Photo courtesy of Atlantic Management
A pair of Boston-area developers partnered with Merrimack College to acquire a sprawling North Andover apartment community from its longtime owner for $245 million.
An LLC affiliated with Framingham-based Atlantic Management and developer Sal Lupoli is the new owner of the Royal Crest Apartments, a 588-unit garden-style complex originally completed in 1971 on a pair of parcels spanning over 76 acres.
Boston-based Barings provided $200 million in financing for the transaction, according to an Essex County mortgage. The seller was Chicago-based LivCor.
Merrimack College notified North Andover officials in December of the transaction, according to WHAV which first reported the transaction. A message was left with Merrimack College seeking details on its plans for the property.
The complex previously traded for $93.5 million in 2002, when it was acquired by Denver-based Aimco.
Merrimack College already is in the midst of a major on-campus housing project in partnership with Greystar, the nation’s most active apartment developer.
The project will add 540 beds on the North Andover campus in a traditional residence hall and an apartment-style building.
Merrimack College already leases some apartments on the property as dorms, WHAV reported. The college also sought to build a large mixed-use development on the property in a partnership with Boston-based Trinity Financial and the previous Royal Crest owner, Aimco, but was rejected at a town meeting in 2021.
Atlantic Management’s portfolio includes more than 6 million square feet, including a 248,500 square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility at 351 Holt Road in North Andover. The company also redeveloped the 110-acre former Hewlett-Packard campus in Marlborough, and last year acquired the former EMC campus in Southborough, where it received approval last fall for a zoning change for a planned Costco superstore.
Lawrence-based Lupoli Companies has been active in a wide range of development projects in the Merrimack Valley.
In May, the company broke ground on the first phase of a 2 million square-foot redevelopment of the former IBM campus in Littleton, a 300-unit apartment building.
