Image courtesy of JLL

A 23-acre Bedford campus that landed a major lease from a Bill Gates-backed thermal battery manufacturer in December received $62.5 million in financing.

Blue Light Capital provided the loan to owners Wheelock Street Capital and Camber Development.

Battery manufacturer Fourth Power leased 47,500 square feet last winter in a new 147,000 square-foot building at 44 Middlesex Turnpike. The company is commercializing an energy storage system after receiving backing from Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

The property also is approved for a second building totaling 147,000 square feet on a 12.3-acre pad.

Boston’s north suburban market has become the region’s hub of advanced manufacturing because of proximity to Cambridge and inventory of buildings with robust power capacity that are suitable for such tenants, according to JLL, which sourced the financing for 44 Middlesex Turnpike.

Developers and investors are betting on the potential of flex properties containing a combination of R&D, manufacturing and office space to attract leases from companies in the clean energy sector and other advanced manufacturing uses.

In June, Boston-based Berkeley Investments formed a partnership with German investor Garbe to develop a series of industrial, infrastructure and residential projects. The first project is a speculative 150,000 square-foot flex/R&D building at 161 Concord Road in Billerica.

This week, modular housing manufacturer Reframe Systems announced a 115,000 square-foot lease at 90 Salem Road in Billerica including office, R&D and production space.