November 27, 2007  12:32pm
BioMed Inks Full-Building Lease for 50,000 SF
GlobeSt.com

By Joe Clements
CAMBRIDGE, MA-A well-located commercial building is no longer an option for tenants in this city’s white hot office market, as Senior Whole Health is committing to nearly 50,000 sf at 58 Charles St. The 10-year agreement will allow SWH to expand its occupancy by more than double what it has heretofore leased at the property in East Cambridge.
“It’s a good building that works well for them,” Richards Barry Joyce & Partners principal Steven Purpura tells GlobeSt.com in assessing SWH’s decision to remain. Not only is it situated in the heart of the city’s most prominent office submarket, 58 Charles St. offers such attractive features as brick-and-beam space, a flexible layout and a private parking lot, says Purpura. The two-story building is owned by BioMed Realty Trust, which acquired the asset in early 2006 for $13.1 million.
Gian Starita of Lincoln Property Co. represented the tenant in the lease, while Purpura and RBJ assistant VP Eric Smith negotiated for BioMed Realty. Starita says SWH wanted to remain in the city where it was founded and was able to convince BioMed that a full-building deal versus converting the space to laboratory use made economic sense over the long run. “It was a neat deal that met everyone’s needs,” says Starita, who earlier this year joined Lincoln colleague Kevin Brown in finding 6,000 sf for SWH in Raynham for a suburban office.
The 58 Charles St. transaction carries the momentum of a strong third quarter into the final frame of 2007, although Purpura says the pace appears to have eased recently from the frenetic summer stretch that dropped the East Cambridge office vacancy rate to 8.6% by the end of Q3. That is the lowest vacancy rate since Q2 2000 when the mark was a miniscule 0.2%, notes RBJ director of research Brendan Carroll. Interestingly, Carroll reports that the amount of occupied office space in East Cambridge is actually greater now than it was in 2000, reaching a rate of 7.3 million sf presently versus 7.1 million sf in the previous boom.
The SWH transaction will allow the tenant to remain in a submarket that is becoming increasingly bereft of substantial alternatives, especially if pricing is a concern—and even if it is not. There are just three options in East Cambridge for more than 50,000 sf of class A space, says Carroll, those being 3 Cambridge Center, 25 First St. and One Rogers St. Perhaps more alarmingly, RBJ research shows that East Cambridge is the only submarket in Greater Boston whose vacancy rate is under 10% that has no new office space either under construction or even proposed. Starita concurs that SWH had few alternatives to stay in Cambridge beyond 58 Charles St. even though he characterizes that property as class B, albeit on the high end of that scale.
At current levels, class A office space in Cambridge will be fully depleted by Q3 2009, RBJ estimates. A big reason has been the higher rewards for laboratory space, leading new development in that direction during the past few years. “Class A is extremely tight,” says Purpura, with the second and third quarters of 2007 marked by a series of high-profile leases that took major blocks of office product off the market. RBJ is broker for Cambridge Center, whose recent transactions include Google taking down 60,000 sf; Biogen renewing for nearly 100,000 sf; and Akamai Technologies securing 260,000 sf, the largest lease to date in Cambridge this year. Owned by Boston Properties, Cambridge Center appears to have fully recovered from the area’s difficulties from 2001 through 2005, with occupancy at the multi-building park now at 99% after falling into the 70% range.
RBJ puts the current average rental rate for class A at $51.52 per sf in East Cambridge, representing a stratospheric increase of 57% from Q3 2006. Landlords are requesting upwards of $57.50 per sf, Carroll reports.

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November 14, 2007
Biotech firms taking more lab space in Boston area
Boston Globe

Biotechnology companies are gobbling up a growing amount of laboratory space in the Boston area, according to a report by Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, a commercial real estate firm in Boston.

The report found vacancy rates for lab space fell to 9.1 percent for the two quarters ending Sept. 30, the first time vacancy rates have fallen below 10 percent since 2002. And tenants occupied more than 12 million square feet of lab space in the region, the most ever recorded.

The report also identified several neighborhoods where biotech companies could expand, including Boston's Allston neighborhood and Cambridge's NorthPoint and Alewife areas. (Todd Wallack)

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November 9, 2007
Report gauges area’s next likely biotech clusters
Boston Business Journal

The next biotech cluster could be located on a swath of land in Cambridge or one of the new developments in South Boston, according to a new report on the industry.
In its bioSTATus report due to be released today, Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC cites future developments such as the 6.5 million-square-foot project known as Seaport Square in South Boston, the 352 acres that Harvard University plans to turn into its Allston campus and a 5.2 million-square-foot mixed use project known as North Point in Cambridge as future “cluster” sites.
“What this data is showing you here is people want to be near the cluster in Cambridge,” said Robert Richards, president of Richards Barry Joyce & Partners.
Biotech companies like to be together in places like East Cambridge and Longwood Medical Area. So much so, that the clusters biotech companies created by locating side by side in Kendall Square and the LMA are now at capacity, according [to] the bioSTATus report. There is 2 million square feet of development land remaining in both Kendall Square and the LMA, according to bioSTATus. However, if demand continues, the space that could be developed would be full within six years. Richards predicted North Point would be the next magnet site for biotech, noting that several tenants have seriously considered locating offices at North Point.

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October 30, 2007
Nagog Park Nails 50,000 SF of Leases
GlobeSt.com

By Joe Clements
ACTON, MA-Nagog Park, one of suburban Boston’s more eclectic commercial addresses, is enjoying a late season surge. The master-planned development has secured 11 transactions exceeding 50,000 sf of space in eight office buildings controlled by KBS Realty.
The commitments feature a mix of first-time leases, expansions and renewals, headlined by a 12,000-sf renewal from Tatara Systems at 35 Nagog Park. KBS is welcoming software developer Peermeta Inc. for 7,000 sf at 43 Nagog Park, the same property where Tervela expanded their presence by nearly 6,000 sf. Liberty Mutual Group is also staying put, with the insurance giant taking more than 3,000 sf at 30 Nagog Park.
“We’ve had a nice flurry of activity,” relays Richards Barry Joyce & Partners VP Jamey Lipscomb, whose firm is exclusive leasing agent for the 387,000 sf controlled by KBS at the 11-building, 73-acre property. The landlord has been key in the solid performance at Nagog, according to Lipscomb, citing an approach accommodating prospects and making the upgrades necessary to compete in a market still awash in office and flex space. “They are making it easy to do deals,” he says. “Nagog Park garners a high level of attention because it allows for corporate growth, is easily accessible, and has proactive ownership,” adds RBJ principal Brian McKenzie, who was joined by Lipscomb and RBJ principal John Wilson in negotiating the leases for KBS.
Nagog Park is unique for a variety of reasons, says Lipscomb, including a picturesque setting afforded by the abutting Nagog Pond and a nature preserve. The park also features extensive retail anchored by the Nagog Mall, including five restaurants. Office tenants “definitely like that,” Lipscomb tells GlobeSt.com. KBS VP John Kolb says Long Beach, CA-based KBS is impressed by the pedigree of Nagog Park and its diverse array of occupants. “While often considered a high-tech park, Nagog actually features tenants from a range of industries, as well as an excellent mix of large, established companies and smaller, emerging firms,” Kolb says.
While concurring with that notion, Lipscomb accedes that Nagog’s reputation is for catering to high-tech companies, a branding he suggests is a combination of the firm’s legacy housing such companies, coupled with the high-tech nature of the MetroWest office market that tends to spawn startups, another specialty of Nagog. A spurt of venture-capital funding offers hope for that element to continue, says McKenzie. Tervela, for example, is backed by Acartha Group, Goldman Sachs and Sigma Partners. Young companies would also likely benefit by the flexibility and leasing discount at Nagog, maintains Lipscomb, with terms as brief as two years and sub dividable down to 1,000 sf. Rents are in the mid- to high teens per sf. versus $20 per sf and up right off I-495, he notes, and more than double that rate in the core Route 128 Central submarket.
RBJ Associate Robert Byrne was broker for Peermeta in its lease, while Matt Adams of Cushman & Wakefield represented Tervata. CresaPartners principal Maureen Young was the agent for Liberty Mutual. T3 Realty Advisors Managing Director Mark Cote was broker for Tatara. Specific terms of the leases were not divulged. The occupancy for the KBS portfolio is now at 75%, and Lipscomb says several prospects circulating could push that rate even higher by year’s end. The rate is slightly better than the 26.1% vacancy rate overall for the I-495 West, according to RBJ, which tracks 14.1 million sf in the submarket.

