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After
Office Space Search for Growing Operation,
Calloway Labs Going Nowhere Fast
WOBURN—Accommodating
tenants is essential nowadays, and in 8 Cabot Rd., Cummings Properties
has taken that mantra to an extreme. Tucked on a side street behind this
city’s
venerable Woburn Mall, the LEED-eligible lab/office building was constructed
principally
on behalf of burgeoning Calloway Labs, denizens of a neighboring Cummings
facility.
Unable to meet Calloway’s sudden growth spurt at 34 Commerce Way, the four-story, 56,000-sf solution can be found next door on a former parking lot, its mid- January completion culminating a blistering- fast permitting and construction span of barely nine months. “They are moving in as we speak,” Cummings property manager Marc Knittle tells the Real Reporter in adding the strategy “required both parties to have a lot of faith in each other” that the schedule could be realized. “A mutual respect between us” forged the confidence to move ahead, says Knittle.
“We took a pretty bold step in building it,” accedes VP of Operations John R. Wiseman, especially given a Calloway commitment only running until mid-2012 and for 28,000 sf at the outset. Build-to-suit terms might normally be for 10 years and half the available space, relays Wiseman, whose firm is among New England’s most prolific CRE developers and owner of a portfolio exceeding nine million sf.
Too risky for some in a dour downturn, the venture is consistent with Cummings’ counter-cyclical legacy, having famously rescued the rusting, half-built 92 Montvale Ave. office building in Stoneham amidst the early 1990’s bust and later moving ahead on a speculative Class A property at Cummings Center in Beverly. Space is still available at Woburn’s TradeCenter 128, a 740,000-sf endeavor on the Burlington border that was launched nearly empty in 2007. Now more than 80 percent leased, TradeCenter 128 did not fit Calloway’s specific needs, explains Wiseman, leading to 8 Cabot Rd.’s turnkey construction.
Belief in the long-term health of Woburn emboldened Cummings to pursue 8 Cabot Rd., explains President and CEO Dennis Clarke, convinced conditions will be better should Calloway not expand/renew as desired. “We … are poising ourselves for the inevitable turnaround,” Clarke says in a press release announcing the building’s completion. Already, the tenant footprint has grown to 33,000 sf, with Calloway taking a quarter of the first floor plus the second and third levels. Cummings is now erecting an elevated, enclosed pedestrian bridge to connect 8 Cabot Rd. and 34 Commerce Way, a 60,000-sf building shared by Calloway and another tenant.
Having secured a LEED Gold certification for TradeCenter 128, Wiseman says prospects for LEED approval are promising given that Cummings utilized practices building 8 Cabot Rd. similar to that done at the larger complex. As in its other CRE projects, the Woburn-based firm handles all aspects of design and construction, an approach Knittle credits for providing further efficiencies and interchangeability of 8 Cabot Rd. to serve both office and laboratory functions. “We wanted to build in the flexibility,” relays Knittle, a reflection of Woburn’s diverse tenant base that has a growing stripe of life sciences and medical- related concerns.
The remaining space at 8 Cabot Rd. is now available. “Our reasonable rates make this a great time to be a tenant,” VP of Leasing Eric Anderson says in the press release. On-site parking and proximity to Interstates 93 and 95/Route 128 are among the lures, the landlord says, while the area’s amenities feature hotels, restaurants and shopping venues, including the aforementioned Woburn Mall that today boasts a variety of power retailers.
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