Normandy Real Estate Partners Welcomes Weetabix Food Company To Marlborough Technology Park

Richards Barry Joyce & Partners Represents Normandy In 14,907 Square Foot Lease

BOSTON – May 23, 2012 – Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, LLC (RBJ&P), a full-service commercial real estate advisory firm, announced today that it represented Normandy Real Estate Partners in a 14,907 square foot lease with Weetabix Food Company in the Marlborough Technology Park (Marlborough, Mass.).

Weetabix, a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of high quality breakfast cereals and other food products, will relocate to 300 Nickerson Road from Clinton, Mass.  The company will occupy space on the building’s first floor.

John Lashar, partner, Paul Leone, senior vice president, and Samantha Hallowell, associate, represented Normandy in the transaction.  The firm is the exclusive leasing agent for the Marlborough Technology Park.  Weetabix was represented by Jones Lang LaSalle.

“Normandy Real Estate Partners has made a substantial investment in Marlborough Technology Park, elevating the park to its premier status in the market,” said Paul Leone, senior vice president, Richards Barry Joyce & Partners.  “Normandy’s continued commitment to excellence and understanding of tenants’ needs has enabled them to attract many of the region’s most exciting companies, such as Weetabix.”

Marlborough Technology Park is a seven-building office park, totaling more than 570,000 square feet of space.  The park offers tenants a wide range of amenities, including full-service cafeteria, a training room, an executive conference area, and a fitness center with lockers and showers.

About Normandy Real Estate Partners
Normandy Real Estate Partners is a vertically-integrated real estate private equity fund manager headquartered in Morristown, NJ with offices in Boston, New York City, Los Angeles and Washington DC. Normandy currently manages a series of discretionary real estate funds totaling approximately $1.5 billion of equity commitments. Normandy’s existing portfolio includes over 15 million square feet of commercial assets, four hotels and numerous land development sites. Normandy targets value added real estate investments  in the gateway  markets of Boston, Metro New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and  Washington, D.C. where opportunities exist to enhance value through creative repositioning, financial restructuring, intensive management, and capital improvements. For more information visit www.normandyrealty.com.

About Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, LLC
Richards Barry Joyce & Partners is a full service commercial real estate firm providing creative solutions for its client partners. The company’s focused team approach offers clients a competitive advantage in solving their local, national, and international real estate challenges. Richards Barry Joyce & Partners’ unique platform offers a full range of real estate advisory services including market analysis, capital markets solutions, financial analysis, corporate services, portfolio review, and consulting services.  For more information, please visit our website at www.rbjrealestate.com. Follow us on Twitter at @RBJ_Partners.

RBJ Sponsors Lacrosse Clinic By The Boston Cannons In Dover

Richards Barry Joyce & Partners is a proud corporate sponsor of the Boston Cannons professional lacrosse team – the reigning league champions for MLL (Major League Lacrosse).  The Cannons’ mission – “to bring the highest level of lacrosse to players and fans in New England through games, clinics and community events” – was put into action last week when a group of their players held a lacrosse clinic in the town of Dover.  RBJ had the pleasure of sponsoring the clinic with the Cannons.  Dozens of local players, with a wide range of ages and abilities, learned drills and skills first-hand from the pros.  They also learned a valuable lesson in giving back to the community.  The game of lacrosse continues to grow in popularity throughout the Boston area and the RBJ team is enjoying its sponsorship.  If you get a chance, check out one of the Cannons’ exciting home games.  Go Cannons! http://www.bostoncannons.com/

Boston Cannons lacrosse clinic in Dover

 

 

Brookwood Welcomes Magellan Diagnostics, Inc. To Brookwood Business Center

Richards Barry Joyce & Partners Represents An Affiliate Of Brookwood Financial Partners In 22,900 SF Lease In One Of Market’s Most Active Parks

BOSTON – May 10, 2012 – Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, LLC (RBJ&P), a full-service commercial real estate advisory firm, announced today that it represented an affiliate of Brookwood Financial Partners, LLC in a 22,900 square foot lease with Magellan Diagnostics, Inc. in the Brookwood Business Center (Billerica, Mass.).