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Friday, October 26, 2007
RBJ will lease Woburn corporate center
Boston Globe / Boston.com

Boston real estate services firm Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC said it has been retained as the exclusive leasing agent for Presidential Woods Corporate Center in Woburn.
The center is a two-story, 104,000 square-foot building purchased earlier this year by a joint venture of the Campanelli Cos. of Braintree and Commonfund Realty, RBJ said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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October 12, 2007
VinCo Picks Up 35,000-SF Tenant
GlobeSt.Retail

By Joe Clements
WILMINGTON, MA-A flexible commercial property in this suburban community north of Boston has an agile new tenant in GymStreet USA. The athletic training facility has taken nearly 35,000 sf at 1 Jewel Dr., a 200,000-sf building owned by VinCo Properties.
GymStreet touts itself as an operation focused on “fun, health and fitness,” offering strength and stamina training classes for both children and adults. Programs at the facility will be structured to accommodate the hectic new millennium lifestyle thrust upon many families, according to company officials. The tenant was represented by the Stubblebine Co., with the assignment handled by David Stubblebine and Ellen Garthoff.
Boston-based VinCo has retained Richards Barry Joyce & Partners as exclusive leasing agent for 1 Jewel Dr., a 200,000-sf building that the firm acquired in August 2006 for $4.8 million. The firm has since set about repositioning the property, which offers a mix of flex, manufacturing and office space. The two-story building is situated between two key state roads, Routes 38 and 129, and also is close by Routes 128 and Interstate 93. The location has led to substantial flex, industrial and office development in recent years.
In the GymStreet USA agreement, James Lipscomb of RBJ handled negotiations on behalf of VinCo. The building’s leasing team also includes RBJ principals Brian McKenzie and John Wilson. Founded by Vince O’Neill, VinCo Properties owns several commercial properties in suburban Boston, including 78 Dragon Ct. in Woburn, a 75,000-sf building located a few miles east of 1 Jewel Dr.

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007
RBJ brokers US, European leases
Boston Globe / Boston.com

Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, a Boston-based commercial real estate firm, said that its national brokerage services group recently brokered 14 leases in 12 cities in the United States and Europe.
RBJ said it brokered leases totaling 16,267 square feet for Forrester Research Inc., a Cambridge-based technology research group, in Dallas and a submarket of Paris.
RBJ also said it brokered an entire floor sublease for office space in London for the Yankee Group, a Boston-based research firm that bills its people as "global connectivity experts."
In addition, RBJ said it brokered three leases totaling more than 35,000 square feet for Sapient Corp., the Cambridge-based technology consulting firm, in San Francisco and suburban Washington, D.C.
RBJ also said it brokered eight leases and lease renewals around the country for OneBeacon Insurance Co., which has a big presence in Canton.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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October 10, 2007
Older buildings a hot market
Boston Herald

By Scott Van Voorhis
  
Forget the Hancock Tower or State Street’s new high-rise headquarters near South Station.
After spending billions to buy Boston’s top skyscrapers, real estate investors have taken a shine to the city’s older and humbler office buildings.
While sales of Class A office towers are experiencing a lull, more than a third of Financial District office buildings built before 1940 have changed hands in the past year. They include 45 Milk St., an 1893 Beaux Arts style building that fetched $39 million over the summer. That’s about $500 a square foot - a number that a few years ago would have been a top price for a downtown tower.
Overall, sales of older, Class B buildings in the last year have rung up at a median sales price of $256 a square foot, Richards Barry Joyce & Partners reports.
Driving the interest has been a rebound in the Class B office market, with rents having escalated 30 percent over the past two years, said Richard Herlihy, an executive vice president at Richards Barry.
But the prices being paid include a premium for future rental increases as well, Herlihy said. “The buyers of these properties have to continue to hope that rental rates in the Class B market rise up to justify acquisition costs,” he said.

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October 5, 2007  01:24pm
Going Global Solo, RBJ Leases 150,000 SF
GlobeSt.com

By Joe Clements
BOSTON-To Richards Barry Joyce & Partners president Robert Richards, the best choice in commercial real estate is multiple choice. Unaligned with any national or global network to service clients bearing cross-border space needs, RBJ has nonetheless created a thriving business outside its core New England focus, as evidenced by the Boston-based firm’s announcement of 14 leases orchestrated in a dozen cities throughout the US and Europe.
“We are extremely pleased with the way our National Group is going,” says Richards, who accepts an industry mindset that firms such as his have to capably assist clients on a worldwide scale. The difference, he says, is that RBJ is not beholden to a single network. “We certainly have respect for our competitors--and in fact we often wind up using them if it makes sense--but we want the best people for each assignment, and they are not always going to be in the same office,” says Richards. “Our only goal is pleasing the client, and that means finding the right people to make that happen no matter what.”
The latest series of deals boasts a powerful lineup of four firms operating internationally, including Forrester Research, OneBeacon Insurance Co., Sapient and Yankee Group Research. More than 150,000 sf of space was committed in the 14 leases, the bulk of them brokered on behalf of Canton-based One Beacon. Those transactions accounted for 84,000 sf in such markets as California, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota and New York.
Also taking a substantial amount of space was Sapient. The global services company committed to 35,000 sf in two leases in Arlington, VA, and another in San Francisco. Cambridge-based Forrester leased more than 16,000 sf in two deals, with the research company taking space in Dallas and in a Paris submarket. Another technology research firm, Yankee Group, also established a presence overseas, subleasing an entire floor in London. Besides Richards, RBJ team members negotiating the leases were Kristin Connelly, director of national accounts; and VP Richard Bradbury.
OneBeacon has been utilizing RBJ’s guidance “coast-to-coast” during the past four years, relays the insurer’s internal VP of real estate, John Ferrari, who estimates the firm has completed 35 transactions on its behalf. “They have an excellent understanding of our business and have aided us in a significant reduction in our occupancy expenses,” says Ferrari. Richards, who is doing work as far a field as India, cites such testimonials as proof that the independent approach can be successful. “There’s no doubt in my mind we’re 100% right on this,” says Richards. Today, about 30% of RBJ’s revenues are generated outside metropolitan Boston, a market in which it has become a leading player after Richards and several colleagues struck out on their own in 2001.

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Thursday, October 4, 2007
I-495 office market gains strength
Worcester Business Journal

Written by Matthew L. Brown
  
According to commercial real estate broker Richards Barry Joyce & Partners of Boston, Class A space in the I-495 West market is 13.7 percent vacant, lower than the 14.0 percent vacancy in the Route 128 West market, which is 40 percent pricier.

RBJ released its Greater Boston office market third quarter report, which notes that the office market experienced 867,000 square feet of absorption in the quarter, lowering vacancy 0.5 percent to 13.8 percent.

During the same time, Class A asking rates surged $2.38 to $40.96 per-square-foot.

Three consecutive quarters of positive absorption in Westborough have yielded 333,000 square feet of new occupancy, according to RBJ.

According to the firm, the I-495 West submarket boasts the newest inventory of available Class A space in the metro area, with the average available square footage constructed at 1,993; the Greater Boston average is 1,986.

Also, pricing has increased 10 percent along I-495 in just two quarters but remains affordable relative to increasing rents in downtown Boston.

