"It's as hot as a pistol," broker Curtis P. Oberg of Spaulding& Slye Colliers says of the northern Massachusetts community."There's an incredible amount of activity going on up there rightnow."

Calls to Gutierrez were not returned by press deadline, but theBurlington-based firm has submitted an environmental notificationform with the state, one in which company officials ask to beexempted from an in-depth environmental impact report. If sparedfrom that lengthy process, Gutierrez estimates it could beginconstruction on the first building by this autumn, with completionslated for a year later. The initial structure would be 175,000 sf,followed by a 75,000-sf building. Although a precise space figurewas not provided, Gutierrez says in the ENF that NetScout Systemswill serve as anchor tenant of the first building.

NetScout is currently a tenant at the nearby Westford TechnologyPark, a seven-building complex also owned by Gutierrez. Indeed,Oberg maintains that the developer's ability to lure GenRad fromConcord to Westford Technology Park during the mid-1990s became akey catalyst in the resurgence of the town after several downyears.