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8 Federal St. Billerica Photo courtesy of JLL
Boston-based Rhino Capital Advisors is expanding its portfolio of commercial properties north of Boston with the acquisition of a two-building complex in Billerica.
Rhino plans a multi-million-dollar repositioning for the vacant 8 Federal St. building, converting it into class A flex space with 24- to 30-foot clear heights. The firm acquired 3 and 8 Federal St. for $10.4 million and obtained $16.1 million in acquisition and redevelopment financing from Salem, New Hampshire-based Bank of New England.
The complex was developed in 1984 on a 12-acre parcel off Middlesex Turnpike. The 90,000-square-foot 3 Federal St. is occupied by two biotech and defense industry tenants.
JLL Boston represented the seller, Atlantic Federal Street Realty LLC, procured the buyer and arranged the floating-rate loan from Bank of New England. JLL is the leasing broker.
Developers are pursuing acquisitions and redevelopment plays for industrial space in the Metro North submarket as vacancies dip and rents rise in the urban core. Flex and R&D users now represent over 50 percent of the demand in the North suburban market, according to JLL.
Asking rents in the 26.6 million-square-foot North suburban warehouse and distribution submarket were $10.26 per square foot in the fourth quarter, with a 4.5 percent vacancy rate, according to JLL’s Q4 industrial insight report.
