NatDev and Angelo, Gordon & Co. Cash Out at MetroNorth in Woburn for $47.1M

WOBURN—A pair of first class office buildings forged from one of the country’s most ambitious Superfund reclamation feats have been divested by visionary National Development of New England and latter day partners Angelo, Gordon & Co. in a $47.1 million sale brokered by Cushman & Wakefield to Andover Cos. The same firm last May separately acquired a four-building, 245,000-sf corporate park next to its headquarters 15 miles north off Interstate 93, that a $32 million purchase of Andover’s New England Business Center from MARIC Inc. through Eastdil Secured.

Cushman & Wakefield Capital Markets Vice Chair Peter Joseph and Managing Directors Brian Barnett and Steffen Panzone are familiar with Andover Cos., having separately represented MARIC principal Mark Rubin in the prior trade. The three brokers were key parts of Eastdil’s operation before joining C&W last spring, while In both instances, Andover Cos. was advised by Eastport Real Estate Services, a Waltham asset and management firm now operating NEBC. It has subsequently been awarded the same post at 120 and 150 Presidential Way.

Efforts to contact C&W team members and Eastport Real Estate Services President Robert Bowen regarding the latest conquest were unsuccessful as of press deadline, but NatDev President Thomas M. Alperin did acknowledge the closing in a phone interview, explaining the motivation for harvesting 120 Presidential Way (pictured) and 150 Presidential Way came handicapping the robust CRE sales climate, especially for suburban office product lining the Route 128 beltway.

“We had no (pressure) to do anything; we just felt this was an opportune time to put it out there and see what happens . . . and we are pleased with the response,” Alperin relays while confirming the assets are the last remaining buildings constructed at MetroNorth Corporate Center still owned by the developer which in 1996 tied up and began designing and permitting 105 acres adjacent to the contaminated Superfund portion, clean land that has generated 1.3 million sf of hotel, office and retail construction plus a new transit center serviced by the MBTA commuter rail, Amtrak and Logan Express, the latter mode connecting to its namesake airport. There is also pentiful parking and taxi service at the Anderson Regional Transportation Center.

Constructed in 2000 and 2001, 120 and 150 Presidential Way is an assemblage totaling 221,000 sf of office space and structured parking. The first-class office product was 92 percent leased to multiple tenants at the point of purchase.

C&W did not respond to inquiries from therealreporter.com regarding its role in the agreements equating to $30.8 million and $16.3 million Andover Cos. spent to secure 150 and 120 Presidential Way, respectively. Woburn’s 245-acre Superfund wasteland sparked a massive lawsuit by residents and drew a visit from John Travolta while acting in ‘A Civil Action”, the film about the plaintiffs’ attorney, Jan Schlichtmann.

Looking back on the past 20 years, turns out National Development played a more enduring role than the actor in unlocking the site to a vast lineup of office space today housing Raytheon Corp. at 225 and 235 Presidential Way, plus a 149-room Courtyard Marriott Hotel, three-story health club and a pair of major retail projects on Commerce Way, one anchored by a Target. A major change came when the land and design costs were donated by NatDev to the state for the James L. McKeown flyover bridge that has opened up access directly off Interstate 93 into a road network connecting to the transit center and over to Wilmington.

NatDev has previously sold off other portions of the park, including the Raytheon-occupied buildings totaling 440,000 sf that fetched $85.3 million six years ago from Piedmont Realty Trust. A building sold to occupant ArQule in 2011 for $18.1 million was later purchased by Alexandria Real Estate Equities, and the sports club at 400 Presidential Way yielded $12.1 million in May 2013. Angelo, Gordon & Co. bought into 120 and 150 Presidential Way three years ago, says Alperin.

Founding partners of National Development include Alperin, John J. “Jack” O’Neil III and Theodore R. Tye. The Woburn endeavor is nearly complete, but MetroNorth’s developer is putting a final fitting touch on the project constructing a 200-unit apartment building via a congenial 40B process. Community members and civic leaders are credited by Alperin for rallying to support the housing portion, with the developer overall applauding a constituency whose collective outcome helped MetroNorth win the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Phoenix Award among other salutations earned for transforming the erstwhile industrial wasteland.

“We are really proud of what MetroNorth has done for Woburn, and feel very fortunate to have been involved as a part of the (solution) there for the city,” says Alperin. “This is one of the most important public/private partnerships I am aware of, and we felt (residential) would be a very appropriate use for the final piece of land, and I think it will bring the project to a nice (conclusion).” The apartments are being built on 10.7 acres at 200 Presidential Way.

As illustrated in the latest transaction for clients Angelo, Gordon & Co. and NatDev, C&W’s Capital Markets team in 2016 was able to quickly ramp up its new platform with a series of suburban assignments on top of the Motor Mart Garage exclusive in Boston’s Back Bay that yielded $162.5 million last autumn. C&W helped Fairlane Properties sell two fully leased Boxborough buildings for $19.3 million; got Ferris Capital to purchase 5 Beeman Rd. in Northborough for $9.3 million, the asset a 55,500-sf warehouse leased to Iron Mountain; and in the latest Real Reporter, it was unveiled the crew has been hired by Normandy Real Estate Partners to market seven buildings at Marlborough Technology Park, a 575,000-sf portfolio observers predict could bring upwards of $55 million.