BY JOE CLEMENTS

BOSTON — When it comes to invest-ment strategy, NorthBridge CREAdvisors aims to go nowhere—and fast.

Trolling metropolitan Boston for opportuni-ties, the group this past week snagged itsthird building since founders Dean Atkinsand Greg Lauze launched their platform oneyear ago, properties collectively exceeding$50 million whose common trait is in beingstablized product the institutionally trainedprincipals say they intend to retain.

“We are long-term owners,” Lauze stress-es in a joint phone inter-view with Real Reporter.“We want buildings thatwill continue to appreci-ate over time and be ableto ride out a downturn.”Having PerkinElmer asoccupant in all 198,325 sf,the latest endeavor at 68-78 Elm St. in Hopkintonwould seem a safe betand at $37.5 million waseasily the most substan-tial of the three con-quests made in their firstfull season. NewmarkCapital Markets wasexclusive listing agent for

the building’s owner, US Realy Advisors, withthe assignment handled by Robert E. GriffinJr., Edward C. Maher Jr., Matthew E. Pullenand Samantha Hallowell. NorthBridge bor-rowed $22.4 million from Blue Hills Bank for68 and 78 Elm St. and 5 Parkwood Dr., itsdebt arranged by Transwestern RBJ CapitalMarkets members Christopher Skeffingtonand Andrew Stone.

Perched at the interchange of I-495 andI-90/Massachusetts Turnpike, the two-build-ing facility features a mix of laboratory, high-tech manufacturing and office space. Thebuilding had been owned by US RealtyAdvisors since paying $31.0 million in Aug.2012.

A 15-year lease inked by the day care

center operating at 30 Burlington Mall Rd. inBurlington fit NorthBridge’s bill first thisspring, leading to a $4.17 million purchasefrom MCK Assocates, the seller having heldthe 12,500-sf building since paying $3.3 mil-lion in Aug. 2005. “We like the dirt and thelocation,” says Atkins of the 1.6-acre parcel,adding, “it’s good cash flow thanks to thelease” by Knowledge Beginnings that runsuntil Aug. 2018. TD Bank loaned $2.9 millionto finance the first asset.

That was followed in late summer by the$7 million acquisition of 20 Carematrix Dr. inDedham, aka Dedham Corporate Center, a40,000-sf office building that HFF had listedas part of a four-building package of infillreal estate. The fully leased building thatwas financed via $5.8 million from CountryBank for Savings via HFF has that steadycash flow so coveted by NorthBridge. It isalso reflective of the firm’s theory that sub-urban communities lining Route 128 arepositioned to benefit from macro trendsincluding skyrocketing rents in Boston andCambridge and offer another motivator forcompanies to relocate from the urban coreas being life cycles where maturing staff andtheir children will prefer being farther away

from downtown din. “I think that is a natural(progression) which is going to continue,”says Lauze.

And when denizens are awake, Route128 from Needham south to Braintree hasemerged into a notable LWP corridor thanksto the addition of life style center LegacyPlace to Dedham and the vast UniversityStation mixed-use assemblage in Westwood,each of which NorthBridge counts in its sur-rounding amenities package. Another part ofthe appeal of Dedham Corporate Center isplentiful parking—an element NorthBridgeconsiders a key box to check when eyeingassets—with five spaces per one thousandsquare feet leased. And thanks to the nearbycommuter rail station being a two-minutewalk away, those sans automobile can con-nect to Boston, Cambridge and south toProvidence and New York City via Amtrak.

“I do think you will see a lot more peoplemoving out to the suburbs,” Lauze says, not-ing that downtown Boston is commandingrents into the $40’s per sf for Class B productand for first-class, some towers in Cambridgeare getting tantalizingly close to $100 per sf.Dedham Corporate Center should benefit

DECEMBER 1, 2015

The Real Reporter

©2015 Reprinted with the permission from the publisher of The Real Reporter.

