Watertown, MA Continuing to promote business activity and location in Massachusetts in its 25th anniversary year, MassEcon released its 2018 ReadyMass 100 list of available properties and sites, adding three industrial locations and one office property to last year’s inventory.
In addition, MassEcon, the Commonwealth’s partner in bringing business to the state, noted that 12 properties were occupied by new companies since the beginning of 2017, a relatively high rate of absorption that reduced total available square footage by 900,000 s/f. Amazon, Bose, and Lifoam were among the companies taking additional space across the state.
The ReadyMass 100 list, now in its 10th year, currently has 76 properties listed and available for companies to open or expand.
The three new industrial properties added to the latest ReadyMass 100 list, which is accessible online at the MassEcon web site, at www.massecon.com, are 613 Main St. in Wilmington; 20 Cameron St. in Clinton; and 11 Dory Rd. in Gloucester. The Clinton listing, formerly the Weetabix Complex, is a large building with a campus of more than 400,000 s/f.
The new office property being listed is 200 Staples Dr. in Framingham. The complete list of ReadyMass 100 success stories can be found online.
“There have been many success stories out of the portfolio that we’ve been able to capture this year compared to past years,” said Doug Kehlhem, MassEcon Senior Director in charge of the ReadyMass 100 program. “There have been some notable companies, like Bose and Amazon.”
Kehlhem said the 76 available properties currently available, compared to 79 a year ago, show both growth and stability. “We’ve been in sort of an equilibrium mode over the last couple of years,” he said. “Last year we selected 12 new properties.”
Properties are removed from the list as they are sold or leased, and they are added twice a year by MassEcon. At one point in the last year, there were 84 properties on the list. It has hovered between 70 and 90 in recent years.
Although dozens of sites are available to companies inside or outside Massachusetts, large properties continue to remain in relatively short supply in the Commonwealth.
The ReadyMass 100 initiative is designed to promote expansion opportunities for businesses. The initiative helps to retain companies growing in Massachusetts and to communicate to both in-state and out-of-state companies that Massachusetts has a ready inventory of properties to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes and across all industry sectors. MassEcon developed the initiative as part of a collaboration with the Commonwealth, regional economic development groups, and the real estate community.
A team of real estate experts in collaboration with MassEcon’s state partners rigorously evaluated properties, which include both building and land sites, are certified for immediate occupancy or development, and have met key criteria relating to infrastructure, permitting, size and readiness. The properties can be viewed on MassEcon’s website at: http://massecon.com/services/readymass100/search.
Property owners or brokers pay a modest fee to have their properties listed on ReadyMass 100. Properties must meet certain specifications to be added to or remain on the list.
Since its inception in 2009, the ReadyMass 100 has resulted in more than 50 success stories that represent about seven million square feet.
