an indoor pool. The hotel is owned and operated by Meera LLC, an entity of Jamsan Hotel Management. Additionally, the hotel is scheduled to complete a $5 million renovation to upgrade all guestrooms and public areas by early next year.
WORCESTER, MASS. — Hertz Investment Group has acquired Chestnut Place, a two-building office complex located in Worcester’s central business district. The 218,625-square-foot asset, including One Chestnut Place and Two Chestnut Place, sold for $14 million. Constructed in 1990, the 183,781-square-foot One Chestnut Place is currently 98 percent leased to tenants, including Fallon Community Health, UBS Financial Services and Sullivan Group Insurance. Two Chestnut Place, which was built in the 1800s, features 38,844 square feet of Class B office space. Two levels of underground parking and an outdoor plaza connect the two buildings.
By all measures, 2014 was the strongest year in recent memory for the Boston office market. With an approximate 1.8 million square feet of positive net absorption, nearly 5 million square feet of tenant demand, and continued development around the city, Boston remained one the country’s strongest markets. It’s not news that proximity to parking, public transportation, restaurants, bars and other amenities keeps employees happy. But Boston’s escalating prices mean cost-conscious companies must evaluate their downtown options — which means they have begun trading other items of importance, such as locational cachet, space configuration, look, feel and ultimately building type, for access to amenities. As a result, if 2013 was the year of the Seaport, then 2014 was the year of Downtown Crossing (DTX). With the renovation of 10 Summer Street and Havas’ 120,000-square-foot move to the Millennium redevelopment complete, other companies have followed suit. The third and fourth quarters brought more than 250,000 square feet of deals to 500 Washington Street. Carbonite and Sonos took 52,000 square feet and 170,000 square feet, respectively, in the third quarter, while Safari Books Online took 30,000 square feet in the fourth. Prominent national non-profit Year Up also consolidated its headquarters near DTX …