Robert Bradford, spokesperson for the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, tells GlobeSt.com that he spoke to a representative of Applied Materials and "while they haven't signed the lease yet, they are close." The developer of the building is College Street Investments, which is an alliance between Robert Burr and Gilbane Properties.

Applied Materials has an office in Hudson but this facility would have a tremendous impact on the area, notes Bradford, in the form of high paying jobs from a clean industry. As Bradford points out, the North Shore is already home to a number of semiconductor companies, especially those that focus on ion beam implantation, including Gloucester-based Variant, Ibis and Axcelis. As for Applied's interest in the area, Bradford adds that that is due to the "high quality labor force and the above average quality of life here."