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Thursday, October 4, 2007
Vacant office space vanishing from local markets
Boston Herald

By Scott Van Voorhis

The Greater Boston office market is so hot that it has spawned a new term - “time to depletion.”
That is the phrase Hub commercial real estate firm Richards Barry Joyce & Partners has coined to decribed a new phenomenon: The date by which there will be no meaningful blocks of office space left in key areas of the local market.
At the current rate of growth, with companies expanding and steadily filling the market’s remaining gaps, a number of Boston neighborhoods and suburbs will reach their “depletion date” over the next two years or so, said Brendan Carroll, vice president of research.
The Back Bay, Cambridge and Seaport office markets, as well as suburban office centers like Newton and Burlington, all face looming depletion dates. In fact, Richards Barry has created the RBJ Depletion Index to track the trend.
The Back Bay, for example, has about 890,000 square feet of available office space left in various towers and buildings. Given empty space is being absorbed in the neighborhood at nearly 400,000 square feet per year, “that is a little over two years of empty space,” Carroll said.
Overall, Richards Barry’s quarterly OfficeSTATus report, set be released today, pegs Back Bay’s vacancy rate at 7.1 percent, Cambridge at 7.6 percent, and Route 128 West at 13.2 percent.
“All are in critical short supply of office space,” Carroll said.
In fact, the local office market has not seen this level of activity since the middle of 2000, during the last boom, said Robert Richards, president of Richards Barry Joyce & Partners.
If current trends continue, companies in search of larger offices will be forced to consider new construction, with a number of developers drawing up plans for new towers, he said.
“If this keeps up, there will be no way to go but new construction,” Richards said.

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September 27, 2007
Piedmont Offers Former BTS Property for Lease
GlobeSt.com

By Joe Clements
BOXBOROUGH, MA-An office property completed six years ago as a built-to-suit for Agilent Technologies is now on the leasing market, as owner Piedmont Office Realty Trust seeks to take advantage of an improving suburban Boston economy. Based in Norcross, GA, the non-traded REIT acquired the 175,000-sf 90 Central St. in May 2002 as Wells Real Estate Funds, an affiliate of the Wells Real Estate Investment Trust that became Piedmont this summer.
“We’re excited about the Greater Boston real estate market right now and the surge of activity that is being felt in the region,’ says Piedmont principal Brett Miles in announcing that his firm has retained Richards Barry Joyce & Partners as exclusive leasing agents for the three-story building. RBJ principal John Wilson, who is handling the assignment with colleague James Lipscomb, says he believes the opportunity will be well-received by the technology community, a constituency enjoying an enhanced level of IPO and venture capital financing in recent months.
There is presently 62,000 sf available at 90 Central St., and the landlord is willing to subdivide in increments of 8,000 sf. Designed by ADD Inc. of Cambridge, a leading architect of corporate facilities, 90 Central St. has the amenities, systems and location to be crowned a “best-in-class” destination, according to Wilson, who is quite familiar with the property. Not only was he Agilent’s broker initially, Wilson joined Lipscomb in subleasing the space for the Hewlett-Packard spin-off after New England’s economic meltdown rocked the market, prompting Agilent to depart for a nearby property. The space managed to attract subtenants such as Applied Micro Devices, which took nearly 65,000 sf on 90 Central St.’s second floor, a coup at a time when vacancy rates for I-495 were approaching 40%.
The property helps make up Tech Central @ Boxborough, a two-building, 325,000-sf park that Wells acquired in 2002 for $48.9 million from developer Koll Bren Schreiber, $35.1 million of which went for 90 Central St. Piedmont specializes in class A office buildings, and presently has a 23-state portfolio encompassing 82 buildings in excess of 21 million sf. Given that the vacancy rate in the 14.1 million-sf submarket has been reduced substantially at the three-quarter pole of 2007, Miles expresses optimism for the leasing program. “We feel the asset is well-positioned to satisfy the needs of the area’s office users,” he relays.

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September 26, 2007
Hill Holliday Inks 110,000-SF Office Lease at 53 State
CoStar

Brookfield Properties Signs Ad Firm to 10-Year Deal at Exchange Place
Hill Holiday, a Boston advertising agency, signed a 110,046-square-foot, 10-year lease at 53 State St., known as the Exchange Place, in Boston.

The 40-story, 1.18 million-square-foot, Class A office building was built in 1984 and is in the financial district.

Jim Brady of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. represented Hill Holiday. Michael Joyce, partner, and Tom O’Regan, vice president, of Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, represented the landlord, Brookfield Properties.

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September 18, 2007
Realty Associates buys Franklin building
Boston Globe / Boston.com

Realty Associates Advisors LLC has purchased 38 Forge Park, a single story flex building in Franklin, for $10 million, a broker involved in the transaction said today.
The broker is Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC, a Boston-based commercial real estate firm.
Richards Barry Joyce said it represented the seller, Patriot/Reading Associates, a California-based private real estate investor, and procured the buyer, Realty Associates, a Boston-based institutional realty fund.
A flex building can accommodate a number of uses, including office and showroom space as well as manufacturing, laboratory, and distribution space.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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Tuesday, 18 September 2007
Sleepy's wakes up in Franklin
Worcester Business Journal

Written by Cory Hopkins   
National mattress retailer Sleepy's LLC of New York has signed a sublease with Natick-based BJ's Wholesale Club Inc. for 142,120 square feet of warehouse and distribution space at 32 Forge Park in Franklin, the companies said.

The new space will become Sleepy's new Massachusetts distribution center, the company said. Forge Park is a 2.7 million-square-foot industrial and warehousing complex.

Sleepy's was represented by Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC, while Jones Lang LaSalle represented BJ's.

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September 17, 2007
Sleepy's to move distribution center
Boston Business Journal

Sleepy's LLC has signed a sublease for 142,120 square feet of warehouse and distribution space with BJ's Wholesale Club Inc.
The mattress retailer will move into 32 Forge Park in Franklin, Mass., which will become the company's new Massachusetts distribution center. Sleepy's will be situated in the 2.7 million-square-foot Forge Park, which provides tenants with access to Interstate 495 as well as a nearby MBTA commuter station.
Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC represented Sleepy's LLC in the transaction and Jones Lang LaSalle represented BJ's Wholesale Club.
According to research by Richards Barry Joyce, the Route I-495 South submarket consists of 16.2 million square feet of Warehouse space and was 16.1 percent vacant, as of the quarter ended June 30, 2007.

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September 12, 2007
Sleepy’s Subleases 142,120 SF From BJ’s Wholesale Club
Mattress Retailer To Open Warehouse and Distribution Center in Franklin
CoStar

Sleepy’s LLC signed a 142,120-square-foot sublease at 32 Forge Park in Franklin, MA. Sleepy’s is subleasing the space from BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. The property at 32 Forge Park will become Sleepy's new Massachusetts warehouse and distribution center.

The single-story, 142,120-square-foot, Class B industrial building was built in 1990 and is in the I-95 Corridor South Industrial submarket. It is in the 2.7 million-square-foot Forge Park complex.

John Lashar, partner, and Paul Leone, vice president, of Richards Barry Joyce & Partners represented Sleepy’s. Rick Schuhwerk and Bill Bailey of Jones Lang LaSalle represented BJ’s Wholesale Club.

Sleepy's is one of the largest mattress retailers in the United States. It is a privately owned bedding chain with more than 450 stores in the Northeast.

