With roughly 70 percent of Greater Boston’s suburban office inventory having been delivered before 1990, many of those aging office buildings need to be re-envisioned to attract today’s workforce. Some headlines have suggested that suburban office parks fail to attract multigenerational employees; however, at The Davis Cos. (TDC) by applying creativity, we have successfully targeted those workers and the companies that employ them.

Suburban parks with robust, modern infrastructure, efficient floor plates and class-A quality amenities in top suburban locations, have outstanding potential. These properties offer convenient access to Boston via public transportation and major highways, as well as area amenities including malls, health centers, and destination retail and restaurants. We have applied our repositioning strategy, which is focused on community, collaboration and conservation to revive office parks throughout the suburban Boston area in order to meet the needs of companies that are seeking a value alternative to Boston or Cambridge, but with services and amenities that go beyond what buildings in the city have to offer.

The Center at Corporate Drive in Burlington is a prime example. TDC and Principal Real Estate Investors purchased The Center at Corporate Drive in September 2013 with a significant capital improvement plan to realize the park’s potential. The campus is just 15 miles northwest of Boston on 47 beautifully landscaped acres at the intersection of Route 3A and Route 128. Offering views of Boston’s skyline, this ideal location provides easy access to the Burlington Mall, Lahey Medical Center, and a variety of hotels, retail and restaurant destinations.

Through the significant repositioning of 10, 25, 30 and 35 Corporate Drive, we increased occupancy to 94 percent at the 487,000 square foot contemporary office campus with 130,000 square feet of leasing activity among seven tenants, including five world headquarters, in Q4 2016 alone. Achieving higher rents when compared to nearby properties, the campus’ limited vacancy rate has surpassed the Burlington market average by nearly 13 percent.

The campus has attracted an array of distinguished companies with diverse workforces. International companies such as Santhera Pharmaceuticals, Everbridge, Endurance International Group and ClickSoftware, have all selected The Center at Corporative Drive for their world headquarters. We’ve helped our existing tenants grow within the campus, and have attracted new companies, including Liberty Mutual Insurance, Cornerstone Financial and Robert Half International.

Shared Amenities

Working with CBT Architects, TDC renovated the park into a cohesive, class-A campus with extensive outdoor green space. We chose to develop a prime, all-encompassing amenities hub to improve the tenants’ experience. This hub includes a “town green” connecting the buildings via a verdant, welcoming common space; a 7,850 square foot cafeteria with flexible conference/meeting space; a 2,100 square foot fitness center with a yoga room, new showers and locker facilities; a 4,500 square foot outdoor patio; and numerous collaboration areas with Wi-Fi connectivity throughout.

Workforce And Housing Demand

As more companies flock to Burlington, there is demand for additional housing. At the time of our purchase, the zoning at The Center at Corporate Drive permitted the development of a fifth office building. Working closely with the town of Burlington we were able to achieve permits to develop a 270-unit multifamily building, which is scheduled to be completed in 2018. The addition of this new, class-A, multifamily facility will create an even more vibrant and energized live-work-play community within our park. We look forward to delivering a building that will contribute to the town’s growing mixed use dynamism.

As sophisticated owners of outdated suburban office parks invest in the repositioning of their properties to compete with Boston and Cambridge, the energetic atmosphere often associated with the city is expanding to suburban Boston markets. Successful office leasing is driving demand for more housing, as evidenced at Corporate Drive, and creating a vibrant district worthy of continued real estate investment. The Davis Cos. is proud to have contributed to this submarket’s evolution with The Center at Corporate Drive.

Gary Hofstetter is the senior vice president of asset management at The Davis Cos.