ACTON, MA-Nagog Park, one of suburban Boston's more eclectic commercial addresses, is enjoying a late season surge. The master-planned development has secured 11 transactions exceeding 50,000 sf of space in eight office buildings controlled by KBS Realty.
The commitments feature a mix of first-time leases, expansions and renewals, headlined by a 12,000-sf renewal from Tatara Systems at 35 Nagog Park. KBS is welcoming software developer Peermeta Inc. for 7,000 sf at 43 Nagog Park, the same property where Tervela expanded their presence by nearly 6,000 sf. Liberty Mutual Group is also staying put, with the insurance giant taking more than 3,000 sf at 30 Nagog Park.
“We've had a nice flurry of activity,” relays Richards Barry Joyce & Partners VP Jamey Lipscomb, whose firm is exclusive leasing agent for the 387,000 sf controlled by KBS at the 11-building, 73-acre property. The landlord has been key in the solid performance at Nagog, according to Lipscomb, citing an approach accommodating prospects and making the upgrades necessary to compete in a market still awash in office and flex space. “They are making it easy to do deals,” he says. “Nagog Park garners a high level of attention because it allows for corporate growth, is easily accessible, and has proactive ownership,” adds RBJ principal Brian McKenzie, who was joined by Lipscomb and RBJ principal John Wilson in negotiating the leases for KBS.
Nagog Park is unique for a variety of reasons, says Lipscomb, including a picturesque setting afforded by the abutting Nagog Pond and a nature preserve. The park also features extensive retail anchored by the Nagog Mall, including five restaurants. Office tenants “definitely like that,” Lipscomb tells GlobeSt.com. KBS VP John Kolb says Long Beach, CA-based KBS is impressed by the pedigree of Nagog Park and its diverse array of occupants. “While often considered a high-tech park, Nagog actually features tenants from a range of industries, as well as an excellent mix of large, established companies and smaller, emerging firms,” Kolb says.
While concurring with that notion, Lipscomb accedes that Nagog's reputation is for catering to high-tech companies, a branding he suggests is a combination of the firm's legacy housing such companies, coupled with the high-tech nature of the MetroWest office market that tends to spawn startups, another specialty of Nagog. A spurt of venture-capital funding offers hope for that element to continue, says McKenzie. Tervela, for example, is backed by Acartha Group, Goldman Sachs and Sigma Partners. Young companies would also likely benefit by the flexibility and leasing discount at Nagog, maintains Lipscomb, with terms as brief as two years and sub dividable down to 1,000 sf. Rents are in the mid- to high teens per sf. versus $20 per sf and up right off I-495, he notes, and more than double that rate in the core Route 128 Central submarket.
RBJ Associate Robert Byrne was broker for Peermeta in its lease, while Matt Adams of Cushman & Wakefield represented Tervata. CresaPartners principal Maureen Young was the agent for Liberty Mutual. T3 Realty Advisors Managing Director Mark Cote was broker for Tatara. Specific terms of the leases were not divulged. The occupancy for the KBS portfolio is now at 75%, and Lipscomb says several prospects circulating could push that rate even higher by year's end. The rate is slightly better than the 26.1% vacancy rate overall for the I-495 West, according to RBJ, which tracks 14.1 million sf in the submarket.
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