Thursday, June 5, 2008

Real Deal: Green status for Blue Cross Blue Shield

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for its Hingham-based member services facility located at 25 Technology Place. BCBSMA has also received the Best Practice Award of Excellence by the International Facility Management Association Boston and a Sustainable Design Commendation by CoreNet Global.

The four-story, 329,000-square-foot office building includes a multi-purpose cafeteria space, a conference and training center, a large data center and childcare facility. An 1,184-car, five-level parking structure is linked to the main lobby by an all-weather connection. The building is currently accommodating 1,100 BCBSMA employees.

The company also received LEED certification in 2006 for the renovation of its 345,000-square-foot facility in North Quincy.

Boston-based Margulies & Associates completed the renovations on both buildings. The project team also consisted of Watertown-based Souza, True & Partners Inc.; Norton-based Lisa Zidel Lighting Design; as well as Boston-based firms Turner Construction Co.; SEi Companies; Brown, Richardson & Rowe; BSC Group; and A.W. Perry Inc.
 

In August, retail website developer Allurent Inc. plans to move from Harvard Square to Kendall Square — to a space with a capacity to house double the number of workers Allurent currently employs, officials said.

Founded in 2004 by former Art Technology Group Inc. co-founder Joe Chung, Allurent employs 55 workers. It initially developed an e-commerce checkout tool, but has since expanded with three other products and signed on with retailers that include Urban Outfitters Inc. and Borders Group Inc.

Allurent recently signed a lease for 15,000 square feet in the American Twine Building, a four-story, 114,364-square-foot office property at 222 Third St. Terms of the lease were not disclosed.

Both the company and its new landlord, Boston-based Transatlantic Investment Management Inc., were represented in the transaction by Colliers Meredith & Grew.
 

Adverplex Inc. has relocated to One Kendall Square in Cambridge. After three years of steady growth and increased business demand, the company said it needed a larger location to accommodate future expansion. The company provides search engine marketing (SEM) services to manage the complexity of large-scale SEM campaigns involving millions of keywords. Adverplex, founded in 2005, is privately held and has more than 25 employes. The Beal Companies LLP manages the property and Adverplex is subleasing their space from Vestmark.
 

Boylston Properties Co. Inc. purchased 121 Brookline Ave. in Boston for $8.7 million. This site will house the new Longwood Research Center, a proposed six-story, 130,000-square-foot biotechnology laboratory building. The project is slated to break ground this summer.

The Longwood Research Center is pre-certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) compliant, a designation by the U.S. Green Building Council to denote a building’s adherence to a set of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. 

Boston-based Richards Barry Joyce & Partners represented the seller, 121 Brookline Ave. LLC, and procured the buyer, Boylston Properties. The firm will serve as the leasing agent for Boylston Properties.    

Gemini Industries Inc. and Linkage Inc. signed leases for office space totaling 25,674 square feet at 200 Wheeler Road in Burlington. Gemini will occupy 10,728 square feet of new office space and Linkage will occupy 14,946 square feet of new space. The four-story, Class A office building is located in the Burlington Summit office park.

Linkage was represented by Boston-based Colliers Meredith & Grew. Gemini was represented by Cushman & Wakefield Inc. Gutierrez Co., the building’s landlord, was represented by Cushman & Wakefield in both deals. 
 

The 60,477-square-foot, two-story office building located at 33 Locke Drive in Marlborough was sold for $7.15 million to Boston-based Janelon Trust Inc. The majority of the building is occupied by Sepracor Inc., a pharmaceutical company that develops drugs for respiratory and central nervous system disorders.

Wayland-based R.W. Holmes Realty Co. Inc. represented Janelon. The firm also represented the building’s seller Northland Investment Corp., along with the investment company’s acquisition/disposition director Bruce Lusa and vice president of asset management Bruce Nolen. Whitinsville-based WRT Management will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the property.
 

Work on the Physics, Department of Material Sciences Engineering, Spectroscopy and Infrastructure (PDSI) project at MIT has been completed. Encompassing 50,000 square feet of new construction and 75,000 square feet of fully renovated space, the PDSI project also provides infrastructure improvements for approximately 250,000 square feet and life safety improvements for nearly 300,000 square feet.

Boston-based firms Payette and SEi Companies, along with Cambridge-based Weidlinger Associates Inc. and Auburndale-based Richard White Sons Inc. worked on the project.

Real deal is a monthly collection of real estate transactions involving technology and life sciences companies. Tenant names appear in bold. Please send real estate news and photos to Rodney Brown at rbrown@masshightech.com.