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August 31, 2007
Agreement close for sale of former Wang Towers
Boston Business Journal

by Michelle Hillman

Davis Marcus Partners Inc. is negotiating a deal to purchase the former Wang Towers complex in Lowell for about $180 million.
The 1.2 million-square-foot property, called Cross Point Towers, was put on the market for sale in June by owners Yale Properties USA and DivcoWest and was expected to sell for as much as $200 million.
Real estate sources have speculated for several weeks that Boston-based Davis Marcus was among the high bidders for the three-building property.
James McCaffrey of Eastdil Secured LLC declined to comment on the sale of the property that it is selling on behalf of the Yale and Divco. Jonathan Davis of Davis Marcus also declined to comment.
However, a real estate source with knowledge of the sale confirmed Davis Marcus has emerged as the buyer after Eastdil examined a final round of offers last week. Davis Marcus is a Boston-based development and investment firm that manages about 4.5 million square feet of property.
While the northern suburbs have struggled with high vacancy rates, the Cross Point complex was expected to be attractive to buyers because it is 90-percent leased.
Among the blue-chip tenants in the 12- and 13-story towers are Motorola Inc., the IRS, JP Morgan Chase, Metropolitan Life and Verizon.
The property was attractive to tenants given the rising rents in neighboring markets and convenient location overlooking Interstate 495 and Route 3. A majority of the 500,000 square feet of leases -- including a 200,000-square-foot lease with Motorola -- were signed in the past 24 months when rents year ticked upward, said Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC, which was hired to lease the complex by Yale and Divco. The real estate firm was also retained by Eastdil to provide marketing information to prospective buyers.
"It's got an excellent rent roll," said John Wilson of RBJ. "It's got a very strong credit rent roll. You have Motorola, Verizon, JP Morgan, the IRS. I think there's definitely upside in the purchase."
Davis Marcus is reportedly interested in the property because of its amenities, tenants and unique nature. It includes backup electrical systems, HVAC and fiber-optic cable. The property also contains a Fitcorp, Starbucks, a bank, covered parking, two cafeterias, conference rooms and a 500-seat auditorium.
Two years ago, Yale Properties contemplated selling the property outright, but decided instead to buy out its partner at the time, Blackstone Real Estate Advisors. If Yale had moved forward with the sale in 2005, the property was expected to sell for about $120 million, or $100 per square foot.
The towers -- which were the worldwide headquarters for Wang Computers in the 1980s -- cost $60 million to build and once hosted 4,500 workers. In 1992 Wang declared bankruptcy, and the property was sold at foreclosure to a development team for $525,000 in 1994, according to published reports.
Several years later developers sold the building to Yale and Blackstone for $100 million.

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Friday, August 24, 2007
ImmunoGen moving to Waltham
Boston Globe / Boston.com

ImmunoGen Inc., a company focused on developing anticancer therapeutics, has signed a lease in Waltham, where it will relocate its headquarters from Cambridge, a broker involved in the transaction said today.
The broker is Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC, a Boston-based full service commercial real estate firm that represented the Waltham property's landlord, Intercontinental Real Estate Corp., a Boston-based real estate investment and management services firm.
ImmunoGen's lease is for 88,930 square feet of space at 830 Winter St. in Waltham, and ImmunoGen was represented in the transaction by T3 Advisors LLC, a real estate firm with offices in Waltham, said Richards Barry Joyce.
RBJ said it is the exclusive leasing agent of 830 Winter St., which is now fully leased.
"The scarcity of opportunities in Cambridge, which was created by the tremendous growth of Greater Boston as a hub of biotechnology, has helped fuel the growth of biotech in the suburbs," RBJ partner Jonathan Varholak said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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Friday, August 24, 2007
Puma pays $11.5M for new headquarters
Boston Business Journal

Puma North America paid $11.5 million for a 104,711-square-foot office building which will serve as its new US world headquarters location.
The building, located in Westford, Mass., will house the athletic brand's North American operations including sales, marketing, retail, customer service and finance. Puma currently occupies 80,000 square feet in two buildings at 5 and 6 Lyberty Way but the company did not disclose plans for those buildings.
Puma, which employees 300 people in New England, will move its headquarters to Westford in the fall of 2008.
"Puma has aggressive strategies for the coming years. To reach our goals while not sacrificing desirability, the right location is crucial," said Jay Piccola, president of Puma North America, in a statement. "We have long considered Westford our home, and we're happy that our move will keep us here."
The acquistion, which was originally reported in the Boston Business Journal last month, was negotiated by Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC on behalf of Puma. The seller was Franklin Street Properties Corp. of Wakefield, Mass.
Puma North America is owned by a subsidiary of Puma AG, based in Herzogenaurach, Germany. The company has been based in Westford since 1997 with previous headquarters in Brockton and Framingham. In addition to the Westford offices, Puma's global marketing and product design offices are located at the Boston Design Center.

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August 24, 2007  
ImmunoGen Signs 89,000-SF HQ Lease
GlobeSt.com

By Joe Clements
WALTHAM, MA-In one of the bigger coups for suburban Boston’s life sciences sector, ImmunoGen Inc. is relocating here from East Cambridge, parties involved in the transaction have announced. The firm will occupy 89,000 sf of 830 Winter St., a 182,000-sf Class A building overlooking Route 128 that is owned by Intercontinental Real Estate Corp. of Brighton.
“Intercontinental is pleased to have ImmunoGen as a tenant and we look forward to a long-lasting relationship with such a reputable company,” says Thomas Taranto, head of asset and portfolio management for the landlord. ImmunoGen CFO Daniel Junius cited the ability to combine all of the firm’s administrative and research functions in a single facility as key to their decision to vacate one of the world’s top concentrations for life sciences companies. “We think 830 Winter St. is ideally suited to our needs and will provide us high-quality lab and office space for many years,” says Junius.
As exclusive leasing agents for 830 Winter St., Richards Barry Joyce & Partners negotiated terms on behalf of Intercontinental, while Roy Hirshland and Mike Shreve of T3 Advisor were brokers for the tenant. Michael Frisoli and Ron Friedman of RBJ handled the assignment for Intercontinental along with RBJ principal Jon Varholak, who notes that Lexington and Waltham have become preferred alternatives for Cambridge companies. “The scarcity of opportunities in Cambridge, which was created by the tremendous growth of Greater Boston as a hub of biotechnology, has helped fuel the growth of biotech in the suburbs,” says Varholak.
Of the 3.7 million sf of laboratory space in suburban Boston, Lexington and Waltham account for 36% of the inventory and 62% of all Class A lab product. As of mid-year 2007, the inventory of suburban lab supply was at 21%, according to RBJ director of research Brendan Carroll.

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August 23, 2007
Immunogen signs lease for Waltham building
Boston Business Journal

ImmunoGen Inc. signed a lease to move its headquarters to 88,930 square feet of office and laboratory space owned by Intercontinental Real Estate Corp.
The Boston Business Journal reported in June that the biopharmaceutical company was negotiating a lease to move out of its current headquarters in East Cambridge for 830 Winter St. in Waltham, Mass. ImmunoGen, which develops novel targeted anticancer therapeutics, will occupy office and laboratory space on each of three floors at 182,106-square-foot building.
"ImmunoGen is excited to have the opportunity to bring all of our research operations into a single facility along with our corporate offices," said Daniel M. Junius, chief financial officer of ImmunoGen Inc., in a statement. "We think 830 Winter St. is ideally suited to our needs and will provide us high-quality lab and office space for many years."
ImmunoGen (Nasdaq:IMGN) was represented in the lease by T3 Advisors LLC and the landlord, Intercontinental Real Estate, was represented by Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC.

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August 17, 2007 
Morris & Morse Buys 80,000-SF Office Building
GlobeSt.com

By Joe Clements
WESTBOROUGH, MA-A state-of-the-art building originally developed as the regional headquarters for General Electric Corp. has changed hands, with 1400 Computer Dr. selling for $13 million. The buyer is an institutional client of Boston-based Morris & Morse Co., a real estate investment advisory firm.
Efforts to contact officials at Morris & Morse to discuss the deal were unsuccessful, but the firm announced in a press release that Richards Barry Joyce & Partners has been retained as exclusive leasing agents for the 80,000-sf building. RBJ’s investment sales group also negotiated the purchase of 1400 Computer Dr. on behalf of the buyers. The RBJ brokerage team included Richard Bradbury, Richard Herlihy, John Lashar and Paul Leone, while the latter two brokers will handle the leasing assignment.
In announcing the deal, RBJ officials cited the building’s overall quality as a key selling point, with substantial technology incorporated when the structure was constructed in 1991 to be the northeast headquarters for General Electric. Besides the modern element to the building systems, RBJ lists a roster of on-site amenities expected to be attractive to prospective tenants, including a fitness center, and notes visibility along Route 9 and direct access to the Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstate 495 as other benefits.
“It’s a really nice play for them,” Bradbury says of the buyers. “They got a nice price per-sf that allows them entry into the Westborough market, and they also got a really nice building.” A measure of stability is included from the lease to 1400 Computer Dr.’s chief tenant, Carlin, Charron & Rosen, an established accounting firm that occupies the bulk of the space.
Westborough is one of the central communities in suburban Boston’s Interstate 495 West office market, using its close association to the state’s regional road network as an advantage in attracting commercial development. Besides a host of Class A office parks in the area, Westborough also features several ancillary uses, including daycare services, hotels, restaurant and retail.
Interstate 495 West was among the submarkets hardest hit by the Massachusetts recession, but RBJ research indicates a revival of the economy throughout the MetroWest, as tenants rattled by sharply rising prices in the core markets such as Waltham are considering fringe locations. As of mid-year, I-495 West still had a high vacancy level of 17.3%, but RBJ director of research Brendan Carroll says the 16.4 million-sf submarket has enjoyed five straight quarters of positive absorption.