Magellan Diagnostics will relocate to Brookwood Business Center from Chelmsford.  The Magellan Diagnostics lease follows close on the heels of 110,000 square feet of leases signed at the park with Potpourri Group, Inc. and DGI-Invisuals, LLC, which were announced in March 2012.

Brookwood Business Center consists of six buildings, totaling 448,616 square feet of office and flex space.  Brookwood recently completed significant renovations to the park, including updates to building infrastructure and landscaping.  Additionally, planning is underway for a cafeteria that will serve all tenants in the park.  Purchased by Brookwood at the end of 2010, the park is located at 101 Billerica Avenue in Billerica and Tewksbury, Massachusetts.

“We are seeing a tremendous amount of activity in Brookwood Business Center, far exceeding that of the surrounding market,” said Amy Grey, Brookwood’s asset manager for the park.  “This is due not only to the park’s location and quality of construction, but also to the significant renovations made during Brookwood’s ownership, including an investment into tenant amenities. We are pleased to welcome Magellan Diagnostics to our growing list of tenants.”

The Richards Barry Joyce & Partners team of Brian McKenzie, John Wilson, James Lipscomb and Emma Geldmacher represented Brookwood in the transaction.  The firm is the exclusive leasing agent for the park.  Magellan Diagnostics, a medical device company that develops point-of-care systems, clinical laboratory instruments, and analytical laboratory services focused on lead testing, was represented by Anne Columbia and Patrick Downey of the Columbia Group Realty Advisors, Inc.

About Brookwood Financial Partners, LLC
Brookwood is a Massachusetts-based private equity firm that acquires real estate and invests in private companies.  Since 1993, Brookwood has acquired over 105 properties totaling approximately 9.5 million square feet of office, retail, flex and research & development space and over 1,360 residential lots, as well as hotel and apartment units.  Brookwood has acquired real estate throughout the United States including in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas and Virginia.  In addition, Brookwood has invested in private companies in the wireless communications, restaurant, software and outsourcing industries.  Brookwood has invested $450 million in equity to acquire assets with a realized and unrealized value of over $1.2 billion.

About Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, LLC
Richards Barry Joyce & Partners is a full service commercial real estate firm providing creative solutions for its client partners. The company’s focused team approach offers clients a competitive advantage in solving their local, national, and international real estate challenges. Richards Barry Joyce & Partners’ unique platform offers a full range of real estate advisory services including market analysis, capital markets solutions, financial analysis, corporate services, portfolio review, and consulting services.  For more information, please visit our website at www.rbjrealestate.com. Follow us on Twitter at @RBJ_Partners.

RBJ President Bob Richards Addresses Economic Development Group From Shanghai, China

Bob Richards, president of Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, recently had the pleasure of addressing an economic development group visiting the U.S. from Shanghai, China.  The Shanghai Zhangjiang Group is appointed by the Chinese government to oversee the development of a 17 square kilometer (6.6 square mile) business and technology park in Pudong, a prominent area within central Shanghai that includes part of the city’s Central Business District.

The group is in the U.S. meeting with business leaders in regions that have thriving technology clusters to gather ideas on how to replicate the success in Pudong.  Greater Boston is of particular interest to the group, given the region’s numerous technology companies, particularly along Route 128, as well as the explosive growth of the biotechnology industry in the area.

In his presentation, Bob provided a brief overview of the country’s major clusters of life sciences research, identifying Boston, Philadelphia, San Diego, Silicon Valley and Washington DC as the most notable centers of biotech activity in the country.  He then focused more closely on Boston, describing the rapid recent growth of biotechnology real estate inventory and how it is distributed between the most famous and dense clusters in Boston and Cambridge, and the more spread-out but also important clusters in Lexington and Waltham.  Lastly, he described the extent to which the Boston industry’s growth has been driven by large groups absorbing big blocks of space, such as AstraZeneca, Biogen Idec, Novartis, Shire and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.

