MIDDLEBOROUGH, MA-It has been a difficult year for commercial real estate owners in Interstate 495 South, with the smallest office submarket in Greater Boston somehow managing to outpace all others in negative absorption through mid-year. Finally, however, a positive outcome has occurred in the subleasing of more than 15,000 sf at 151 Campanelli Dr. in Middleborough.

“For that submarket, this is a good-sized deal,” reports Cushman & Wakefield senior director J.P. Plunkett, who represented tenant Brown and Caldwell in the pact that will allow the environmental engineering firm to relocate from a nearby building and expand its space by 100%. The sub-landlord is Eastern Bank, while the asset is owned by Campanelli Cos. of Braintree. Plunkett was joined by C&W colleagues Cathy Minnerly and Jason Bryer as leasing agents for Brown and Caldwell, while Eastern Bank was represented by James Griffin of GVA Williams.

Eastern Bank had assumed the lease following its purchase of a local competitor. The sublease will encompass about half of the single-story building, says Plunkett, providing a “top of the line credit tenant” there to run out the remaining six years on Eastern Bank's commitment. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA, Brown and Caldwell is a 60-year-old firm with 45 offices and more than 1,500 professionals.