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August 9, 2007
iRobot has 12-year lease in Bedford
The Lowell Sun

BEDFORD -- iRobot Corp. has officially announced that it plans to move its corporate headquarters north from Burlington to Bedford in mid-2008.

Company officials confirmed in May that the move was imminent, but declined to provide details.

On Tuesday, the company said in a statement that the new 157,000-square-foot location will provide office and laboratory space, as well as additional land for outdoor robot testing.

The move will roughly double iRobot's available space, according to Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, the company that brokered the deal.

iRobot is known for its Roomba vacuuming robot and Scooba floor-washing robot. The company also does significant business with the military, providing scouting robots for dangerous operations in war zones.

The company is entering into a 12-year lease at the new location, 8 Crosby Drive in the Bedford Business Park. iRobot currently employs more than 400 people around the world, the majority of whom work in Burlington. The new building was formerly occupied by Abbott Laboratories and is owned by Boston real-estate firm Boston Properties.

Jon Varholak of Richards Barry Joyce & Partners said the transaction is indicative of a booming commercial real-estate market in the area.

"The 128 North submarket is home to a host of emerging and existing technology companies," Varholak said in a statement. "As the year progresses, we are seeing growing interest in the region, which is evidenced by iRobot's lease in Bedford."

iRobot, which was founded in 1990 by three scientists at MIT, reported 2006 revenues of $189 million.

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August 8, 2007
iRobot Signs Tech Lease for 157,000 SF
GlobeSt.com

By Joe Clements

BEDFORD, MA-Boston Properties has secured one of the larger and more sought-after leasing requirements of 2007, as technology firm iRobot signed a 12-year agreement for 157,000 sf at 8 Crosby Dr. The property, also known as the Bedford Business Park, had previously been occupied by Abbott Laboratories.
The pact is evidence of burgeoning interest for space in the Route 128 North office submarket, according to Jon Varholak, a principal at Richards Barry Joyce & Partners. The region “is home to a host of emerging and existing technology companies,” adds Varholak, who negotiated the lease for the tenant along with RBJ colleague John Wilson. Boston Properties was represented in-house by SVP David Provost, VP Stacey Baker, SVP Jim Rosenfeld and project manager Richard Monopoli.
Getting iRobot to make such a long-term commitment to the property and the region required a broad-based effort, says Monopoli. He praised state economic officials, the Massachusetts Highway Department, the town of Bedford and the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management for playing critical roles in that mission.
After an extensive search of the market, iRobot selected Bedford Business Park for a variety of reasons, Varholak explains, including quick access to the expanded Route 3 corridor, the pedigree of the landlord, and a competitive tenant fit-out allowance. Besides iRobot’s headquarters, Boston Properties will make upgrades to the complex overall, including a new facade on 8 Crosby Dr. The parties did not provide information on rental rates for the deal.
The deal at Bedford Business Center takes away another sizeable leasing opportunity for the Route 128 North submarket, one which RBJ research shows running out of space by the end of 2010 should the current pace of demand continue. Although the recent sale of the Sun Microsystems campus in Burlington is expected to free up a six-figure block of contiguous space, several hefty tenants are circulating in Route 128 North, including Phase Forward and Palomar Medical Technologies.
According to RBJ, the Route 128 North office submarket of 24.1 million sf does have a substantial vacancy rate of 22%, but velocity has been solid for a prolonged stretch, with more than 900,000 sf of positive net absorption registered between the mid-year marks of 2006 and 2007. The second quarter was especially robust, with net absorption on the plus side by 316,000 sf.

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August 7, 2007
FedEx Doubles Its Space in West Bridgewater
CoStar Group

Liberty Signs Shipping Company to 88,490-SF Lease at One United Drive
FedEx Ground leased 88,490 square feet at One United Drive in West Bridgewater, MA, doubling its space. FedEx is currently utilizing 41,000 square feet at 1020 W. Chestnut St. in Brockton.

Built in 1987, One United Drive is a two-story, 315,000 square-foot, Class A industrial building in the Route 3 South Industrial submarket.

John Lashar, Paul Leone and Cal Hudak of Richards Barry Joyce & Partners represented the landlord, Liberty Cos. Tom Byrd and Joe Pelle of Fischer & Co. represented FedEx Ground.

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Tuesday, August 7, 2007
IRobot is moving its HQ to Bedford
Boston Globe / Boston.com

IRobot Corp., the Burlington company known for its Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner and for military robots that can detect battlefield threats, has signed a long-term lease for a new headquarters in Bedford.
The announcement was made by Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC, a Boston-based commercial real estate advisory firm that is a broker involved in the transaction.
Richards Barry Joyce said that iRobot has signed a lease for 157,000 square feet of space in an office building at 8 Crosby Dr. that is owned by Boston Properties Inc., a locally based real estate iinvestment trust whose portfolio includes such buildings as the Prudential Tower in Boston.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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August 3, 2007
FedEx moving to wide, open space: Local services going to West Bridgewater
Patriot Ledger

By KYLE ALSPACH
GateHouse News Service

FedEx plans to move some of its local services out of Brockton and into a much larger building in West Bridgewater.

The company’s home delivery services at 1020 W. Chestnut St. will leave this fall, taking 60 employees and contractors to a building at One United Drive in West Bridgewater.

FedEx spokeswoman Allison Sobczak said the company wanted more space for its home delivery base in the area and found the West Bridgewater building to be the best fit. The site is not far from the Route 106 interchange at Route 24, and will provide about 88,500 square feet of space, compared to the roughly 41,000 square feet being used in Brockton, Sobczak said.

The expansion will not mean the addition of any new jobs immediately, she said.

West Bridgewater Selectman Matthew Albanese said the town is succeeding in its efforts to be recognized as business-friendly.

‘‘The town has revitalized its Industrial Development Commission. We’ve worked on marketing our town to businesses,’’ said Albanese, who is also a member of the commission. ‘‘We want people to know that we are a partner with business.’’

FedEx will retain its business-to-business ground services at 985 Belmont St. in Brockton, Sobczak said. That building, which houses 140 staffers and contractors, is being expanded. The company plans to enlarge the complex from about 63,000 to 72,000 square feet, Sobczak said.

Richards Barry Joyce & Partners represented the owner of the West Bridgewater building, Boston-based Liberty Cos., in the negotiations with FedEx.

Liberty acquired the 315,000-square-foot building at One United Drive in March 2006; it was previously used by United Liquors. Most of the building consists of warehouse space. In October 2006, SWB New England, an ethnic food distributor, leased 80,000 square feet in the building for its headquarters. With the arrival of FedEx, the building will be more than half full.

‘‘One United Drive was an excellent acquisition for Liberty Cos.,’’ Mohsin Amiji, CEO of Liberty Cos., said in a statement. ‘‘We have signed another top-tier tenant in FedEx Ground, which saw the significant benefits of locating to this facility. In particular, companies are attracted to the building’s location and its access to all major highways in the area.’’

