The Campanelli Cos. acquired its Freetown business park two years ago. A blockbuster 800,000-plus square-foot lease by Weyerhaeuser Corp. represents the first deal signed at the park.
In a major boost for the emerging South Coast market, Weyerhaeuser Corp. has committed to a long-term lease at the Campanelli Business Park in Freetown, with the firm planning to develop a storage and distribution center on 22 acres. The agreement encompasses more than 827,000 square feet of leased and developed area at the park.
The Weyerhaeuser pact is not only one of the largest industrial real estate deals in the state this year, it also consummates a five-year search for a facility by its broker, Auburndale Realty Co. of Newton. Principal Robert Nahigian estimated last week that he toured between 200 and 300 prospective sites before his client finally settled on Freetown.
It was a very difficult assignment, acknowledged Nahigian, with the firm not only needing more than 20 acres of land, but also a property that had direct rail access and could accommodate employees from Weyerhaeuser’s existing operations in Walpole. The search took Nahigian as far afield as New Hampshire, with other prospects considered in Fitchburg, Leominster and Worcester.
Weyerhaeuser had evaluated the Freetown site previously, said Nahigian, but company officials were concerned about prospects for employee retention. In the end, however, the site met all of the company’s criteria, leading to the 10-year lease agreement. A CSX rail line on-site was a key factor in the decision, Nahigian said, as was the ability of the Campanelli Cos. to deliver a completed building on an aggressive time schedule. With its lease expiration imminent in Walpole, Weyerhaeuser has to be into the new facility by the spring.
They really know how to make a deal happen, Nahigian said of Campanelli. They understood the needs [of Weyerhaeuser] and they were able to meet them and to move quickly to get it done … They are seasoned professionals, and it showed.
Campanelli principal Robert C. DeMarco was equally upbeat, calling the agreement a great kickoff for the park.
We couldn’t ask for a better company than Weyerhaeuser to get things going there, DeMarco said. It’s a very strong company, and we look forward to having them as a tenant for the next 10 years.
Reflecting its usual full-service approach, Campanelli will serve as general contractor and property manager of the Weyerhaeuser complex. Campanelli purchased the 133-acre property from Bardon Trimount two years ago.
Although Weyerhaeuser is the first signed lease, DeMarco said the park has seen a steady flow of traffic since it was acquired, adding there are three promising leads currently circling the development. Along with access directly off Route 24, DeMarco said the rail access has been another important draw for prospective tenants, as well as the property’s relatively flat topography and a lack of wetlands that will help avoid potential environmental and permitting roadblocks.
Gold Coast
There are broader advantages to relocating in that area of the Bay State as well, according to Richard S. Borden II, a broker with Insignia/ESG who concentrates on the New Bedford/Fall River market. Borden said companies are increasingly attracted by the region’s bountiful labor force, as well as tax incentives that are being structured to lure businesses. A tax increment financing plan that provides predictable payments was one advantage in completing the Weyerhaeuser deal, for example, said Nahigian.
Along with those attributes, Borden said the lack of suitable land sites closer to Boston is helping lure industry to the South Coast region, with undeveloped land in the New Bedford Business Park currently trading for $55,000 per acre. That is well below the rates found elsewhere in the state, Borden noted, especially parcels near Route 128. The Myles Standish Industrial Park in Taunton is nearly completely full, while Campanelli has just two sites remaining at its successful Middleborough Business Park in Middleborough. The company also has one of the last remaining parcels in the Franklin Industrial Park, on which it can accommodate a 120,000-square-foot structure.
Borden said the greatest availabilities on the South Coast right now include the Campanelli project and another Freetown property known as the Riverfront Business Park. The other local opportunities can be found in the New Bedford Business Park and at another park underway in Fall River. Borden said he is currently working on one 40,000-square-foot deal that could be completed in the next several weeks, while manufacturers of various sizes have been eyeing the New Bedford complex. A $1 million grant provided last week by the state to expand the roadway network at the New Bedford park should help produce more space, said Borden.
It’s been constant, he said of the business activity. I think it’s going to be a good market for the next three years at least.
Certainly the area has held its own despite the recent economic downturn. According to Spaulding & Slye Colliers, the vacancy rate for industrial properties in the New Bedford/Fall River market stood at 3.8 percent at the end of the third quarter, slightly above the 3.5 percent posted at the end of the first quarter. It is the only industrial submarket in the state that has seen positive net absorption for the year, with 544,000 square feet of growth during the first nine months, including 148,000 square feet in the third quarter alone.
