Boston’s suburban industrial market continues to heat up.
Calare Properties announced earlier in December it completed a $12M sale at 301 Page St. in Stoughton. The 119K SF property was built in 2004 as a corporate headquarters, retail and distribution space for Boston Interiors. Calare bought the warehouse for $8M in 2016 in an off-market transaction. Boston Interiors occupies the entire property, including a 10K SF office, 9K SF showroom and 100K SF high-bay warehouse.
“The asset quality, location and heated Boston industrial market created significant capital appreciation in a very short time frame,” Calare Managing Director Charles Nolfi said in a prepared statement. “We are pleased to provide our investors such substantial investment returns in less than two years of ownership.”
While industrial properties have been historically viewed as a sleepier part of CRE, they have been on the rise in Boston. Prices are rising along Route 128 and inside the Boston core market, as companies increasingly look for last-mile distribution opportunities. Warehouse vacancy along the Route 128 belt was 10% at the end of Q4, according to Perry Brokerage’s Steel report.
Calare CEO Bill Manley told Bisnow in November he had seen industrial rents move for the first time in decades. Prices historically averaged between $3.50/SF and $4.25/SF, but he observed they increased to between $6/SF and $8/SF. Some properties closer to downtown Boston were even renting between $17/SF and $27/SF.
