CBRE Brokers $11M Sale-Leaseback Deal

TEWKSBURY, MA-Taking advantage of rampant interest in stabilized real estate, ECRM Inc. has negotiated a sale-leaseback of the firm’s 102,000-sf headquarters. The single-story property was acquired by Gladstone Commercial Corp., a real estate investment trust that paid $11 million after structuring an arrangement to keep ECRM as sole occupant of 554 Clark Rd.

“The timing was right,” CBRE/New England principal Mark Reardon explains to GlobeSt.com. Client ECRM “got an asset off the books that is not growing for them, and [sold into] a market flush with cash.” Joining Reardon in the marketing campaign were CBRE/New England colleagues Bruce Levine, Patrick Cavanagh and Jake Borden.

A producer of imaging equipment, ECRM’s lineage in Massachusetts dates to the 1970s. Reardon declined to discuss financial terms, but the leaseback portion is for 10 years. Not only does that mean a victory for the state’s beleaguered manufacturing sector, the new owners of the office/R&D building are expected to receive periodic rental increases in addition to the long-term commitment, according to data reviewed by GlobeSt.com. The buyers also secured a 10.5-acre parcel that offers quick access to interstates 495 and 93, adds Reardon. “It’s a quality building,” he says,” and is in a community 30 miles north of Boston finally emerging from a difficult start to the decade.