Straumann Inks Lease for 163,000-SF New US HQ

The property is currently occupied by several tenants, including Polycom, a video conference provider. According to a spokesperson for the owner, locally based Brickstone Properties, Polycom will continue to occupy a "very small portion of the building" after Straumann assumes occupancy in mid-2005. Meanwhile, Gilbert Achermann, CEO of Straumann USA's Switzerland-based parent, Institut Straumann AG, tells GlobeSt.com that Brickstone is "completely retrofitting" the space to meet Straumann's requirements. The NAI Hunneman Commercial brokerage team of Steve James, executive vice president and principal; Jim Boudrot, vice president; and Lowell Peabody, vice president, represented Straumann.

Russ Olsen, president of Straumann USA, tells GlobeSt.com the lease is long-term, "for 10 or 15 years." Neither Olsen nor Achermann would divulge the rental rate or value of the lease, and Marty Spagat, managing director of Brickstone, could not be reached for comment at deadline.

Plans for establishment of the new US headquarters were announced during a ceremony at the facility on Thursday, attended by Gov. Mitt Romney; R. Bruce Donoff, dean of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine, and other officials from Massachusetts and Switzerland. The state provided tax incentives described as "very competitive" with competing locations, which included sites in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

Straumann is the world's second largest maker of dental implants and a leader in dental tissue regeneration products. Achermann says Straumann has increased the size of its US sales force by 70% in the past 18 months due to increasing demand for its products here and will invest up to $50 million in the US market over the next five years.