"The Growth District designation provides a tremendous boost toNorthwest Park as it puts [the] location on a list ofpre-permitted, shovel-ready development sites withinMassachusetts," says Todd Fremont-Smith, SVP of development forNordblom Co., in a statement.

The project is zoned for mixed-use, planned for office andretail, off the Middlesex Turnpike here. The development willtransform an existing office park into a spacious community made-upof class A office/R&D, retail, restaurants, residential units,a boutique hotel and public green space. Fremont-Smith estimates atotal cost roughly at $500 million, but adds that, "[NorthwestPark] project is more than evolution, like most large projectsanywhere, it's going to get built-out over 10 to 15 years. So,we're looking at this on a more incremental, evolutionaryprocess."

Recently, Palomar Medical Technologies signed on to take a130,000-square-foot built-to-suit building with the option ofadding a separate 50,000-square-foot building. Palomar purchased8.35 acres of fully-permitted land--for $10.7 million--where thebuilding is to be constructed for roughly $35 million to $37million. The building will break ground next week and will deliverin early 2010.