Life Sciences Firm Commits to 61,000 SF

MARLBOROUGH, MA-Accentuating a solid beginning to 2007 in the Interstate 495 West office market, Xcellerex Inc. has committed to 61,000 sf at 150-170 Locke Dr. in a lease renewal/expansion that takes up more than half the facility. The 120,000-sf building, which serves headquarters for the life sciences company, is owned by Boston real estate investment firm Davis Marcus Partners.

“It’s great to have a company with such exciting technology as Xcellerex in the building, and to be able to watch them grow and become more successful,” DMP chief executive Jonathan Davis tells GlobeSt.com in acknowledging the lease. Davis says he believes it also validates his company’s belief in the MetroWest commercial real estate market displayed when the company acquired 140 and 150-170 Locke Dr. for $3.4 million and $8.9 million in March 2006. DMP also paid $10.9 million for the adjacent 111 Locke Dr.

“We thought the marketplace was firming and demand was increasing, and that seems to be what we are seeing happen there now,” says Davis of the investment. That notion is seconded by Richards Barry Joyce & Partners VP Paul Leone, who represented the landlord along with RBJ principal John Lashar as exclusive leasing agents for the DMP properties. According to Leone, the I-495 West region has parlayed one of the best quarters in years to start 2007 into continued improvement during the second quarter. “It has been a breath of fresh air,” says Leone, especially given that the 16.7-million-sf office market has been bogged down in a stagnant economy for much of the decade. Even now, the inventory has a vacancy rate of 17.9%, and plenty of assets remain empty or underutilized.