"Physically, it is in very good condition," KBS SVP Shannon Hill tells GlobeSt.com in reviewing the firm's willingness to see the Rivertech acquisition through despite the rocky sales climate that has enveloped commercial real estate since mid-summer 2007. Original owner Nortel Networks had infused the property with an exceptional level of technology, he notes, and New Boston Fund ensured the expanded park was equally endowed. "That's by and large what attracted the tenants," says Hill.

Hill also lauds the $385 million expansion of Route 3, the roadway that Rivertech is located along. "It has made the area much more accessible," he says of the initiative earlier this decade that widened Route 3 to six lanes. The project has been propitious for the Interstate 495 North submarket, says Hill, because rising rental rates in Cambridge and along Route 128 are spurring many firms to consider alternate markets such as Billerica and abutting Chelmsford.

The I-495 North vacancy rate remains above 20%, but the stable tenant roster makes KBS feel "very comfortable" about holding Rivertech over the near term, says Hill. Observers say the sale is a coup for New Boston Fund, which acquired the development after owner Nortel Networks downsized in the wake of the 2001 technology crash that crippled suburban Boston. Eastdil Secured broker James McCaffrey acknowledges that NBF fared well, but says the property was acquired below replacement cost for KBS. "I think everyone was happy about it," says McCaffrey, who negotiated the sale with colleagues Peter Joseph and Chris Phaneuf from Eastdil's Boston office.