One 2nd Ave., Peabody
Tangled webs are often a bad rap, but a series of intermingled lease agreements just inked on the North Shore benefited virtually everyone involved, from multiple landlords and a trio of tenants to several real estate professionals charged with negotiating the complicated morass. “There were many moving pieces,” acknowledged Mohr Partners broker Glenn Rhuda, who played an integral role in the dealings. “A lot of things had to come together very quickly.”
The space shuffle began in January when The Flatley Co. approached Petra Fashions, offering to buy out the longtime tenant’s lease at Cherry Hill Park in Beverly to accommodate a larger deal with Medtronics Inc. A promoter of home-based retailing, Petra enlisted Rhuda to assess the Flatley proposal, explore alternative locations and handle any new lease missives. The future headquarters had to be within a limited geographic range near Cherry Hill Park, provide for Petra’s expansion from 40,000 to 70,000 square feet and allow a quick relocation to meet the Medtronics timetable.
Petra’s solution was One 2nd Ave. in Peabody, a large office/warehouse building owned by Atlantic Management Corp. of Framingham that was losing tenant Expeditors to a nearby property. With that firm’s departure also falling within the required time frame, months of divergent discussions culminated in a hectic 48-hour process where the parties pushed their respective agreements over the finish line. One delay could have quashed the entire process, noted Rhuda, requiring a collective leap of faith among the numerous parties. “It was a little hairy at the end,” he recounted. “Nothing was done until everything was done, but it worked out well for everyone.”
Flatley, for example, secured a strong credit company by signing Medtronics, the Minnesota-based medical equipment giant that took 130,000 square feet in a long-term deal. Atlantic Management principal Joseph Zink found a replacement for the exiting Expeditors, which is moving into a building being constructed by Juniper Development. Besides Rhuda, brokers steering the leases to completion included Mark Reardon, Bruce Levine and David Connolly of CBRE/Whittier Partners, who represented One 2nd Ave. CRESA Partners principal Joseph Sciolla and Vice President Marilyn Rubbico acted on behalf of Medtronics, while William Bush of The Flatley Co. handled the juggling act at Cherry Hill Park.
Small Change
HYANNIS HIDEAWAY: It has been an intriguing year for Eugene M. McQuade, whose resignation last week as Bank of America president shocked many industry observers. In any event, the erstwhile bank chief and his wife, Peggy J. McQuade, now have a place to wile away the endless summer after the couple’s acquisition of their own Hyannis compound on Dale Avenue. At the very least, one would think it would beat spending August charbroiling in Charlotte, N.C.
In return for just under $5 million large, the McQuades obtained an abode built in 1925. It contains 11 rooms, including four bedrooms to satisfy any naps desired of the recently retired. The property was sold by Werner NT, which paid $2.4 million in 1999 for the 4,400-square-foot residence.
LIKE SPIKE: Shelton Jackson Lee, better known as movie director Spike Lee, recently secured a $1.47 million mortgage on a home he owns on Martha’s Vineyard. Lee, described by some critics as a “black Woody Allen,” owns a four-bedroom, contemporary-style property at 31 Anthiers Lane in Oak Bluffs. The property is listed in local assessor records as a multi-unit residential building situated on a 1.9-acre site. Lee purchased the property for $390,000 in 1989 and the total assessed value is currently $974,900. Lee secured the most recent mortgage loan from Merrill Lynch Credit Corp.
Weekly Statement
“Nordstrom has always been at the top of our customers’ wish list.”
John McGourty, General Growth Properties vice president, in announcing that the Seattle retailer will open a 145,000-square-foot store at the Natick Mall next year.
