NAI/Hunneman and JLL Broker 209,000-SF Lease

NORTON — Contenders for flex/industrial space at 176 S. Washington St. can forget that option now that current tenant Bodek & Rhodes has snatched the remaining 80,000 sf landlord Paradigm Properties had available until striking a seven-year “blendand- extend” renewal filling the entire 209,000 sf building that is located in the Norton Commerce Center. The pact alters the clothing company’s original lease of 132,000 sf that was set to expire in 2014. “We’re happy with it,” says NAI/Hunneman Commercial Co. principal Catherine Minnerly, joined by Associate Ovar Osvold as exclusive leasing agents for 176 S. Washington St. According to Minnerly, “this transaction was a great opportunity for Paradigm to retain a strong credit tenant, and allow Bodek & Rhodes to expand and grow their operations without having to move.” The tenant was represented by Anthony Coskren and Rick Schuhwerk of Jones Lang LaSalle. Bodek & Rhodes’ commitment is déjà vu for Minnerly, having participated in the tenant’s original lease signing at 176 S. Washington St. in 2007. She says the property that has frontage along Interstate 495 is favored due to that highway’s access and numerous routes down into Connecticut and Rhode Island. Functionally, there are clear heights of 28 feet and 21 loading docks, as well as one drive-in door and efficient column spacing. There is 6,000 sf of office space that Bodek & Rhodes is using for administrative operations. Strong sponsorship was key in landing the tenant, Minnerly adds. Paradigm Properties in an experienced real estate owner and operator possessing an extensive industrial portfolio in the Northeast and out to Ohio. Besides negotiating one of the region’s biggest industrial leases of 2012, Minnerly is effusive over a surge of activity for Greater Boston industrial overall, especially in the South markets where she is a leading CRE broker. “The last few years, it has been really slow, but all of a sudden, things are happening,” relays Minnerly, rattling off vacant or underused properties benefitting from the rebounding economy. “It’s insane how busy it is right now.” Not that there is anything wrong with that, Minnerly and others acknowledge after the sector suffered one of its most torpid periods ever when the 2008 recession set into the Northeast. Even the opening bell of 2012 was not a pleasant one in I-495 South, as evidenced by a Richards Barry Joyce & Partners survey recording negative-230,000 sf of net absorption for the submarket of 17.3 million sf during the first quarter. Thanks to the Norton deal and other signs of life, Minnerly says she anticipates the area will fare much better in the coming months. “It’s real,” she says of the rebound.