"This was a strong transaction for both the landlord and the tenant," says Meredith & Grew associate Christopher Lawrence, who represented Brickstone Square in the negotiations in partnership with M&G SVP Matt Daniels. The tenant's brokers were Jones Lang LaSalle SVP Keith Gurtler and associate Phil Geiger. A division of Berkshire Hathaway, Sofft Shoe is currently headquartered in Hudson, NH.
Lease terms were not divulged, but sources say Softt Shoe committed to a 10-year stay at the park, a one-time mill complex renovated into office space in the 1990s by local firm Brickstone Properties. Transwestern Investment Co. has owned the complex since 2005, buying it from the lender after the recession of 2001 forced Brickstone Properties to give it back. The problems became most acute when anchor tenant CMGI failed and left hundreds of thousands of square feet upon departure.
Conditions have begun to change for the better in the past 18 months, started when Northrop Grumman opted to relocate from Reading, while several subsequent deals have been completed as well. Arrivals in recent months have included RCI Communications, the Helium Exchange and software concern Radianse. "We're happy with the pickup in momentum," says Daniels, whose firm has also brought in such tenants as Project Planning, Apex Communications and Kindred Healthcare, which took 20,000 sf. A critical renewal was also recently secured, as the largest law firm in the Merrimack Valley signed on for another term. That group, Devine, Millimet & Branch occupies 15,000 sf.
Daniels cites various reasons why tenants have begun responding, including the general improvement in the Greater Boston economy. Not only are more firms needing expansion space, rents in nearby Route 128 are also prompting firms to consider value alternatives, says Daniels, with Brickstone still offering per space in the high-teens per sf.
Flexibility is another bonus, he says. "There are very few buildings that can accommodate a 5,000-sf tenant or a 100,000-sf tenant like Brickstone Square," he says. A range of amenities are also attractive, he says, including on-site day care, a fitness facility and sundry shop. Also, says Daniels, "Transwestern is an extremely pro-active landlord," willing to work with tenants to find the right arrangement.
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