"It's a nice deal for the market and we're really happy withkind of tenant that it is bringing to the park," says NAI HunnemanCommercial Co. SVP David Gilkie, who represented KS Partners in thelease negotiations. Graybar is a Fortune 500 companyspecializing in supply chain management services, and Gilkie sayshe believes the firm's established name will further enhance thepark as a viable business address. KS Partners was also representedin-house by EVP and COO Robert Macnamara and James Grady, while NAIHunneman SVP Mark Gottesman was Graybar's broker.

Gilkie says 265 Ballardvale St. offers such benefits as aflexible layout, quick access to Interstate 93 and the veteranstewardship of KS Partners, a real estate investment firm that hasbeen active in southern New England for more than a decade. KSPartners acquired 255, 261 and 265 Ballardvale St. in March 2004for $4.2 million. Totaling more than 160,000 sf, the park alreadyhouses such well-known firms as Charles River Laboratories, MayoMedical Laboratories and Opti-Line Associates.

In serving as listing broker for 255 and 265 Ballardvale St.since last summer, Gilkie says he is impressed by the level ofinterest in the space, with several agreements pending. "We've gota lot we're trying to nail down right now," says Gilkie, who coversmost of the northern tier of suburban Boston, including the Route 3corridor, Interstate 93 and the Peabody region along I-95. The I-93area has benefited from a diversifying tenant base, says Gilkie, asmajor players such as Wyeth Pharmaceuticals draw other lifesciences firms into the area to bolster the technology businessesthat have heretofore dominated the tenant base. Defense companieshave also increased their presence.