After carefully exploring the market for a new larger facility in a different location, Microline Surgical, Inc. recently signed a lease directly with Cummings Properties for 68,000 s/f at 50 Dunham Rd. The international firm has based its headquarters with Cummings Props. for the last 17 years, most recently, in 54,000 s/f at its Cummings Center campus.
Cummings Props. inherited Microline as a client when it purchased the former United Shoe Machinery Corp. site from The Black & Decker Corp. in April 1996. Since then, the medical device company has expanded several times, increasing its footprint sevenfold.
"Moving into 50 Dunham Road is a significant milestone for Microline Surgical, allowing us to expand our headquarters and manufacturing operations over the next several years and continue our productive relationship with Cummings Props.," said Microline president and CEO Sharad Joshi.
According to Mike Farrell, senior account manager at Cummings Props., the new facility will include office, production, and research and development space.
Farrell said, "We are delighted to continue our long relationship with Microline, and to be able to accommodate its current and future needs at our newest campus."
Located on a site abutting Rte. 128, the long-idle 50 Dunham Rd. property was built in the 1970s as headquarters for the game manufacturer Parker Brothers. Cummings Props. acquired the site in December 2011, adding to its 10 million s/f portfolio. The Woburn-based commercial real estate firm recently secured approval from the city to construct a second, 120,000 s/f building on the campus, as well as a five-story parking garage.
With its expected move in early 2014, Microline will occupy three-quarters of the existing building at 50 Dunham Rd. Several other smaller firms have recently joined Dassange International in this location overlooking Norwood pond, adjacent to Bill Hanney's North Shore Music Theatre.
Founded in 1987, Microline is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan-based HOYA Corp. Microline manufactures a complete line of reposable endomechanical and energy devices used across a broad range of minimally invasive surgical procedures, including General, Gynecologic, Bariatric, Head and Neck, Urologic, and Cardiac surgeries. While it has sales offices in Amsterdam, Paris, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, and customers in 65 countries, the vast majority of Microline's manufacturing is done here in the United States.