By Seth Daniel
Citing patience in the market, a familiarity with the area, the prospects of Chelsea and the presence of a solid pharmaceutical tenant, a New York company said it is excited to have purchased a commercial building on Everett Avenue for $17.4 million in late February.
The North River Company of New York purchased the building on Feb. 28 from CGI properties of Brookline, which is under Hal Garnick. Right now, the building houses Acorda Therapeutics, a biotechnology company working on a key Parkinson’s Disease drug that is in the process of being reviewed by the federal government. Previously, the building was occupied by Alkermes Pharmaceuticals.
Chris Pachios of North River said not to let the business address fool anyone. Even though they are a New York company, Pachios cut his teeth on real estate in this very area with the Phil Burgess company. Meanwhile, he also has very experienced people on the ground in Boston, including associate Andy Duloc.
“When I started in the business in the 1990s, I worked with Phil Burgess, who has made a career out of the inner suburban industrial parcels of land, including places like Chelsea, Malden, Medford, Somerville and East Boston. Phil sold us our first property in the Boston area too, in East Boston. I have known the area very well over time and am very comfortable there. Certainly, with the Silver Line next to this building, that’s important. The FBI location is big. We believe in public transportation and proximity to urban centers. Boston is right there and it’s not going anywhere.”
Pachios said they have been beefing up their portfolio in the industrial suburbs of Boston recently as they have seen them begin to show strong growth or the prospect of strong growth in the near future.
The company began by purchasing the East Boston warehouse property at 175 McClellan Highway, then purchased 200 Inner Belt Road in Somerville near Assembly Row, and then 197 Commercial Street in Malden.
The Chelsea building on Everett Avenue was the fourth purchase for the company in the area. He said they aren’t looking for things to change overnight, but they see that there is a lot of promise in the location they have purchased.
“We are a patient real estate company,” he said. “This situation shows some real promise. There’s a long-term tenant in place, but we also like residential uses…Clearly what’s happening is in the future we’ll find opportunities for different uses.”
He also pointed to the development of places down the road, such as the impending Fairfield apartment community at the old Chelsea Clock site. That, along with other developments nearby, are working off of one another to the good of the entire district.
“It’s one of the great things about real estate, what people do around you can end up helping everyone of the long term,” he said.
Duloc, vice president of North River, said they are excited about the acquisition.
“We feel very good about being in Chelsea,” he said. “We like to think that it has a great tenant right now with a lot of potential growth. It was a good acquisition for us.”
He said Acorda is on a 10-year lease in the building with good terms. He said they have a Parkinson’s drug that uses and inhaler delivery system that is in the drug pipeline with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
That, along with the potential in Chelsea, has their company excited to be the newest player on Everett Avenue.
“We’re a patient company, like Chris said,” said Duloc. “We hope in time we’re in the center of progress and the market will favor us.”