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August 1, 2007  
Liberty Lands FedEx for 90,000-SF Lease
GlobeSt.com

By Joe Clements

WEST BRIDGEWATER, MA-This south suburban Boston community has been selected by Federal Express as the new home for a regional distribution center, as the global delivery firm will lease some 90,000 sf of industrial space at One United Dr. The relocation from neighboring Brockton represents a doubling in size for the company’s special FedEx Ground operation.
“We have signed a top-tier tenant in FedEx Ground, which saw the significant benefits of locating to this facility,” says Mohsin Amiji, CEO of the Liberty Cos. Amiji’s Boston-based real estate investment firm acquired the 315,000-sf One United Dr. in March 2006 for $11.9 million, and has set about repositioning it as a multi-tenanted complex. One United Dr. had been occupied for several years by United Liquors before that firm’s relocation.
Prior to the FedEx pact, SWB New England leased 80,000 sf at the property, leaving about 145,000 sf to be filled. Richards Barry Joyce & Partners is exclusive leasing agent for One United Dr., and brokers John Lashar, Paul Leone and Cal Hudak represented Liberty in the FedEx agreement. Agents for the tenant were Tom Byrd and Joe Pelle of Fischer & Co.
In unveiling the latest transaction, Amiji expressed confidence that the vacancy at One United Dr. will continue to decrease, citing the quality of the property, its leasing team and a centralized location that offers access to most major highways connecting to points in New England and the northeast. West Bridgewater is one of several South Shore communities that have become popular for distribution and warehouse operations, with RBJ estimating that the Interstate 495 submarket where West Bridgewater is situated has 16.2 million sf of industrial product. Of that, about 16.1% was vacant entering the third quarter, RBJ says in its mid-year indSTATus survey of regional market conditions.
The Liberty Cos. pursues a variety of product types for a portfolio focused on New England. Currently, the firm has more than five million sf of industrial, manufacturing, office and retail assets under management, and continues to look for “outside-the-box” opportunities, says Amiji.

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July 30, 2007  
Rents Soar in Tight Cambridge Office Market
GlobeSt.com

By Joe Clements
CAMBRIDGE, MA-At the mid-year point of 2007, four trends are defining this city’s office market, according to a new report by Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, and each spells trouble for the tenant camp. Besides a sharp rise in rents, RBJ director of research Brendan Carroll says the sublease outlet has virtually disappeared, and available office space of any ilk will be gone in the East Cambridge submarket by 2009. Meanwhile, the CRE inventory is consolidating, with a half-dozen players owning 50% of the city’s office and laboratory space. Five wield in excess of one million sf.
“There have been dramatic changes,” says Carroll, whose mid-year marketSTATus data shows a sudden gap between average asking rents for office space in Cambridge and those in the core suburban Waltham market. There a 22% difference overall, and the $42.10 per sf average for class A space in East Cambridge is 29% higher than that of Waltham. The two rates were comparable a year ago, and Waltham itself is setting suburban highs into the $40-per-sf range for newer product. Nonetheless, the chasm reflects nearly a $10 difference between Waltham and Cambridge. Carroll tells GlobeSt.com that at least two office buildings in East Cambridge are now quoting asking rents of $60 per sf as of this week, a first in the city since the brutal downturn that began the decade.
The shift reflects an improving economy and continued desire to sport an address carrying international cache, says Carroll, a point underscored by Microsoft Corp.’s new six-figure lease. That pact at One Memorial Dr. was second only to a 194,000-sf agreement by Monitor Corp. at 2 Canal Park, a deal initially reported by GlobeSt.com in May. Net absorption for the city’s 13.1 million sf of office space reached 178,000 sf in the second quarter, and is up 660,000 sf since mid-year 2006. That has dropped the vacancy rate to 8.4%, says RBJ. Presently, there are just four blocks of 50,000 sf or greater in Cambridge, marketSTATus shows, the largest 90,000 sf at One Rogers St.
“There are not an abundance of choices,” says Carroll. The unanticipated surge in demand comes after a period of shrinking inventory as landlords embraced the lucrative laboratory sector, one that can produce rents above $70 per sf and offers favorable operating advantages. Not only are owners of properties such as Technology Square refitting existing office space into laboratory, “it makes sense to view any development site for biotechnology,” says Carroll, leading to the dire predictions that all existing space will be gone in the prime East Cambridge district by the end of next year.
The technology bust that began in 2001 and lingered through 2005 had provided Cambridge tenants with the valuable sublease option, one that required landlords to remain competitive on direct deals. But while the sublease inventory was into the millions of sf, including substantial class A product, Carroll says Cambridge now has just two such opportunities to accommodate users needing even 5,000 sf. Sublease “used to be a major story, but now it is a non-factor,” he says.

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July 25, 2007  
Normandy Begins Upgrade of Marlborough Tech Park
GlobeSt.com

By Joe Clements
MARLBOROUGH, MA-They may come for the price, but Normandy Real Estate Partners principal Justin Krebs is hoping that prospective tenants eyeing the Marlborough Technology Park will stay for the quality.
“You’ve got to be able to provide a great environment so people can enjoy coming to work,” Krebs tells GlobeSt.com in unveiling a multimillion-dollar overhaul of the seven-building, 579,000-sf property, an 85-acre complex Normandy secured last autumn in a 13-asset portfolio buy from Morgan Stanley Real Estate. “We are hearing loud and clear that amenities and a campus environment are highly desirable.”
In assessing the 16.8-million-sf Interstate 495 West office market, known commonly as the “Boroughs” for the ubiquitous municipal suffix used there, Krebs says he anticipates a migration from tighter, higher-priced areas closer in to Boston such as Route 128 Central and the Framingham/Natick markets that in good times often send demand westward. Typically, a delta of $8 per sf can launch such a stampede, says Krebs, and the Jones Lang LaSalle mid-year report indicates the spread now is a full $10 per sf. Route 128 Central asking prices are averaging $30.37 versus $20.30 per sf in the I-495 West corridor, says JLL.
Even in anticipating a rental break, tenants will expect a level of services and features at their new homes, maintains Krebs, especially since many uprooted had enjoyed the flight-to-quality element seen earlier this decade that allowed tenants to occupy high-end properties at bargain-basement rates. The improving economy is not only sending such firms packing, Krebs and Marlborough Technology Park leasing broker Paul Leone of Richards Barry Joyce & Partners say the need to recruit skilled employees mandates attractive workplaces.
“It’s an ultra-competitive hiring market, and you clearly need to have an edge,” says Leone, maintaining that Normandy “is doing all the right things” to position Marlborough Technology Park as one of the submarket’s premier assets. “It really is a flagship property for the Boroughs,” Leone relays, one he says his firm covets as a leasing assignment. Besides Leone, other members of the RBJ leasing team are principals John Lashar and Brian McKenzie.
Using a design from local architectural firm Cube 3 Studio LLC, Normandy is wasting little time pursuing its value-add strategy. The focal point right now is on Building 200, a centralized property that will incorporate many features being made available to tenants in the park, including a fitness center with showers and locker room; a full-service cafeteria; employee lounges; and an executive conference facility. “We’re in full swing,” says Krebs, who anticipates Building 200 will be completed by October and the remaining work will be wrapped up by early 2008. The Walsh Co. is acting as owner’s representative on the project, while Normandy is serving as on-site property manager. Other changes will include new signage and improved landscaping.
“They’ve got a great team in place,” says Leone, who reports encouraging interest in the complex, but no new deals to date. The park can accommodate requirements from 8,000 sf to 104,000 sf. The “sweet spot,” according to Leone, would be firms needing between 20,000 and 40,000 sf, but he predicts nearly anyone with a requirement “is going to take a hard look” at Marlborough Technology Park. Accessibility should be another lure, he says, with the complex on Nickerson Road close to the Massachusetts Turnpike, Interstate 290 and Route 9.
The I-495 West market was among the hardest hit areas during the regional recession, and has been among the slowest to recover, but Leone says he is enthused by the current level of velocity, although the summer slow season does appear to be at hand. After hitting 27.9% in the third quarter of 2003, the vacancy rate is now down to 17.3%, says RBJ, putting I-495 West below the rest of the I-495 market’s 21.0%. “There is some nice momentum now,” says Leone, a notion shared by Krebs. “We’re starting to see some strengthening of the rents and in the activity,” he says, adding, “We feel pretty good right now about the investment.”

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July 25, 2007
Despite vacancy, industrial market stable
Worcester Business Journal

Written by Matthew L. Brown   

Commercial real estate broker Richards Barry Joyce & Partners says the market for warehouse and manufacturing properties is stable despite relatively high vacancy during the second quarter.

According to an RBJ industrial market status report, vacancy among warehouse properties along I-495 stood at 17.1 percent at the end of the second quarter.

