Burr and Gilbane plan on creating a business complex, to be called the Sylvan Business Center, out of the three connected buildings with 275,000 sf of space. The 15.2-acre campus will also have surface parking, a courtyard and easy access to local stores as well as Routes 128 and I-95. The developers reportedly project rents to be in the mid $20s per sf, which is well below nearby Cambridge's $50 per sf to $60 per sf range.

In a released statement, Robert S. Burr said, "Vacancy rates are tight, and consequently lease rates are at record high levels in much of the Boston area office market." Burr is the principal of College Street Investments, a firm he founded last year after 20 years at Spaulding & Slye Colliers.

Further indication of the North Shore's possible appeal is the Tower at Northwoods, a 185,000-sf building recently developed here that is nearly fully leased. Additionally, there is the Cummings Center, the mixed-use complex Cummings Properties developed in Beverly about five years ago. The Center now has 1.8 million sf of office space, which is nearly fully leased and is planning on ereecting two additional buildings of 300,000 sf each.