203,000-SF in Boxborough Seen Tied Up by Fairlane

BOXBOROUGH — Having already secured buildings during the past two years along Route 128, Fairlane Properties is apparently setting its sights even farther a field from the firm’s traditional Boston base, with sources indicating the homegrown investment firm has been named winning bidder for a pair of flex/office buildings here alongside Interstate 495. “Yes,” one source confirms when apprised of another’s contention that Fairlane has been winnowed from a pool of suitors pursuing 155 and 159 Swanson Rd. in a competition overseen by Eastdil Secured.

Calls to the brokerage team that includes Peter Joseph and James McCaffrey were not returned by press deadline, while Fairlane Properties President Michael Grill declined comment on the matter via e-mail, making it difficult to pinpoint pricing for the pending trade. The prior sale occurred in May 2005 when New Boston Fund paid $19.7 million, or just under $100 per sf, for the two buildings that were constructed in 1984 and 1985. The assets performed well under NBF’s stewardship, with the high-quality product 100 percent leased to Serta Systems and SynQor Inc. Those spoken to could not say what the current tenant status is regarding term or availabilities. The Interstate 495 West office market has been among the hardest hit regionally since the 2008 recession, with a Q4 2011 survey from Jones Lang LaSalle placing the vacancy rate at 23.4 percent for 13.5 million sf of supply after another difficult year that saw net absorption in the red by 473,000 sf.

Regardless of the submarket’s lingering turmoil, observers familiar with the area offered generally positive reviews of 155 and 159 Swanson Rd. when apprised of their pending acquisition. Among the strengths cited are immediate access to Interstate 495 at the juncture of Route 111 and visibility from the major highway upon which thousands of vehicles pass by daily.