READING, MASS. — Locally based brokerage firm Atlantic Capital Partners has arranged the sale of a 30,000-square-foot retail building in Reading, a northern suburb of Boston. HomeGoods occupies the entirety of the freestanding building, which sold for $5.6 million. Justin Smith, Chris Peterson, Sam Koonce and Matt Austin of Atlantic Capital Partners represented the buyer and seller, both of which requested anonymity, in the transaction.
BOSTON — Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has renewed its lease for approximately 1.1 million square feet of office and life sciences space at 50 Northern Avenue and 11 Fan Pier Boulevard in Boston. According to Loopnet Inc., both buildings were constructed in 2013 and total 587,374 and 543,098 square feet, respectively. Vertex’s existing lease, which expires in December 2028, was extended for approximately 15 years through June 2044. A joint venture that includes locally based REIT Diversified Healthcare Trust (NASDAQ: DHC) owns both buildings. The RMR Group provides property and asset management services for the joint venture.
ANDOVER, MASS. — Locally based general contractor and construction management firm Vantage Builders has completed a 10,000-square-foot headquarters expansion project for NEOLab in Andover, a northern suburb of Boston. The orthodontic laboratory operator essentially doubled its footprint across the first and second floors of the building at 3 Riverside Drive. Maugel DeStefano Architects designed the project, which delivered two 3D metal printing laboratories, an open office layout, new education space, lunchroom and a renovated warehouse and storage area.
BOSTON — Locally based brokerage firm Atlantic Capital Partners has negotiated the $4 million sale of an 11,323-square-foot vacant commercial building in downtown Boston. According to LoopNet Inc., the building at 19-21 School St. was originally built in 1953 and can support both office and retail uses. Justin Smith, Chris Peterson, Sam Koonce and Matt Ericson of Atlantic Capital Partners represented the seller and procured the buyer, both of which requested anonymity, in the transaction.
NATICK, MASS. — Design-build firm Dacon Corp. has completed a 7,400-square-foot industrial and life sciences expansion project in Natick, a western suburb of Boston. The project is a build-to-suit for Kula Bio, which specializes in the production of agricultural products that serve as replacements to synthetic fertilizers. The facility includes manufacturing, office and research-and-development space. Kula Bio initially opened its 7,500-square-foot headquarters in Natick in late 2021 with the expectation of expanding.
BOSTON — Locally based investment and management firm Capital Properties has received a $19 million loan for the refinancing of The S.S. Pierce Building, a 72,790-square-foot office and retail building located in the Brookline area of Boston. Originally constructed in 1898 for grocer S.S. Pierce, the building currently features street-level retail space and three levels of office space. Brookline Bank is a retail tenant, and the office component includes users in the financial services and behavioral health fields, among others. Patrick Boyle, Kevin Phelan and Rose Liu of Colliers arranged the fixed-rate loan through an undisclosed balance sheet lender on behalf of Capital Properties.
NEWTON, MASS. — Marcus & Millichap has negotiated the $15.2 million sale of Curtis Arms Apartments, a 44-unit multifamily building located in the western Boston suburb of Newton. The property consists of four buildings that each house 11 two-bedroom units on a 1.8-acre site. The Curtis Family originally developed the property in 1969 and sold it to an undisclosed buyer. Tony Pepdjonovic and Evan Griffith of Marcus & Millichap brokered the deal.
MENDON, MASS. — A joint venture between Los Angeles-based PCCP LLC and regional developer Bluewater Property Group will develop a 205,445-square-foot industrial project in Mendon, about 45 miles southwest of Boston. The site at 23 Cape Road spans 21 acres, and the building will feature a clear height of 32 feet, 34 dock doors, 135-foot truck court depths, 206 car parking spaces and 20 excess trailer parking spaces. Construction is scheduled to begin later this month and be complete by summer 2025.
BOSTON — CBRE has brokered the sale of a 200-unit apartment complex in East Boston. Built in 2018 and known as Boston East, the six-story building houses studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units and amenities such as a clubroom with meeting space, sky lounge and terrace, fitness center and community arts space. Simon Butler, Biria St. John, John McLaughlin and Brian Bowler of CBRE represented the seller, an affiliate of Los Angeles-based investment firm American Realty Advisors, in the transaction. CBRE also procured the buyer, Goldman Sachs Alternatives.
By Taylor Williams Heath Ledger, squaring off against Batman as The Joker, observed, “so this is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immoveable object.” The late great actor’s metaphor for the stalemate that ensues when entities of equal and opposing power collide could almost be used to describe the current state of the Boston retail market. For while the sector continues to see high levels of tenant demand and the locale retains an array of proven demand drivers, the lack of new supply means that a ceiling of sorts on the growth of the market as a whole is taking shape. And the factors that form the foundation of this ceiling are very unlikely to bend, much less break. Minimal gains in new inventory have long plagued the Boston retail market, and the current scenario is no exception. According to data from CoStar Group, the market added 518,000 square feet of new space in the 12-month period that ended June 30 but absorbed approximately 1 million square feet of space during that time. Vacancy thus remains extremely tight at 2.3 percent. In formulating its latest report on the Boston retail market, CoStar noted that Beantown retailers would “largely …