"This was a construction project that involved upgrades to several base building systems, as well as a very precise tenant fit-up," says David J. Pergola, VP at Meredith & Grew. Houghton Mifflin's real estate group and Jack Blaney and Vinny Tenaglia of Grubb & Ellis property management services also worked on the deal that Pergola calls "an extremely complicated construction project." Pergola and assistant VP Mathew S. Adams of M&G assisted Corr and VP Kenneth S. Cala of BPG Properties Inc. Houghton Mifflin was represented by McCall and Almy.

The property is owned by BPG Properties, an operating affiliate of Berwind Property Group Ltd., which has been very active in the Greater Boston suburban market of late. Ballardvale Office Park is a 210,130-sf office/R & D development which consists of two 105,000-sf buildings. Located at the intersection of Interstate 95 and Route 125, the park is currently 76% occupied, with 181 Ballardvale fully leased.

In November, Berwind acquired 35 Village Rd. in Middleton in a sale-leaseback with Verizon for $19 million, then signed SAS to a long-term, 55,000-sf lease, boosting the 226,000-sf property to an 82% occupancy rate. In December, the company traded 100 CambridgePark to Transatlantic Investments for $27 million, after acquiring the property in 1997 and turning the near empty building into one that nearly fully occupied.

Late last year, Albert Corr,VP of northeast acquisitions for Berwind, told GlobeSt.com, "We've been able to buy moderate-to-high vacancy properties, add value, and then release them into a volatile market. We're not going to be buying properties with 15-years bonding to one tenant."