Southborough is part of suburban Boston's MetroWest region, an area with waves of new construction of office and flex space since the 1980s. Once dominated by the computer industry, MetroWest has been through a series of ups and downs since the likes of Digital Equipment Corp. and Prime Computer roamed the marketplace prior to their demise. The region was particularly hard hit by a subsequent technology bust that began in 2001, with vacancies soaring past 30%, but the recovering economy has again bolstered prospects now that rents closer to Downtown Boston are soaring. The core suburban office market in Waltham, for example, is now achieving deals well into the $40 per sf range. As a result, Jones Lang LaSalle puts the office vacancy rate for 12 million sf in MetroWest at 13.1%, third best among seven submarkets tracked by the firm.

Given the silence from the parties involved, it is unclear how advanced the redevelopment plan by Southborough Partners is at present, but a source close to the situation claims the principals are intent on getting the proposal before local and state officials on a fast-track schedule. "It's very real," the source says of the venture. "They want to get it going."