NORTH ANDOVER – VMD Companies, Inc. has purchased and is developing The Campus at Innovation Way in Fall River, a state-of-art logistics, advanced manufacturing, and R&D center designed and constructed to be home to multiple leading companies seeking modern high-bay space .
The Campus at Innovation Way is fully permitted with construction soon to begin on the 900,000-square-foot Class A industrial property, in a market where demand is outplacing supply due to land scarcity and permitting obstacles. The sale closed late last week.
Four new buildings at 10 Innovation Way are planned for The Campus at Innovation Way, with individual tenant-user spaces demising to 50,000 square feet and up, serving a portion of what is an estimated of 26 million square feet in the Greater Boston area.
VMD Companies is in advanced discussions with several companies and end users for the four buildings.
“We spent a considerable amount of time analyzing user requirements within the market as they relate to thoughtful design and site layouts,” said Phil Down, Chief Executive Officer of VMD Companies, “and we are thrilled to be able to deliver modern institutional quality assets into a supply constrained market.”
“The Campus at Innovation Way can accommodate a variety of end users’ business objectives seeking immediate access to major transportation nodes and a strong local labor pool,” Down said.
Down and James L. Vitas II spearheaded and acquisition of the property and capital raise. Vitas is Founder and Executive Chairman of VMD Companies, now in its 19th year.
Located across from a 1.4-million-square-foot Amazon distribution center, The Campus at Innovation Way will feature one building of 291,200 square feet and three of 202,800 square feet each. They are permitted for up to 85 feet of clear height, with ample utility and electrical power and 24-hour allowed operation, suitable for life science, R&D, distribution and warehousing, cold storage, and manufacturing uses.
The Campus at Innovation Way is located immediately adjacent to Route 24, which connects to Fall River to the south and, to the north, connects I-495 and points east and west. Also to the south on Route 24 is the I-195 interchange, leading to New Bedford and Providence.
Leasing for The Campus at Innovation Way is led by Rob Byrne, Paul Leone, Pete Whoriskey, and Phil Verre of Cushman and Wakefield.
The Campus at Innovation Way is on 128 acres of land that VMD Companies purchased from the Fall River Redevelopment Authority. VMD Companies has worked over the past year with Fall River and Freetown officials along with Commonwealth of Massachusetts agencies and land planners to permit the land
VMD consulted with the Fall River Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Sarah Page, Bristol County Economic Development Executive Vice President Ken Fiola, and Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan to prepare The Campus at Innovation Way for new businesses looking for modern industrial type space in the relatively supply constrained Greater Boston area.
In addition to the Campus at Innovation Way, VMD Companies is actively permitting and developing an additional million square feet throughout the Commonwealth. In 2017, VMD Companies purchased and redeveloped the former Necco confectionary building in Revere in a joint venture, later leasing it to Amazon and selling the 50-acre property to Clarion Partners, LLC of New York for $355 million.
