Genzyme Northborough facility, Boston

Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers has acquired the Genzyme Northborough facility, a 211,600 sq. ft. building in suburban Boston, for $17.5 million on behalf of an institutional investor. The Genzyme Corp., a biotechnology company, solely occupies the property on a long-term, net-lease basis. The deal closed in late May.

The sellers were ING Clarion Partners and Leggat McCall Properties. Cushman & Wakefield of Massachusetts exclusively represented the sellers and procured the buyer. The Cushman & Wakefield brokerage team included Robert Griffin Jr., Edward Maher, David Pergola, and Christopher Griffin.

“We are thrilled to represent ownership on the acquisition of this state-of-the-art facility in suburban Boston, one of the nation’s premier real estate markets,” says Michael Zammitti, managing director for Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers based in Hartford, Conn.

The transaction represents the second significant single-tenant, net-lease sale in Boston’s I-495 corridor for Cushman & Wakefield this year. In April, Wells REIT II acquired IBM's regional headquarters complex in Littleton, Mass. The 490,000 sq. ft. office complex sold for $94 million.

Originally completed in 1988, the Genzyme Northborough facility is undergoing an extensive renovation at a cost to Genzyme that is estimated to exceed $60 million. Once upgrades are complete, the property will serve as a high-end final assembly and distribution facility for worldwide shipment of Genzyme products.

The property is situated on 18 acres and has convenient access to I-290 and I-495. The asset features 50,900 sq. ft. of two-story office/R&D space and 160,700 sq. ft. of single-story, state-of-the-art pharmaceutical production and distribution space. Genzyme plans to add 40,300 sq. ft. of mezzanine space that will increase the total size of the building to 251,900 sq. ft.

Genzyme is seeking gold status from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program for the facility.