"It's a great property," Campanelli director of leasing Peter Brown tells GlobeSt.com. The building abuts Woburn's MetroNorth Corporate Center, a mixed-use project championed by National Development in the late 1990s. Neighbors include American Tower Corp., Analog Devices, Arqule, Paychex and Raytheon Corp. The latter firm is the major tenant at MetroNorth, occupying 435,000 sf at 225 and 235 Presidential Way. MetroNorth was forged from the former Superfund site made famous in the movie "A Civil Action," and has won accolades for restoration of the one-time environmental disaster.

Located on a 13.8-acre parcel, 8 Presidential Way was purchased from Sanmina SCI Corp. Based in San Jose, CA, the electronics equipment manufacturing firm had ceased operations at 8 Presidential Way in 1999. Bought under the entity CFRI/CO Woburn LLC, the new ownership acquired the two-story building vacant. Beyond announcing the name change, Brown would not provide details of the strategy, but observers say the approach will likely be similar to Campanelli's acquisition of the Granite Woods Corporate Center in Braintree. That two-building park was recently renovated into modern office space, an effort that this spring won a coveted 40,000-sf lease with Travelers Indemnity Insurance Co., a deal initially reported by GlobeSt.com.

Brown did say he believes his firm's extensive history of value-added investments and repositioning properties "will be a great benefit as we tackle the leasing of Presidential Woods Corporate Center." The partnership, he adds, was encouraged by the regional demographics, 8 Presidential Way's proximity to a major commuter rail station within close walking distance, and access to Route 128 and Interstate 93. Part of the MetroNorth project was construction of a new ramp onto I-93 less than a mile from the Route 128/I-95 exit. There is also a new Marriott hotel close by, as well as numerous restaurant and retail options.