This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
Oxford Properties Group acquired a biomanufacturing facility in Marlborough in a $125M sale-leaseback.
The firm bought the 120K SF property from California-based biomanufacturing company Resilience, which will occupy the site at 92 Crowley Drive. The site is under construction, but when fully complete, it will act as Resilience's flagship facility in the U.S.
"Our acquisition of 92 Crowley aligns strongly with our biomanufacturing strategy," Oxford Director of Investments Christie Chen said in a release. "Its proximity to our existing cGMP investments in Boston provides significant operational efficiencies."
The site will include a mix of manufacturing, office and warehouse space. The deal also represents the third sale-leaseback transaction between the two companies.
Oxford has four other Current Good Manufacturing Practice facilities in its Boston portfolio: 33 New York Ave. in Framingham, 149 Hayes Memorial Drive in Marlborough, 23 Sycamore Ave. in Medford and 172 Middlesex Turnpike in Bedford.
SALES
Acadia Realty Trust sold a 54K SF retail asset at 330-340 River St. in Cambridge to Benderson Development for $26.4M. The asset includes a two-story Whole Foods and a Walgreens. The 41K SF Whole Foods was custom-built on the lot, and Walgreens occupies a single-story, 13K SF space next door.
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Davis Cos. purchased an upgraded biomanufacturing plant in Smithfield, Rhode Island, for $18.5M. The 122K SF site at 100 Technology Way has developable land for potential expansion. The facility was previously operated by Rubius Therapeutics. The acquisition also includes a 15.5-acre parcel that can hold another biotech manufacturing facility of up to 175K SF.
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An apartment complex in Hopkinton sold for $82.5M to Boston-based DSF Group. Woodview at Legacy Farms, a 240-unit apartment complex, was built in 2015. The previous owner, a joint venture between Blackstone and LivCor, had acquired it in 2019 for $64.5M, the Worcester Business Journal reported.
LEASES
Tawainese biomanufacturer PharmaEssentia leased 11K SF at Anchor Line Partners' lab and office building in Bedford. The space will serve as its PharmaEssentia Innovation Research Center, where the company will hire 25 new scientists to conduct research in fields including hematology, oncology and immunology.
Hunneman's Patrick Grady, Jim Boudrot and Steve James represented the tenant and landlord in the long-term lease. The brokerage firm also helped the tenant secure a lease for its U.S. headquarters in Burlington.
PERSONNEL
Beacon Communities hired Christopher Reed as president of the company's property management arm. Reed will be responsible for operations for the management company and its real estate portfolio. Before joining Beacon, Reed served as the executive vice president of property management for Mercy Housing Management Group for the past 15 years. At Mercy, he oversaw an affordable housing portfolio of 330 communities containing over 24,000 units.
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Bozzuto Construction Co. promoted Brian Rennie to vice president. In his new role, Rennie will oversee the company's full project portfolio and construction operations in Greater Boston. He will also look into capital improvement projects in Maryland, Virginia and D.C. Rennie has worked at Bozzuto since 2011, most recently as director, a role in which he supported the company's expansion in Greater Boston.
CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
The Boston Planning & Development Agency last week approved new projects in Allston, Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury. The biggest projects in the list include Berkeley Investments' 252-unit multifamily development in Allston and 2Life Development's 269-unit Olmstead Village project. The board also approved changes to the Linkage Policy and reforms to the Article 80 process.
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Mayor Michelle Wu, the Mayor's Office of Housing, the Community Preservation Fund and the Neighborhood Trust announced the investment of $67M toward creating and preserving more than 800 units of affordable housing. Of the 802 units, 160 will be income-restricted for senior citizens. The investment will go toward 17 projects in eight communities: Allston, Chinatown, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Mission Hill, Roxbury and South Boston.
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EQ Office completed its renovation of 179 Lincoln in Boston's Central Business District. The 221K SF building saw updates to its lobby and common areas and the creation of collaboration spaces. Newmark's Matthew George manages leasing at the property.
