CBRE/NE, Grubb & Ellis Broker $4.7M Canton Sale for Leggat McCall Properties

CANTON, MA—There are eight down and one to go from a 470,000-sf portfolio of nine flex/industrial assets owned here at Shawmut Park by Leggat McCall Properties. The latest trading is 65 Shawmut Rd., parceled off this past week in a $4.71 million sale to a Norwood digital media firm that will relocate to the 59,000-sf building.

“As we finalize the execution of our strategy, we are finding it has worked out well for us,” LMP President Eric Sheffels says this week in acknowledging his firm’s dispatch of 65 Shawmut Rd. Boston-based LMP was represented by the CB Richard Ellis/New England Private Client Group, while buyer Martin Shawmut Properties LLC was introduced by Grubb & Ellis VP Taryn Wilson. The buyer secured a $3.77 million mortgage from RBS Citizens.

Only 50 Shawmut Rd. remains among the unsold properties in the Shawmut Park portfolio LMP acquired in June 2005, and Sheffels indicates that final piece is likely to be on the block near term. Including the latest deal, records indicate LMP has reaped in excess of $37.5 million from a package purchased for $29.0 million. Primarily constructed by the late James Salah, a well-known South Shore developer, the assets were partly bought for conversion to commercial condominiums, but LMP’s plan shifted when it became evident buyers were interested in acquiring the structures outright. “We adapted to the market,” Sheffels says, beginning in Jan. 2006 when 5 and 105 Shawmut Rd. were harvested for $10.2 million. Three more changed hands that year, those being 60, 70 and 75 Shawmut Rd., followed by 110 Shawmut Rd. fetching $6.75 million in April 2007 and 95 Shawmut Rd., divested in Feb. 2008 for $5.7 million.

CBRE/NE principal Gary Lemire, a member of the Private Client Group, says the national platform afforded by that special unit attracted prospects from across the country interested in 65 Shawmut Rd. Although a local player did wind up as the winning suitor, Lemire says investors everywhere reacted favorably to the listing, sparked by a proven location and “outstanding” tenant roster that includes the likes of the Bank of America, which has a back-office function in the property.

Lemire, who teamed with colleague Patrick Cavanagh to market the asset, says LMP made prescient improvements to the flex/industrial buildings to attract a broader scope of tenants, including modern mechanical systems and refurbished entranceways. “That helped a lot,” Lemire says of the upgrades, with the commitments improving the cash-flowing element to 65 Shawmut Rd. By one estimate, the new owner will occupy about 12,000 sf in the building.