Contributing to that rate was a 21.3 percent vacancy rate around what RBJ calls the western section of I-495.

Manufacturing properties around I-495 were 22.5 percent vacant by the end of the quarter, RBJ said, with the I-495 South claiming 35.6 percent vacancy.

Throughout the greater Boston area, warehouse and manufacturing tenants left a total of 131,000 square feet of space during the second quarter, RBJ said.

The strongest area for the industrial market during the quarter was the Route 128 south area, which has seen four straight quarters of demand, 8 percent vacancy and landlords raising rents 21 percent in the last year, RBJ said.

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July 22, 2007
Area office market heating up
Lowell Sun

By Tom Spoth, tspoth@lowellsun.com

Deterred by scarce office space and skyrocketing rents in Boston, Cambridge and Waltham, commercial tenants have begun scouring Greater Lowell for cheap real estate.

Burlington and Billerica have been the most prominent beneficiaries so far, but the I-495, Route 3 and Route 128 corridors are all starting to reap the benefits of a newly potent economy, experts say.

"You can get significant savings by looking in the suburbs instead of feeling that you need to be in Kendall Square," said Mary Kelly, senior vice president of research at the Boston real-estate firm Meredith & Grew.

The commercial real-estate market in Greater Boston is very strong overall, according to recent data from another Hub real-estate company, Richards Barry Joyce & Partners. The firm found that vacancy rates dropped from 15.2 percent to 14.3 percent in the second quarter of 2007 -- the sixth straight quarter the percentage has dropped -- and average lease rates rose 89 cents per square foot to $38.58.

The company's report stated that north of Boston, "the epicenter of demand may have shifted from supply-constrained Waltham to Billerica, Burlington and Lexington."

Burlington is one of the strongest markets in the region due to supply constraints in the Boston area and the town's strategic location at the confluence of Routes 128 and 3. Tenants are flocking to Burlington so rapidly that the town's commercial space will be entirely full by 2010 if it continues at its current pace, according to RBJ.

The region's strong defense and biotechnology sectors have continued to expand and the resurgent high-tech and software industries are also starting to seek space. With high-profile tenants such as Microsoft and Google setting up shop in Cambridge's Kendall Square, buildings that were being leased for $34 per square foot just a year ago now command nearly $70, according to RBJ. In Burlington, rents are still in the $30 range, Kelly said, and RBJ pegs the average rent for high-quality office space in the I-495 region at $21.39.

That disparity has led high-profile tenants to take a look at Greater Lowell.

Billerica recently saw Raytheon Co. expand its presence in town to 75,000 square feet, while high-tech firm Luminus Devices is moving its headquarters to Billerica from Woburn and opening a 48,000-square-foot office.

Billerica Principal Assessor Rich Scanlon said the town is gaining a strong reputation in the biotech and alternative-energy sectors. The recent expansion of Route 3 to six lanes and the uptick in economic activity have led to Billerica's success, he said.

"I think it's been a slow turnaround, but it is turning," Scanlon said. "I think Billerica has a bright future."

In Lowell, the commercial vacancy rate has plummeted to 12.6 percent from 32 percent in one year, according to Brendan Carroll, RBJ's vice president of research. The dramatic drop has been largely fueled by a resurgence at the Cross Point towers, where new tenants Motorola, Sterling Commerce and Corning Life Sciences are taking up significant chunks of space and credit-card processing firm Litle & Co. recently announced it would expand its presence in the towers to nearly 30,000 square feet.

Westford is also starting to feel a lift from the rising tide. Just this month, two companies -- shoe maker Puma North America and software company Red Hat Inc. -- have moved forward with significant expansions in town.

West of I-495, Devens is making great strides in the commercial realm, enticing biopharmaceutical behemoth Bristol-Myers Squibb and several other smaller firms to set up shop at the former military base. Devens is something of an anomaly because it has a significant amount of buildable land and has attracted new construction as well as absorption of existing office space.

New commercial buildings have been few and far between in Greater Boston because so much existing real estate was empty. However, that could soon change if vacancy rates continue to fall, according to James Lipscomb, who represents the I-495 North market for RBJ.

"There's not much new construction, but (companies) may have to look at it again in the near future," Lipscomb said. "But rents still have to rise a bit before that."

The I-495 North region rose $1.14 per square foot (5.6 percent) in the second quarter as the vacancy rate declined 0.8 percent to 21 percent, according to RBJ.

Kelly said Meredith & Grew's research shows rents in the I-495 North area hovering around $20, but prices will likely continue to increase because demand for space remains high.

Dave Tibbetts, general counsel for the Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council, cited Nuvera Fuel Cells' move from Cambridge to Billerica, as well as Schott Solar's decision to keep a manufacturing plant in Billerica after stating that the facility might close, as strong indicators that the Merrimack Valley is on the upswing. The region also has a healthy cluster in the biotech field, which is expected to enjoy strong growth in the coming years, Tibbetts noted.

He added that some office buildings -- in Chelmsford, Billerica, Tewksbury, and Tyngsboro, for instance -- are still waiting for tenants.

"The Route 3 corridor is still ripe for some development," Tibbetts said.

The window of opportunity may be closing, though.

"We have a good challenge to deal with now," Tibbetts said. "We're actually running out of good, available office space."

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July 19, 2007
Luminus Devices to sublease space at 1100 Technology Park
Boston Business Journal

Luminus Devices Inc. will sublease 46,000 square feet from GE Sensing at 1100 Technology Park.

The building at 1100 Technology Park is 239,903 square feet and is located in Billerica, Mass. GE Sensing (NYSE: GE) remains in slightly less than 200,000 square feet at 1100 Technology Park.

Luminus Devices, which develops and manufactures light emitting devices and systems for the television market, is expanding from Woburn, Mass., where it leases 20,000 square feet from Cummings Properties LLC. Luminus uses the Woburn location primarily as fabrication center. The company plans to use the second and third floors of the Billerica location as office, R&D, and administrative space.

Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC represented Luminus Devices and the sublandlord, GE Sensing was represented by Cushman & Wakefield of Massachusetts Inc. in the lease transaction. The primary landlord of the building is Beacon Properties Corp.

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July 18, 2007
Hub’s office market gets hot: Brokers predict space shortage as towers fill up
Boston Herald

By Scott Van Voorhis

The Boston area’s office market is on a roll not seen since the late 1990s boom - a key sign the local economy is finally starting to heat up, experts say.
Local companies occupied more than 5 million square feet of previously empty space in the year ending June 30 - the most since the last office boom peaked back in 2000, Richards Barry Joyce and Partners reports.
The big appetite for more office space on the part of companies ranging from Cambridge tech outfits to downtown law firms reflects an increase in hiring, said John Bitner, chief economist at Eastern Bank.
Overall, the state’s unemployment rate is hovering around 5 percent, a little above the national average of 4.5 percent but much better than after the 2001 recession.
Developers are taking note and laying plans for new office towers in Boston amid predictions of an impending shortage of office space.
 “When you occupy more space, you are doing so to put more people in,” Bitner said. “I think that is a good indicator we are seeing more job growth.”
 Leading the way are some of the area’s economic hot spots, such as Boston’s Financial District and Back Bay, East Cambridge with its constellation of tech and biotech firms near MIT, and major surburban office hubs like Waltham and Burlington.
These markets are so hot that, given the current pace of expansion, they will virtually run out of available space in the next two and a half years, according to Richards Barry.
The dearth of office space can be seen especially in downtown Boston towers.
There now is only one available block of office space in the 50,000-square-foot range - roughly two floors - above the 20th floor in Boston’s office towers, said Brendan Carroll, research director at Richards Barry.
Demand for office space is also soaring in Cambridge, where Microsoft Corp. recently inked a deal for 136,000 square feet at One Memorial Drive overlooking the Charles River near MIT.
Top East Cambridge corporate suites are now being marketed at nearly $70 a square foot - double what such offices rented out for just a year ago, Richards Barry reported.
 “There is an impending space shortage,” said Carroll of Richards Barry.

