"It's a great fit for them," Cushman & Wakefield senior director J.P. Plunkett tells GlobeSt.com of the full-building agreement, a deal he negotiated for the May Institute along with C&W senior director Catherine Minnerly and associate Jason Bryer. Needham-based Equity Industrial represented itself in the transaction.

C&W had assisted the May Institute three years earlier in the leasing of a larger property at 41 Pacella Park Dr. That 80,000-sf building, owned by Atlantic Management Corp. of Framingham, houses both office space and a school, and the newest deal allows May to grow the latter function through leasing of 14 Pacella Park Dr. for administrative needs. "It's a significant expansion for them," Plunkett says. The tenant is slated to occupy the structure in the first quarter of 2008.

The Pacella Park encampment of commercial space is now nearing full occupancy, says Plunkett. Equity Industrial owns the adjacent 15 Pacella Park Dr., a building also once was occupied by Dunkin' Donuts. Among the benefits of the area is quick access to Interstate 93 two minutes away, plus proximity to the bustling Five Corners area of neighboring Braintree, relays Plunkett. Braintree, Quincy and Randolph have enjoyed the strongest activity to date in 2007, says the broker. "It's very tight there now," Plunkett says, whereas the Route 128 South corridor of Dedham, Norwood and Westwood has been less brisk in recent months.

As for the May Institute, Plunkett says the organization's growth is so pronounced that C&W is assisting the firm in a search for additional space throughout the inner suburbs and north of Boston for about 10,000 sf to 15,000 sf. The May Institute also signed an option to acquire 14 Pacella Park Dr., and Plunkett says there is a substantial chance that clause will be exercised over the near term. Founded 50 years ago, the May Institute today has a national reach, notes Plunkett, assisting more than 25,000 people at hundreds of locations to address such maladies as autism, brain injury and mental illness. "The services they offer are very much in demand," he says. "We're really excited to be working with them."