The consolidation from 164 and 170 Lexington Rd. will leave both of those properties empty by autumn, but the separate owners are moving swiftly to take advantage of the rising market. Richards Barry Joyce & Partners has been hired by Boston Properties to lease or sell 164 Lexington Rd., the landlord tells GlobeSt.com, while Meredith & Grew is shopping 170 Lexington Rd. for sale or lease on behalf of CrossHarbor Capital Partners, a Boston-based real estate investor.

"It's a great little building," says M&G SVP Matt Daniels, praising 170 Lexington Rd.'s access to Route 3, high visibility and the 34,000-sf footprint that he says "makes it ideal" for a single occupant. "The building is an excellent user-buyer play," he says. Constructed in 1997, it is fitted with modern systems and technology, he says, and is located on a five-acre parcel that accommodates 127 parking spaces. The marketing team includes M&G associate vice president Joseph Crowley and associate Chris Lawrence.

Although somewhat older, having been renovated by Boston Properties in 1995, 164 Lexington Rd. also has elements users should be attracted by, says RBJ VP James Lipscomb, tabbed by Boston Properties to lead the multi-option marketing campaign. The widening of Route 3 is one of many reasons Billerica has emerged as "a legitimate office market," says Lipscomb. Seen in the past as a fringe destination and part of a region that was slammed by the recession that began in 2001, Billerica could now become an escape valve for companies shell-shocked by surging office rents in Burlington and Woburn, Lipscomb says. Talent-hungry firms are finding a pool of skilled workers lured there by the brief tech boom, adds Daniels, while the emergence of Manchester Boston Regional Airport just across the border in New Hampshire has supposedly enhanced the area's viability as a business address.