Anne’s Wood, a 30-acre complex in Lincoln, is being offered for sale or lease. McFarland & Finch, a Boston firm, is marketing the property on behalf of owner M. Holt Massey.
Henry David Thoreau should have had it so easy. Just a short stroll through the woods from Walden Pond lies a real estate opportunity light years from Thoreau’s famed 19th century do-it-yourself project. The naturalist’s Spartan existence would be in sharp contrast to the accouterments available at Anne’s Wood in Lincoln, a 30-acre complex abutting Route 2 that has previously served as an Episcopal convent and most recently as a school for Japanese students.
Abandoned when the Boston Center for Intercultural Communication shut down in 2002 is a 52,000-square-foot centerpiece building that provides virtually every item needed to operate in the new millennium. Among other things, the building houses desks, beds, pillowcases, personal laundry facilities, mountain bikes, pool tables, televisions, stereo systems and a fully equipped fitness center.
“It’s truly a turnkey opportunity in every sense of the word,” acknowledged broker Karyn McFarland, who is representing owner M. Holt Massey in marketing the property for sale or lease. The main building also includes a fully stocked commercial kitchen, 55 bathrooms, library, computer lab, Internet-ready dorm rooms and four residential suites previously occupied by school instructors. The manicured grounds feature nature trails, an in-ground swimming pool and two lighted tennis courts.
McFarland has handled numerous investment sales over the years, but said she cannot recall one as fully loaded and ready for occupancy as that presented by Anne’s Wood. “It’s quite a special place,” said the owner of McFarland & Finch, a Boston-based real estate firm.
The prime target is religious and educational organizations in the Greater Boston area, McFarland said, with Massey suggesting that Anne’s Wood could be appealing as a satellite campus for a university, a retreat center or even home to a new junior college looking to balance solitude with proximity to Cambridge and downtown Boston. Hoping to inure their students in American culture, the Japanese school regularly shuttled them to the nearby Alewife subway station on the MBTA’s Red Line.
“That’s the beauty of the place,” Massey said during a recent tour of the site. “It’s out in the middle of the woods, but you can get to Boston in 10 minutes.”
‘Different Possibilities’
A Richmond, Va., transplant who owns 85 Merrimac St. in Boston, Massey typically focuses on renovating historic buildings into commercial space. The purchase of Anne’s Wood at auction nearly two years ago came as part of a search Massey was undertaking on behalf of a Lexington private school that his children attend. School officials subsequently eschewed Anne’s Wood as an option, but Massey decided to acquire the property on his own.
Massey has turned to both McFarland and his in-house marketing manager, Polly Lyman, to assist in peddling Anne’s Wood. While Massey & Co.’s traditional real estate investment philosophy is to hold properties long-term, Massey said he is willing to part with Anne’s Wood should an offer meet his criteria and be acceptable to the town of Lincoln, which reportedly also had been interested in buying the complex at one point.
Several residential developers also were said to have pursued Anne’s Wood when it was initially put up for auction, but Massey’s bid had no permitting caveats attached, making it more palatable to the sellers. Along with the main campus itself, there are a few residential parcels that will be put up for sale, but McFarland said the institutional user is the most likely suitor for the bulk of the campus.
As a nearby resident, McFarland is particularly familiar with Anne’s Wood, often riding her horses along the trails behind the parcel, but her introduction to Massey originally came following his acquisition of 85 Merrimac St. in the mid-1990s. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the office/retail building in the Hub’s North Station district was occupied only by a brewpub on the ground floor when Massey took over in 1994.
McFarland was subsequently retained to lease the office space in the upper floors, a task she successfully completed with a roster of law firms and other professional services companies, as well as the local headquarters of the Republican Party. “Karyn did a great job in leasing the building,” said Massey, who reports that 85 Merrimac St. is faring well despite the downturn in Boston’s office market. Most recently, a new restaurant opened where the brewpub previously had been located.
As for Anne’s Wood, McFarland said she believes the mix of modern space and quick accessibility will yield interest, especially once the marketing campaign moves into full gear. While almost entirely hidden by the dense woods out front, the property’s availability is now being advertised along Route 2 by a pair of bright yellow signs recently erected by McFarland.
Lyman also expressed optimism that the sprawling property will ultimately find a taker, particularly given the endless amenities included and the ability of the main building to accommodate numerous operations. “It lends itself to a lot of different possibilities,” said Lyman.
