"It's as hot as a pistol," broker Curtis P. Oberg of Spaulding & Slye Colliers says of the northern Massachusetts community. "There's an incredible amount of activity going on up there right now."

Calls to Gutierrez were not returned by press deadline, but the Burlington-based firm has submitted an environmental notification form with the state, one in which company officials ask to be exempted from an in-depth environmental impact report. If spared from that lengthy process, Gutierrez estimates it could begin construction on the first building by this autumn, with completion slated for a year later. The initial structure would be 175,000 sf, followed by a 75,000-sf building. Although a precise space figure was not provided, Gutierrez says in the ENF that NetScout Systems will serve as anchor tenant of the first building.

NetScout is currently a tenant at the nearby Westford Technology Park, a seven-building complex also owned by Gutierrez. Indeed, Oberg maintains that the developer's ability to lure GenRad from Concord to Westford Technology Park during the mid-1990s became a key catalyst in the resurgence of the town after several down years.

An abundance of land and location near Lowell and Chelmsford have also helped, says Oberg, adding that the presence of a solid high-tech labor pool has led to well-known companies such as Lucent Technologies, HP and Lotus Development moving into the Westford market. Gutierrez is also now developing an 87,000-sf headquarters facility for ENSR International, as well as a 150,000-sf building for Unisphere.