As seen in May 5, 2017 issue of The Real Reporter
By Joe Clements
ANDOVER — Afficionados of Bond—James Bond—might get a kick out of 6 Riverside Dr.’s owner being Q Investments now that a drone research unit has signed on to take 33,000 sf in the two-story flex/ office building following a five-year lease to Physical Sciences Inc. negotiated by Cushman & Wakefield and Lincoln Property Co., a deal bringing the 77,000-sf building to 100 percent occupancy.
“It’s a neat story,” C&W Senior VP Michael Dalton conveys to Real Reporter after joining Vice President Kenneth Oppenheim and C&W’s New Hampshire office on an extensive search in two states for PSI, an Andover R&D company headquartered at 20 New England Business Center Dr. where the employee-owned company will remain, with 6 Research Drive the future home of its Tactical Robotics team representing a 50 percent increase in its footprint. The technical aspects required a certain type of facility for the client, explains Dalton, who praises not only the landlord and the leasing agents for providing a viable option right in town but also the community which made certain accommodations to enable the agreement.
“Everybody came together, and everyone benefits in some way,” he says, with the lease helping PSI handle its rapid growth doing R&D for both commercial and government users whereas the landlord fills an asset which LPC had peddled to multiple prospects before reeling in PSI.
Cronin concurs, terming the lease “a big win all around” that required 6 Riverside Dr.’s sponsorship to beat out a slew of prospects eager to land the requirement, not to mention the Granite State’s ostensibly favorable tax policies. Most of all, he says, “it was good for the marketplace because this wasn’t just trading spaces, it is real growth and that is a good sign.”
Another encouraging aspect, he says, is that 6 Riverside Dr. had seen an increase among other candidates in recent months. “We had good, steady activity on the space, and then they came through, and hopefully that will carry over” to other properties in the I-495 North submarket which remains over 20 percent vacant despite the improved economy and recent outcomes such as that scored by Q Investments.
“We are pleased to have represented ownership in this significant lease transaction,” Cronin relays in welcoming PSI to what he calls “an ideal site” for their expansion. Six Riverside Dr. was acquired in January 2014 by Q Riverside Property LLC. It was developed in 1989 on 6.5 acres close to both I-93 and I-495. Q Investments is based in Fort Worth, TX, and previously owned 100 River Rd. in Andover, that a 121,975-sf flex/office property built in 1984 which was bought by its tenant in March 2015 for $8.3 million, that deal also brokered by LPC.
Rob Cronin Suburban Brokerage