"We had a remarkable amount of interest," Richards Barry Joyce& Partners EVP Richard Herlihy tells GlobeSt.com after thefirm's investment sales team orchestrated the transaction. The"hotly contested" product resulted in an expeditious marketing anddue diligence phase, explains Herlihy, who was joined in brokeringthe sale by RBJ colleagues Richard Bradbury, John Lashar and PaulLeone. A Boston-based real estate services firm, RBJ representedthe seller and procured the buyer.

Registry of deeds records put the price at just under $68million, or about $110 per sf. "I think everyone was happy," wasall Herlihy would say on that aspect, declining to discussfinancial details due to confidentiality agreements. The investmentsales specialist did cite several factors that enhanced thecompetition, including a series of infrastructure improvements nearForge Park that have created wider roadways, turning lanes, astreamlined truck route and even a new overpass.

Forge Park "is much more accessible," thanks to the upgrades,says Herlihy. The master-planned development impressed suitors aswell, he says, given its stature as one of the premier businesscampuses in the Interstate 495 South market. The sale encompassed8, 9, 10, 15, 20 and 22 Forge Park, which were constructed in thelate 1980s and early 1990s. Three are flex buildings, and theremainder house distribution services. Credit tenants includeDraka, General Cable, National Grid and Thermo Fisher Scientific.Occupancy of the portfolio is estimated at 75%.