A COMPENDIUM OF COMMERCIAL PROPERTY & CAPITAL NEWS

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New CRE Firm Plans to Stick Around

PerkinElmer’s Life Science Center, 68 and 78 Elm St., Hopkinton MA

Dean Atkins

Greg Lauze

from those lofty numbers, its new stewardspredict, even as landlords inside Route 128see their own fortunes rise, with Colliersrelaying in its Q3 report that average Class Aasking rents lining America’s Technology

Highway are at $31.18per sf, a 22 percent pre-mium compared to thepost-recession nadirreached in Q2 2011.

The main preferencesfor NorthBridge areindustrial, office and lab-oratory real estate in alimited geographic uni-verse where they can fer-ret out hard-to-findopportunities investorsoperating further a fieldmight fail to identify orare not deemed largeenough to pursue.Sourcing high net-worthindividuals and othercapital seeking a safeharbor, NorthBridge willmatch specific ventureswith the funder’s risk lev-els, but generally seekingsteady returns from sta-bilized assets such as thethree already in tow.

“It’s a rifle-shotapproach,” outlinesLauze. “We won’t be inevery town, but we wantto be in the very best mar-kets where we have beenoperating for a very longtime and where we have

the knowledge and (relationships) to find thestrongest deals.” Burlington and Dedham areposter twins for the platform, with the latterproperty having been acquired from theBulfinch Cos., a well-known generational firmthat passed the keys to NorthBridge minusany headaches. “It is one of the nicest build-ings in that market,” Atkins opines of thethree-story structure secured in a $7.0 mil-lion trade. Twenty Carematrix Dr. “has great,creative office space with that open layoutthat companies today are looking for,” hesays, plus “is in an excellent location and has

been very well cared for.”Atkins lauds Bulfinch for its stewardship

and “being great to work with” in the mar-keting campaign that was led by the HFFCapital Markets team of Coleman Benedict,Benjamin Sayles and Patrick McAneny. “Itwent very smoothly,” says Lauze, who hasbeen in the client seat before working atBlackstone Real Estate and Colony RealtyPartners, powerful owners with deep foot-prints in the region where the graduate of

Boston College andCornell University (MBA)handled asset manage-ment, fundraising andportfolio managementamong other duties.

Sporting degrees fromGeorgetown, HarvardUniversity and BostonCollege Law School,Atkins comes from thelegal arena, workingmany years for the com-mercial real estate prac-tice at industry heavy-weight Mintz Levin, whilemore recently he servedas head of national and

international accounts at Transwestern RBJ.Those deep resumes enable both principalsto offer real estate advisory services on athird-party basis to clients from around thecorner and around the globe, but despitetheir far-reaching capabilities, NorthBridge’sown accounts will be closely held in geogra-phy and tenure, Atkins stresses in explain-ing that was among the common visions theyshared leading to the creation ofNorthBridge that occurred while each was

seeking new career adventures.“We are both very entrepreneurial and get

along well, and we just felt our skills werecomplementary and could help us build aplatform in a market we are very familiar

with,” he says. The plan islargely to operate belowthe radar screen of insti-tutional funds, with itseducated approachfocused on the realm from$2 million to $20 million.“Sometimes it can be ashard to do a $7 million

deal as a $50 million or $60 million one, andwe feel we can take on those ones othermight find too hard to consider,” offers Lauze.

Besides its experienced founders,NorthBridge CRE Advisors has a staff of mar-

ket veterans on board,including Atkins’ father,former US CongressmanChester Atkins, with abackground in govern-ment advocacy and per-mitting issues. Senior VPKim Collins also had astint at Mintz Levin wherethe graduate of BostonCollege and BostonUniversity Law Schoolspecialized in real estatelaw and business develop-ment. Harvard-trainedadvisors Jamie Hoyte andJim Segal round out themanagement team, Hoyte

focused on education and environmentalmatters and Segal an expert in financial serv-ices and regulation. n

2 THE REAL REPORTER December 1, 2015

©2015 Reprinted with the permission from the publisher of The Real Reporter.

NorthBridge CREcontinued from page 1

Dedham Corporate Center, 20 Carematrix Dr., Dedham MA

Chet Atkins

Kim Collins

Jamie Hoyte

Jim Segal

Edward C. Maher Jr.

Matthew E. Pullen

Benjamin Sayles

Coleman Benedict

Christopher Skeffington