Camp Dresser Kills HQ Relocation Plans

CAMBRIDGE, MA-In a dramatic policy shift, engineering firm Camp Dresser & McKee has reportedly agreed to stay put here after entertaining a bifurcated plan to split into two suburban operations. Instead of fulfilling that strategy, sources tell GlobeSt.com that CDM will renew at One Cambridge Place, the nine-story, 183,000-sf building that the firm has occupied since the property opened in 1999.

“I’m very sure that is happening,” one industry source tells GlobeSt.com, a notion supported by others tracking the situation. CDM earlier this year retained Cresa Partners to explore options both north and south of the headquarters, a process initially reported by GlobeSt.com in its March 24th edition. According to sources, however, upper management nixed the plan in a late-stage reversal made for reasons not divulged. There are reports One Cambridge Place landlord MetLife produced a more competitive offer, but sources also relay there were doubts about the efficiency of running two separate operations.

Calls to CDM Chairman Thomas Furman Jr., Cresa Partners and One Cambridge Place’s exclusive leasing agent, Lincoln Property Co., were not returned by press deadline. It is unclear whether the renewal agreement has been finalized, but sources indicate the term is for 10 years and estimate a competitive rate in the low $40-per-sf range. That sphere would be a relative bargain in Cambridge, but is tops for the suburbs and a level normally only seen in core markets such as Waltham and Lexington.