This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
Boston-based developer Marcus Partners has closed on its fourth fund after raising $650M, far exceeding its initial target of $500M.
The fund, named the Marcus Capital Partners Fund IV, also surpassed its original hard cap of $550M, the company announced Tuesday. The closing comes after Marcus Partners finalized its third fund in January 2021 with $360M, its previous largest haul.
“Amidst today’s volatile investment landscape, we remain keenly focused on capital preservation,” Marcus Partners CEO Paul Marcus said in a release. “We have a demonstrated track record of investing across economic cycles and our vertically-integrated team is well-positioned to capitalize on dislocations in our target, knowledge-based markets.”
Marcus Partners has been active in the Seaport, most recently submitting a proposal for a city-owned parcel on Channel Street. The firm also broke ground on its Foundry at Drydock development in June. The building is already fully leased to Ginkgo Bioworks, a Boston-based cell programming platform.
SALES
Innovative Industrial Properties Inc. acquired a 104K SF regulated cannabis cultivation and processing facility in Webster, Massachusetts, for $21.5M, it announced last week. The firm also entered a long-term triple-net lease agreement for the property with Curaleaf Holdings Inc.
IIP has Curaleaf as a tenant for four other cultivation and processing facilities and three dispensaries. In total, IIP owns 111 properties totaling 8.7M SF across 19 states.
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Two Marriott-branded hotels were sold in Woburn and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, JLL announced. The seller, a joint venture between Contrarian Capital Management and Waramaug Hospitality, sold the Fairfield Inn Boston Woburn/Burlington and Fairfield Inn Portsmouth Seacoast.
The hotels each went through significant renovations in 2015 and 2016. The Fairfield Inn Boston is a 126-room hotel 10 miles northwest of Boston, and the Fairfield Inn Portsmouth Seacoast is a 102-room hotel 50 miles north of Boston. Both hotels include fitness centers, seasonal outdoor pools, complimentary breakfasts and free on-site parking. JLL's Alan Suzuki, Matthew Enright, Emily Zhang and Miranda Guajardo represented the seller.
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South Shore-based investment and development firm FoxRock acquired two industrial properties in Pawtucket and Providence totaling 232K SF. The property at 500 Narragansett Park Drive in Pawtucket is a 151K SF manufacturing facility on 14 acres, and the deal was a sale-leaseback with Visual Creations, a visual merchandising manufacturer.
The 55 Dupont Drive property in Providence is an 81K SF manufacturing facility that is fully occupied by Veranex, a medical technology development provider. The building offers a mix of lab, warehouse and office space.
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Software company MathWorks bought a 115K SF office building next to one of its other campuses in Natick for $18M, the Boston Business Journal reported. The five-story building is located at 24 Superior Drive on Route 9 near the company's Lakeside campus.
The firm bought the 4.5-acre site from LMF Cochituate Corp. The property was the former Boston Scientific headquarters. R.W. Holmes' Garry Holmes and Elizabeth Holmes worked on the deal.
LEASES
Ultragenyx, a California-based biopharma company, became the first tenant in a life sciences development in Somerville's Brickbottom neighborhood, Banker & Tradesman reported Tuesday. Ultragenyx will occupy more than 42K SF at 100 Chestnut St., a 209K SF office and lab building expected to be completed in 2023.
Developer North River Leerink, a joint venture of North River Co. and Leerink Development, received a $192.5M construction loan from Square Mile Capital for the project in June. The project is located in an opportunity zone next to the new MBTA Green Line extension. North River Leerink also owns 86 Joy St., where it is considering a three-building redevelopment.
CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT
Three development teams filed proposals for a city-owned parcel in the Seaport that was once the home of a Stavis Seafoods processing facility. The proposals were for any commercial project, except hotel or residential, and the teams were also asked to come up with sustainability designs when filing.
Marcus Partners and RISE Together proposed a 181K SF lab building that would include classroom space for training programs. Lincoln Property Co. and Quaker Lane Capital also proposed a 181K SF building but included a 7K SF community training lab and a 6,570 SF café, in addition to lab and office space. Beacon Capital Partners and the Boston Real Estate Inclusion Fund proposed a 282K SF office and lab building that includes 4,160 SF of ground-floor marine industrial use and an option for a 10K SF fire station.
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Samuels & Associates turned a former Gulf gas station with a Dunkin' counter into a temporary arts and community events space, according to the BBJ. 1400 Boylston St. is ultimately planned to be a major 553K SF mixed-use development in the Fenway community.
Samuels has a history of transforming spaces like the former Goodyear site across the street that is now a Target. The firm hosted a farmers market and pop-up shops while plans were being developed for that project.
