WESTMINSTER, MA-Equity Industrial Partners has acquired a partially leased 687,000-sf industrial/flex building here. The Needham-based investment group also won 97 acres of adjacent land in the $14-million deal with Tyco International.
The deal includes a long-term leaseback agreement with Tyco that gives the tenant 73,000 sf to use for the manufacturing of its Simplex-branded fire alarm control panels. Tyco will retain ownership of an adjacent three-story office building that houses administrative and corporate support functions for SimplexGrinnell and Tyco Safety Products.
Cushman & Wakefield's Douglas Jacoby, who negotiated the deal for the buyer along with colleague Jim Thomson, tells GlobeSt.com the 100 Simplex Dr. property, which is set on 76 acres adjacent to the 97-acre plot, drew bids from at least two other investors. Tyco put it on the market for $14 million last year.
"It was a Cadillac buy at a Yugo price," says Jacoby, noting that the building, which underwent a complete renovation about 10 years ago, including a $9-million rehab to the office portion. "There was no shortage of money spent on the property from the Simplex days." Tyco International's national brokerage provider, Trammell Crow Co., represented the seller.
Along with the building's class A offices, the property, located off Route 2, also features air conditioned manufacturing space and a warehouse facility with 24-ft clearance. Originally developed in stages by Digital Equipment Corp. and later by Simplex Time Recorder Co., the property was acquired by Tyco in 2001 when the firm bought Simplex.
Most of the building, however, has been vacant for several years after Tyco began downsizing its Bay State operation. Jacoby said several new leases are currently in the process of negotiations.
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