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July 18, 2007
Luminus Secures 46,000-SF Sublease in Billerica
GlobeSt.com

By Joe Clements

BILLERICA, MA-Taking another piece of sublease space off the suburban Boston office market, Luminus Devices has committed to 46,000 sf at 1100 Technology Park here. Luminus will occupy the middle and top floors of the three-story building, space controlled by tenant GE Sensing, a division of GE that concentrates on development of measurement and sensory equipment.
Although the ubiquitous swapping of facilities that occurred earlier this decade as a result of the regional recession has become increasingly rare in suburban Boston, Richards Barry Joyce & Partners principal Jonathan Varholak says the process remains a viable alternative in the Route 128 North submarket given a concentration of technology firms. “Subleasing arrangements between two high-tech companies are not unusual because the building set-up and infrastructure have already been optimized for similar uses,” explains Varholak, who represented Luminus in structuring the sublease along with partner John Wilson. Torin Taylor of Cushman & Wakefield acted on behalf of GE Sensing.
Although Route 128 North was among the best performers among office submarkets to begin 2007, RBJ research indicates the vacancy rate remains alarmingly high at 23%, with only the Interstate 495 submarket’s 26.3% above that mark. RBJ director of research Brendan Carroll does, however, note in his mid-year report that Route 128 North has enjoyed 900,000 sf of positive absorption in the past 12 months, including 316,000 sf during the second quarter. That figure was tops among all suburban Boston office submarkets, while Carroll also reports that class A rental rates have accelerated by 12% in the 24.1-million-sf Route 128 North office district during the past four quarters.

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Thursday, July 12, 2007
Report: Hub office market is strengthening
Boston Globe / Boston.com

The Greater Boston office market showed continued signs of strengthening in the second quarter, with vacancy rates dropping 0.9 percent to 14.3 percent and the average asking lease rates rising 89 cents to $38.58 per square foot.

That's the headline from a new report from Richards Barry Joyce & Partners LLC, a full-service commercial real estate firm.

The firm released its findings in a report titled officeSTATus - Greater Boston Summer 2007.

"Greater Boston's office market is very strong as of the close of the second quarter," RBJ vice president of research Brendan Carroll said in a statement. "And while certain areas are certainly stronger than others, we are really seeing positive indicators in all segments of the market. We're still not at historic rates for vacancy and absorption, but we are continuing in that direction."

(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)

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July 11, 2007
Office vacancy down, rents up around 495
Worcester Business Journal

Written by Matthew L. Brown   

With little office space available around Route 128, occupancy may continue to grow in "the boroughs," and that growth may have staying power, according to Richards Barry Joyce & Partners.

The Boston-based commercial real estate firm released its summer 2007 office market status report recently. It said office landlords have been able to push up rents by between $2 and $5 this quarter.

Office space in the boroughs has strung together six consecutive quarters of positive absorption, RBJ said. However, that area did the same thing before it flopped in 2004.

But RBJ said the boroughs could continue to fill office space, and that office space may remain occupied if space around Route 128 remains scarce.

RBJ said the area around the southern end of I-495 may be the next to see an explosion of office space development. The area currently has only 2.1 million square feet of office space, but there are office developments either in the works, or on the drawing board, RBJ said.

According to RBJ, the Class A office space vacancy rate for the I-495 area decreased by 0.8 percent to 21 percent in the second quarter. Asking rents in the area increased by $1.14 to $21.39 per square foot.

Office vacancy in I-495 West was at 17.3 percent for the quarter, and the higher asking rates for the entire I-495 corridor were driven by I-495 North, where lease rates increased by 22 percent over the last three quarters, RBJ said.

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July 10, 2007
Boston Office Market Hottest Since 2003
GlobeSt.com

By Joe Clements
BOSTON-Global warming has nothing on this city’s office market, or so it would seem in a mid-year report released today by Richards Barry Joyce & Partners that shows positive absorption of near-record levels during the second quarter and continued rental accretion. RBJ’s overview also shows Boston’s recovery is spreading out as prime locations approach full occupancy.
“The numbers are big,” RBJ director of research Brendan Carroll tells GlobeSt.com, with 1.6 million sf of positive absorption between April and mid-year. That marks the sixth straight quarter of positive absorption, and the 5.1 million sf absorbed since halfway through 2006 is the most for any such period since 2001. “The metrics look good just about everywhere,” says Carroll, whose Boston-based firm tracked 630,000 sf of positive absorption in the city during the quarter, with 315,000-sf of that occurring in the Back Bay District, now among the strongest office markets in the country.
Besides the standard mid-year review, RBJ issued a special look dissecting office market trends since conditions began improving four years ago after the brutal recession that started the decade. Since the third quarter of 2003, a limited number of submarkets have enjoyed the lion’s share of leasing activity and rental rate gains, discloses RBJ, which refers to the top performers as the “hot markets.” They include Class A space in Boston’s Financial District and Back Bay, plus all categories of office product in East Cambridge, Burlington, Waltham and Woburn.
Collectively, the hot markets account for 60.2 million sf, compared to 111 million sf in the remaining areas. Since Q3 2003, the hot markets have seen their vacancy rate decline from 21.1% to 9.6%, whereas the larger pool has only experienced a dip from 19.6% to 16.8%. That means 69% of all leasing in metropolitan Boston has been done in the “hot markets,” says Carroll, which account for just 35% of the inventory. There has been 8.4 million sf of absorption since 2003 in the hot markets versus 4.5 million sf for the remainder.
“The numbers are very telling,” says Carroll, although he also stresses that the recovery is finally spreading, partly a reflection of the wider geographic gap between asking rents, but also due to a dwindling level of inventory in the best areas. Waltham has 88% of the region’s office product under construction within its boundaries, but Carroll says that community and Burlington are still poised to run out of space by 2010.
“If the volume of demand continues as we’ve seen it, we may very well have the dynamics necessary for both new construction and more absorption in adjacent areas,” says Carroll. Indeed, “it is already happening,” he says, noting that the western suburban district commonly known as “the Boroughs” has posted nearly 600,000-sf of positive absorption in the past four quarters, while the Route 128 South market had 235,000-sf in that period. That result is impressive, says Carroll, given that the office space inventory in such communities as Canton, Dedham, Norwood and Westwood is just 3.7 million sf. “That’s a submarket likely to grow in the near future,” he says of Route 128 South, with the developers of Westwood Station proposing a 120,000-sf office building. During the period from Q3 2003, there has been 3.1 million sf added in the hot markets, whereas the remaining supply has remained flat, posting a slight decline of 39,000 sf.
As for second quarter results, the Back Bay’s performance on absorption was only outdone by the Route 128 North office market’s 316,000 sf total, followed by 275,000-sf for Route 128 West, the core suburban market anchored by Waltham. Only four of the submarkets had negative results for the quarter, with the suburban absorption total positive by 800,000 sf. The suburban vacancy rate is now 18.8% compared to 11.9% in Cambridge and 10.4% for Boston, says RBJ.
As with other indices, the Back Bay did the best on vacancy in Boston at 8.8%, and RBJ reports that the 12.1 million sf submarket is now highest in the region on office rents given rate appreciation of stratospheric proportions. Since mid-year 2006, Back Bay average rents have risen above $56 per sf, a 56% increase in just one year, while the Financial District has seen a 40% gain and East Cambridge is more than 33% higher than a year ago. The average for Class A rents throughout Greater Boston is now $38.58 per sf., highest since the second quarter of 2003, according to RBJ’s review.

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Thursday, June 28, 2007
FedEx renews Northborough lease
Boston Business Journal

FedEx SmartPost renewed its lease for 180,200 square feet of warehouse and distribution space at One Beeman Road where the company has been located since 2001.

The building is a 342,900-square-foot facility located in Northborough, Mass., owned by MM Industrial Beeman Road LLC. FedEx SmartPost, a part of the FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX), specializes in the consolidation and delivery of high volumes of low-weight, less time sensitive business-to-consumer packages using the United States Postal Service for final delivery to residences.

One Beeman Road is fully leased to other tenants Sundance Publishing and Recall Corp., according to Richard Barry Joyce & Partners LLC which represented the landlord in the FedEx transaction.