German industrial instrument manufacturer Krohne Inc. recently opened its North American headquarters in September at Cherry Hill Industrial Park in Beverly. Photo courtesy of Connolly Brothers

When companies outgrow their current facilities, finding a new location can be a considerable challenge in the Greater Boston region. The availability of land, cost of construction, employee base, commuting time and permitting and zoning can all be roadblocks for quick and cost-efficient relocations.

The North Shore is increasingly gaining attention as a development location for companies looking to expand beyond downtown Boston and the Waltham/Burlington/Woburn corridor along Route 128.

There are always challenges when scouting locations for expansion, particularly in identifying sites with enough available land for manufacturing and/or industrial use. While traditional office buildings can maximize square feet on a relatively small footprint by occupying multiple stories, industrial sites have to worry about floor loading capacity. An office building can achieve 100,000 square feet of workspace by building high on a 20,000-square-foot site, but for 100,000 square feet of industrial use, you need 100,000 square feet of land. Depending upon zoning and setback requirements, a minimum of eight acres will be needed to construct a 100,000 square-foot building for manufacturing or other industrial purposes.

Finding a Future in Beverly

Working within this context requires creativity and agility to identify opportunity and navigate the design-build process. When German company Krohne outgrew their existing facilities, they chose a lot in the Cherry Hill Industrial Park in Beverly for their new North American headquarters.

The vision was for a corporate campus with a 73,000-square-foot manufacturing facility connected via elevated link to a 20,000-square-foot office building. To make room for the new Krohne facility, the first of the original buildings built in the park had to be demolished. The result is a facility completed in 2018 that satisfies strict budgetary requirements, incorporates European design sensibilities and meets high energy efficiency standards.

High Res Biosolutions’s relocation to Beverly is another example of recent development on the North Shore. Having outgrown their facilities in Woburn, the company wanted a larger space built specifically for their needs.

The potential of an available lot in the industrial park was maximized by creating a mix of 40,000 square feet of manufacturing space on the first floor and the same amount of office space on the second floor to house the company’s new headquarters. The development, finished in 2017, now contains HighRes Biosolutions’s integral client training facilities, an application laboratory and a technology preview laboratory, which add to Beverly’s growing status as a regional technology hub.

In certain locations, a low supply of specialized manufacturing and office space is forcing customers to seek outdated buildings to renovate for their purposes. Although Beverly has limited the number of sites available for new construction, there are locations in Peabody, Tewksbury and other North Shore towns with opportunities to repurpose buildings for office and industrial use.

Certain types of manufacturing are hampered by zoning laws that are a holdover from when manufacturing was dirty, and at times hazardous. Attitudes and zoning restrictions are beginning to change, however, as clean manufacturing and industry becomes more common. This is opening up new areas for development around the North Shore.

Ingredients for Growth

One of the benefits of relocating to the North Shore is a good employee base within easy commuting distance. Both Krohne and HighRes Biosolutions acknowledge that the local supply of workers living on the North Shore and the ease of access for those living in New Hampshire are considerable assets for their new bases of operation.

Development on the North Shore has a strong track record and shows no sign of slowing down. The North Shore’s track record of relocations and build-to-suit opportunities are indicators of the opportunities and potential for future development in the area. Companies are realizing that the North Shore’s available space, local design build specialists, and plentiful workforce are key ingredients in the recipe for their growth.

Thad Minshall is the vice president of real estate and development for Beverly-based construction management firm Connolly Brothers, a construction management firm based in Beverly.