In conversation following the formal presentation, Bob and RBJ director of research Brendan Carroll spoke further with the Shanghai Zhangjiang delegation about matters relating to the upkeep of infrastructure along Route 128, the permitting and approvals process, and the extent to which public entities become involved in providing incentives to local businesses.  The meeting ended with kind remarks and numerous invitations to Shanghai for the red-carpet treatment.  RBJ is very active in Asia – and in fact the firm is preparing to conduct its first ever Chinese transaction in 2012 – so we look forward to having the opportunity to take them up on their invitation.

Shanghai High Tech Park

Bob Richards Presents to the Shanghai Zhangjiang Group

Richards Barry Joyce & Partners Named One Of Massachusetts’ “Best Places To Work” By Boston Business Journal

Firm Honored For Second Consecutive Year In BBJ’s Tenth Annual Regional Awards Program

BOSTON – April 25, 2012 – Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, LLC (RBJ&P), a full-service commercial real estate advisory firm, is very pleased to announce that the firm has been named one of the “Best Places To Work” in Massachusetts, in the Boston Business Journal’s tenth annual regional awards program.

RBJ was also a winner in last year’s “Best Places To Work” program, ranking second place among all the companies in the “small business” category.  The winners in the program – 25 each in the small, medium and large business category – ranked highest among more than 400 companies that qualified for consideration, based on a two-stage nomination process and the results of employee-satisfaction surveys taken throughout March & April.

“This is a terrific honor for Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, particularly to be named one of the ‘Best Places To Work’ for the second year in a row,” said Robert Richards, president, Richards Barry Joyce & Partners.  “The firm’s success is a result of our continued focus on three primary pillars: client service, employee satisfaction and giving back to the community.  We extend our congratulations to the other ‘Best Places’ winners.”

RBJ&P and the other finalists will be honored at a breakfast event that will take place June 1 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center and profiled in a special supplement of the Boston Business Journal..  For more information on the event, please go to http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/event/63481.

“Our Best Places to Work event will again recognize the importance of cultivating a great workplace culture as a competitive advantage,” said Chris McIntosh, publisher of the Boston Business Journal. “Companies on our list can be justifiably proud of creating a high level of workplace satisfaction during an economy where traditional rewards like big raises and bonuses aren’t as easy to give. In good times and in bad, our results validate how the creation of the right corporate culture can create powerful business advantages. Employees are proud to work for companies that are about more than just business.”

About “Best Places To Work”
The survey project was launched in January by the Boston Business Journal in conjunction with market research firm Quantum Workplace of Omaha, NE. Companies were evaluated on the results of more than 18,000 employee-satisfaction surveys. Employees answered questionnaires that addressed such factors as their pride in the company, company encouragement, support and recognition of achievement and relationships with co-workers and supervisors. The results were analyzed and scored by assigning points to each question.

About the Boston Business Journal
The Boston Business Journal is Greater Boston’s leading source of business news, information and events, reaching readers through the weekly print publication, the website bostonbusinessjournal.com and e-mail products. The BBJ also prints the annual Book of Lists — the region’s top resource for business decision-makers seeking information about potential clients, suppliers and partners.

The Boston Business Journal is published by American City Business Journals, the nation’s largest publisher of metropolitan business news.  http://www.bizjournals.com/boston

About Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, LLC
Richards Barry Joyce & Partners is a full service commercial real estate firm providing creative solutions for its client partners. The company’s focused team approach offers clients a competitive advantage in solving their local, national, and international real estate challenges. Richards Barry Joyce & Partners’ unique platform offers a full range of real estate advisory services including market analysis, capital markets solutions, financial analysis, corporate services, portfolio review, and consulting services.  For more information, please visit our website at www.rbjrealestate.com.  Follow us on Twitter at @RBJ_Partners.