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SHREWSBURY, MA-The 400,000-sf R&D facility at 334 South St. has traded hands in less than a year, delivering a 34%-profit of $9.4 million to the seller, a joint venture between Boston-based CrossHarbor Capital Partners and Suffolk Advisors. The buyer is Wilmington, MA-based Charles River Laboratories Inc.
According to public records, Charles River paid $27.4 million, or $68.50 per sf, for the building. GlobeSt.com reported that the CrossHarbor/Suffolk JV acquired the property from Hewlett Packard's surplus real estate for $18 million, or $45 per sf, in November 2004, despite an earlier asking price of $30 million for the asset.
Principals in the Boston office of Spaulding & Slye Colliers not only represented Charles River in this acquisition, but also previously procured the CrossHarbor/Suffolk JV and represented the seller in the 2004 Hewlett Packard transaction. The building has remained vacant since that transaction. This time around, David L. Pergola, EVP, and SVPs David J. Pergola and John A. Carroll III of the Boston office of Meredith & Grew, represented CrossHarbor/Suffolk.
The Spaulding & Slye principals who spoke for Charles River are William D. Bailey and Matthew P. Dwyer, along with SVP Philip DeSimone. Acknowledging it represented a nice profit for the seller, Dwyer tells GlobeSt.com it was also a good deal for the buyer. "User/buyer sales for buildings of lesser quality here are selling at higher per-sf-prices," he says, adding, "it would cost at least twice the price to replace this with a comparable facility."
Although Charles River may consolidate some existing operations in the building, the acquisition represents an expansion for the buyer, Dwyer says. Charles River, a global life sciences company with 8,000 employees worldwide and clients in 50 countries, will use the facility for pre-clinical services for clients working to bring new drugs to market. The building "allows us to stay ahead of the market demand for strategically outsourced pre-clinical work … for the next few years," says Jim Foster, Charles River's chairman, president and CEO, in a statement. He also said it gives his company "flexibility to pursue long-term space arrangements (with clients) to use our space in lieu of constructing their own." Calls to Meredith & Grew were not returned by deadline.
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