Maric Hires BRA Team to Market Needham A Street Property

NEEDHAM — The former Gold’s Gym at 130-150 A St. is hardly a work of art visually and is presently vacant, but that does not keep Boston Realty Advisors principal Jeremy A. Freid from dreaming of a similar outcome to the 39,600-sf building as occurred in two prior trades handled in the Newton/Needham submarket by the Boston-based brokerage firm over the past year. One yielded $210 per sf and the other $285 per sf, pricing normally reserved in suburban communities for larger, stabilized product, notes Freid, an SIOR who says the likely buyer will also have a similar tale as those purchasing 145 Wells Ave. and 96 Wells Ave., i.e. an entity looking to own their space versus rent.

“We do expect this will appeal to users,” conveys Freid this past week in confirming Maric Inc. has retained his group to peddle the 53-year-old structure that the Needham-based investor bought in June 2011 for $3.29 million, deemed surplus real estate by then-owner Normandy Real Estate Partners, but a property principal Mark H. Rubin told the Real Reporter at the time that he had great hopes for in an improving Route 128/Massachusetts Turnpike office market.

That vision has proven true, relays Freid, citing figures showing positive net absorption over the past four quarters in that area, including 574,000 sf spoken for in the second quarter, lowering the vacancy rate to 12.1 percent and fueling a spike in rents of 7.2 percent from the previous quarter. In its summary, BRA maintains quoted rental rates will continue to rise “well into 2014 while leasing concessions such as free rent and larger improvement allowances will tighten up.” Considering the prior deals occurred in more favorable conditions to lease space, Freid maintains users will be even more motivated given signs the five-year run of tenant power appears nearing an end, as do the historic rental rates that has created a boom of interest in user-oriented real estate buys. “It is still a good time (for CRE acquisition), but it can’t last forever,” acknowledges Freid, who is handling the expected line of suitors with colleagues Adam T. Meixner and Jordan B. Sneider, a trio that does not need a GPS device to find their way around the streets of Needham and Newton, having claimed Route 128/Mass Pike communities as their major focus, and one assisting mid-market activity on both leasing and sales assignments. “We’ve been busy,” Freid says in noting the submarket did struggle in the recession along with the rest of New England, but has helped lead the Route 128 rebound that now has it among the Northeast’s leading business beltways.

Besides being able to take on the space quickly, 130-150 A St. provides a range of options as a flex/office building, and is situated in the repositioned New England Business Center that is undergoing a transformation into a Live/Work/Play park similar to that occurring in the Burlington office market north on Route 128. A 290,000-sf Normandy development where TripAdvisor has just signed on for 200,000 sf is among the catalysts for change, with restaurants and retail being brought into the mix, partly due to an easing of zoning by the town of Needham which has seen the LWP concept well-received elsewhere. Those factors, according to BRA, will continue to drop vacancy that will lead to even more development, “making this one of the premier parks to be located in during the near future.” Elaborates Freid: “We think it is a pretty happening spot right now in one of the strongest submarkets in eastern Massachusetts.”

With that momentum, BRA is hitting the ground running. “We are going to be waving a big flag on this,” Freid says, given the broad constituency 130-150 A St. can accommodate. The market will be asked to set pricing, he says, but Freid does predict user demand will drive the day. “It is going to be hard for an investor to compete with a user,” he says