| 
Image courtesy of Google Maps
As it prepares to relocate to 125 Summer St. in Boston, Haemonetics Corp. has sold its long-time Braintree headquarters to an Illinois developer for $15.5 million.
The medical device manufacturer entered into a sale-leaseback agreement with Hilco Real Estate for its 355 and 400 Wood Road properties.
Haemonetics will continue to occupy the Braintree properties on a rent-free basis through Dec. 31, according to an SEC filing. It’s scheduled to move to the downtown Boston office in the fourth quarter. Haemonetics leased 62,000 square feet at 125 Summer St. in December.
Representatives from Hilco met with Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan in mid-July and indicated they plan to upgrade the decades-old buildings for office and lab users. Other potential buyers had suggested other uses such as housing and a car dealership, Sullivan said.
“We’re excited about Hilco’s focus in business development and helping small companies and maintaining the presence of the life science industry in Braintree,” Sullivan said. “They indicated their enthusiasm for the site as well as their willingness to spend money to bring it up to class A space.”
The 2.9-acre 355 Wood Road parcel contains a 43,212-square-foot office building completed in 1986.
A 153,600-square-foot R&D facility is located on the 14-acre 400 Wood Road parcel.
Hilco has a recent track record of acquiring large corporate campuses and redevelopment sites in Greater Boston, having bought the 440,000-square-foot former Raytheon R&D complex in Waltham now known as CenterPoint last year for $86 million. Hilco acquired the former Standard Thomson manufacturing plant in Waltham in 2016 for an office-and-lab conversion project known as The Gauge.
Hilco Redevelopment Partners and Boston-based Redgate are partnering on the proposed 1.78 million-square-foot conversion of the former Boston Edison plant at 776 Summer St. in South Boston into a mixed-use complex.
This article has been updated since its original publication with comment from Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan.
