This Week's Boston Deal Sheet
Two new office and life sciences tenants have signed leases totaling 56K SF at Nordblom Co.'s Blue Sky Center in Burlington.
The landlord secured leases with UII America Inc., which utilizes artificial intelligence to develop advanced medical imaging and other life sciences research, and Nth Cycle Inc., a clean tech company.
Nth Cycle leased 47K SF on the first floor of 15 Blue Sky Drive, and UII America leased 7K SF on the first floor of 65 Blue Sky Drive, relocating from Cambridge.
Nordblom's Blue Sky Center encompasses eight buildings totaling 937K SF, and another 270K SF life sciences building is scheduled to deliver in the fourth quarter of 2024. The building will be home to The Broad Institute and Vericel.
Newmark's Matt Malatesta and Dave Townsend represented UII America, and Hughes Marino's Nick Amarante and Mekae Hyde represented Nth Cycle. Along with Malatesta, Newmark's Tyler McGrail, Michael Frisoli and Margaret Fee served as the leasing team for Nordblom.
“The ability to scale and attract/retain top tier talent remains a driver in the marketplace, and Blue Sky Center’s robust amenity package, and diverse workspace offerings continue to garner steady leasing activity,” Malatesta said in a release.
SALES
Jumbo Capital Inc. acquired the Lincoln Plaza shopping center in Hingham for $45M. The property totals 127K SF and is 99% leased by 12 tenants, including anchor tenants Stop & Shop, with a 68K SF storefront, and Marshalls, with a 32K SF space. Newmark's Robert Griffin, Jon Martin and Paul Penman represented the seller, AEW, and procured Jumbo Capital.
LEASES
The University of Massachusetts President's Office leased 48K SF at 50 Washington St. in Westborough. UMass is cutting its space by more than half in the move from its 103K SF office in Shrewsbury. The university is taking up more than half of the space at its new building, which has three stories and totals 97K SF. Kelleher & Sadowsky's William D. Kelleher, James G. Umphrey and Philip DeSimone represented UMass. JLL's Alison Powers and Bob McGuire represented the landlord, Carruth Capital.
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Nonprofit meal and nutrition provider Community Servings expanded operations with a 23K SF satellite distribution center in Mansfield. The warehouse is located in the Cabot Business Park, and the nonprofit expects to begin full operations at the facility this fall.
Community Servings worked with the town to secure federal funding for the project. In 2019, the company performed its first large expansion of its Jamaica Plain headquarters into a 31K SF, three-story food campus.
FINANCING
MassDevelopment issued an $8.2M tax-exempt bond to an affiliate of North Shore Community Development Coalition. The North Shore CDC will use the bond to buy and renovate rental properties at 96 Congress St., 52 Peabody St. and 37 Ward St. in Salem's Point neighborhood. The buildings consist of 10 two-bedroom units and eight three-bedroom units.
Eight of the units will be rented to households making no more than 50% of the area median income, and 10 will be rented to households making no more than 30% AMI. Eastern Bank purchased the bond.
PERSONNEL
Matt DeNoble joined Greystar as a senior director of its life sciences investment management arm to oversee its development in Greater Boston and nationally. He will also support the underwriting of new acquisitions within the life sciences sector.
DeNoble previously served as director of asset management at The Bulfinch Cos. In the last two decades, he executed more than 100 leases totaling over 2M SF, according to a release.
Greystar's life sciences platform plans to expand outside of Boston and into other clusters in areas where it has existing development. This will include Somerville, where the firm has started construction on its 74 Middlesex Ave. development, a 465K SF, 15-story lab and office building set to deliver in the summer of 2024.
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Greg Sampson joined Sullivan & Worcester as a partner in its permitting and land use group, part of its growing energy, infrastructure and climate change practice. Sampson brings over two decades of experience. He previously worked at Womble, where he was a partner. Sampson also worked as an environmental planner for the BSC Group Inc.
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JLL brought on a trio of brokers to its national senior housing group from Cushman & Wakefield: Jay Wagner, Richard Swartz and Aaron Rosenzweig.
Wagner, based in Boston, has 16 years of experience in senior housing capital markets activities, including investment sales, equity joint ventures and debt financing, and he has overseen more than 360 transactions totaling over $20.4B. Swartz, also based in Boston, was responsible for forming Cushman & Wakefield's senior housing capital markets group, and prior to that he was a managing director at APC Realty Advisors.
CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
King Street Properties and Healthpeak Properties celebrated the grand opening of 101 Cambridgepark Drive, a 161K SF life sciences building in Cambridge. The building is 100% leased to tenants including eGenesis. King Street began construction on the $170M development in November 2020, replacing a 111-space parking lot adjacent to 87 Cambridgepark Drive. The property also includes 3K SF of ground-floor retail and a 247-spot underground garage.
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Winthrop Center, the city's largest building in its downtown core, is now open to residents. Climbing 691 feet, the 1.4M SF tower has sold 20 of its 317 condos and has another 47 under contract, the Boston Globe reported. The $1.3B building was developed by MP Boston, which also built Millennium Tower. The development also includes 812K SF of office and has major leases with Cambridge Associates, Income Research + Management and McKinsey totaling 249K SF. The condo building offers amenities like an indoor swimming pool, a dog daycare and a golf simulator.
