Former Headquarters of Evergreen Solar At Devens Sold For $36 Million
In another sign that Devens is the prime local hub for high quality industrial and manufacturing space--making it unlikely that Groton could ever compete with similar land, tax and transportation advantages--Calare Properties and Hackman Capital Partners, LLC, announced June 2 that they had completed the sale of 112 Barnum Road in Devens. The site is a 392,000-square-foot Class-A manufacturing facility. Calare Properties is a private, Massachusetts-based real estate investment firm and Hackman Capital Partners, LLC, is an asset-based investment firm headquartered in Los Angeles.
The property was purchased by a large institutional real estate investor for $36,050,000 and initially had been acquired vacant by affiliates of
Calare and Hackman Capital Partners in April 2012.
Originally constructed in 2010 as Evergreen Solar's headquarters, the property offers state-of-the-art manufacturing and research facilities including oversized air handling and humidification, emergency diesel generators, and gas distribution systems. Immediately following the purchase, Calare and Hackman Capital's asset management team repurposed the facility for multiple-tenant usage, which required significant reconfiguration and careful planning. The low cost basis of the asset, coupled with superior quality, supported competitive lease rates in relation to all other properties in the market.
Within 60 days of the acquisition, Calare and Hackman Capital leased approximately half of the building to a North American business of Saint-Gobain, a French multi-national corporation. In late 2013, the remainder of the building was leased by a manufacturer of plastic molded parts, bringing the facility to 100 percent occupancy.
As part of the Barnum Business Park, the property provides an ideal location, situated just four miles west of Route 495 and two miles north of Route 2. Additionally, its proximity to multiple highways allow tenants easy access to major Northeast business centers including Boston, Hartford, and New York.
