Market Watches as Framingham Sale Nears

FRAMINGHAM, MA-Dogged by a lack of product, New England’s commercial real estate sales market is stumbling to one of its slowest starts this decade, but chances seem good that a prime hilltop site overlooking the Massachusetts Turnpike could be under agreement by quarter’s end, and possibly as soon as this week. The property at 125 Pennsylvania Ave. “is a signature location,” says Anthony Biette, part of the Grubb & Ellis Investment Sales Group representing the Memphis-based owner that recently shuttered International Paper’s facility there after decades in operation.

One source maintains that selection of a winner is “very close,” and claims the six-acre parcel attracted substantial attention from developers, investors and even potential users. The property at 125 Pennsylvania Ave. is in an industrial strip, but several prominent office buildings are located nearby, including the headquarters of Bose Corp. and multiple properties occupied by Genzyme Corp. The opportunity was initially detailed in a December 11 GlobeSt.com article that unveiled the asset’s pursuit by well-known Boston developer Dean Stratouly.

Calls to Stratouly were not returned by press deadline, and Biette would not acknowledge whether the Congress Group Ventures founder is a finalist for the property, as several sources are insisting. “It would not be prudent for me to comment in any way, shape or form,” says Biette, who also would not discuss other elements of the negotiations except to say that his client “is making sure the process runs its course.”