Winstanley Trading 800,000-SF Flex Facility Lowell Asset

LOWELL — The booster slogan promises ‘A Lot to Like About Lowell’, and Farley White Interests is about to get a lot to lease there as well after reportedly agreeing to buy 1001 Pawtucket Blvd. from longtime owner Winstanley Enterprises. Being quietly exchanged via Cassidy Turley, the hulking 800,000-sf flex facility has in excess of 450,000 sf available, according to the firm’s website that indicates one contiguous block of 220,000 sf, among three offerings in six figures.

“It is huge,” one Interstate 495 North broker conveys in confirming the pending trade that is pegged to close by year’s end. Market watchers could not say whether any debt will be placed on 1001 Pawtucket Blvd. by the Boston-based firm which already owns the Wannalancit Mills in Lowell just four miles east. The market expert maintains pricing is rather hefty in its own right, running between $15 million and $16 million. Winstanley has held the three-level building since paying $14.5 million in June 1996, and the I-495 veteran reports 1001 Pawtucket Blvd. has undergone multiple improvements under the Concord investor’s stewardship. “The building is in great condition,” says another source who terms Farley White founders Roger Altreuter and John Power “the logical guys to pick up on what” Winstanley accomplished, citing the existing local connections and Farley White’s value-add background that has already restored not only the historic Wannalancit complex, but a series of buildings from Seacoast New Hampshire to Watertown.

Calls to Farley White and Winstanley principals were not returned by press deadline. The seller’s footprint extends into all New England states and includes a mix of flex, industrial, office and retail space.

Also not responding to inquiries were Cassidy Turley, whose Boston Capital Markets team is led by Senior Managing David J. Pergola and Senior VP Brian R. Doherty. The unit is wrapping up its second season marketing CRE across New England, with its most substantial conclusion to date this year the high profile listing of software giant Adobe Systems’ Waltham headquarters overlooking Route 128. That $25 million trade of the 100,000-sf LEED Platinum facility was completed in early autumn, although an even larger listing remains in play, 300 Apollo Dr. in Chelmsford, listed for USAA Realty Advisors in the $40 million sphere. Negotiations are also reported to be advanced for the Ames Pond Corporate Center in Tewksbury being peddled on behalf of Leggat McCall Properties. It is unclear what the status is on those talks for Cassidy Turley, which as previous Real Reporter articles have detailed is also active in Maine and New Hampshire.

As to 1001 Pawtucket Blvd., industry sources maintain there was only a limited number of qualified candidates approached, including Farley White, which reportedly has gone hard on a deposit. The swap is occurring at a time when the I-495 North submarket is finally gaining traction after a disastrous recession that has lingered well into the new recession. Direct vacancy there finally slipped under the 30 percentile realm during the past year, hitting 29.0 percent after 12 months earlier being at 31.3 percent, a drop thanks to 943,000 sf of net absorption in that stretch for an inventory totaling 34.3 million sf.